Re: Synth Riders Crack Pirates Bayl
Sacha Weakland
The ClockThe tension levels were high at the start of this one, as you had me horrified that you had spelt the character's name Vic Mayer, but of course I was relieved that nobody would be that stupid. A nice synthy soundtrack highlighted some focused training in preparation for something that wasn't entirely clear until it happened. Good macguffins with the bomb and the girl. Led itself to a pretty simple payoff that worked because of the physical humour. Just needed a bit more polish.
It's About TimeBit torn here, because we had one absolutely amazing song and the rest whilst composed well enough were not used to drive the story to any great degree. Nice costuming for a period piece and I get this was an ode to the broadway classics, but I would have loved to see a clearer narrative.
GlitchTechnically amazing as always, this went quite deep on concepts of immortality and human nature vs technology with an open-ended approach that had the audience captivated. Serious nods to THE MATRIX but without any homage and a genuine attempt to do something different, with a dreamy yet sinister vibe to the whole proceedings. Those tunnel shots were truly something. Visual effects were also subtle but terrific and the script whilst minimalist kept an air of intrigue as to who the Morpheus-like overlord was and what he meant to our protagonist.I'm expecting this in the Wellington final because the film as described above is very strong, but as an 'Ultra' film I'm seriously disappointed. Yes there's children and yes the events of the film kind of skirt/subvert that regarding the adult protagonist. I'll wait until others have seen the film to say any more.EDIT = Film would have been a 6/7 if not for the Ultra shortcomings.
THE NEXT BIG THINGStaff at an Inventor Company were pressured to come up with 'The Next Big Thing' by their pushy boss, however the only real success they have is wire bracelets which cause people to bleed and are a hit with emos.This was candy-coloured silliness in an office, but I honestly didn't get the ending.
General IncivilityStrong electrotherapy to cure insomnia. Sound a bit dangerous, doesn't it? And it proves that way when we are advised that if Vic Meyer doesn't wake up in 14 hours, she will sleep/walk forever. There were a few good lines, and ideas regarding conscious/subconscious behaviour, but I felt that some more character motivation was needed for the actions that we saw on screen.
The Gloved Hand of Silent JusticeHave you ever had enough of people who slightly irritate you? Those who talk too loud, play obnoxious instruments, park badly or just get under your skin? Well the woman in this short film certainly did, locking up all the annoying varmints in a mimed central park jail in Palmerston North.
Subversive? To an extent, however this is a difficult film for me to review, because clearly a lot of people liked it based on the first place in audience voting so well done on that because the light hearted humanistic tone of the everyday woman taking action was relatable. But it went with a couple of ideas that are so tricky to pull off in short films that you need to do them perfectly to get them right, mime and narration.
Firstly, the miming. What worked for me was the costuming and physical performance of your actress. This is not a criticism of her, or a criticism of your choices to go with a mime. It can work, but I personally feel that to work on film it needs to be intimate. If you're watching a mime street perfomer there is a degree of closeness with the very deliberate moments.
So on film for that to translate to the screen we either need to see that closeness, or that exaggeration, as well as potentially sound (which admittedly was done well here) to sell the effect if you're crossing into the metpahysical realm, where mime jails for example hold prisoners. If the mime activity is sold with long shots then there is a distance that just makes it come across as flat in my opinion.
Secondly the narration. This is such a common trope in 48 Hours now, and honestly I think I have come across more of it in 2021 than any single year by a mile, that I need something clear as to why it is being used. Not just to explain a character's motivations, but to stand out from the pack.
I've got no qualms about the genre element. In fact it being open whether this was an origin story or someone putting the costume back on worked in its favour. The idea was good that they were seeking justice, and the everyday crimes they were taking action against was very relatable.
Big HornShort sharp little 2d animation as a young monster makes their way past a procession of elder beasts to the top of a mountain and receive their adult horns. Included all the required elements and looked nice. I enjoyed it even though it was exceptionally short, but then I absolutely love animation.
Clocked OutA very thirsty man asks his friend to cover for his cheating, after he gets fed up that his partner/wife is always working too much and moves onto the next name in his little black book when his needs don't get met on the spot. Black and white, blurry for the most part and shot from a distance where we couldn't see the character on the phone, and with a plot that was very far from real time thriller it was a film that needed a lot more time spent on the script. Sorry to see you were DQ.
Pixel Dream GirlSick burn here on app-based dating, and the many challenges that it generates by deciding a romantic fate through swiping left or right. I was thoroughly impressed by how well Squint Eastwood rapid-fired the douche canoes that plague the likes of tinder, with nobody safe whether it be the boring 'interests = movies' guy, through toxic ab showing MGTOWS and running the gauntlet through to the desperate bit too old creep. Really well done integration of split screen too, utilising the phone for the Ultra requirement whilst our pierced and tattooed dream girl for many lamented not finding the one for her.So like story wise this had a great setup, and the pastel bright colours are always a massive breath of fresh air, the inimitable animation of Sam Harris something to behold and honestly the music was catchy as hell (A++ for the blazing autotone finish)...I was just personally struggling to resonate with this as a cohesive story. Great opening act, strong finish, but the glue of the middle piece when the rejected creep went too far just took me out of it a bit. I understand it was probably supposed to make people feel uneasy and you nailed that aspect, and that's not why I'm critical here, I just think it created a variation in the mis en scene of the whole film that felt a bit confusing by the end, when it started so amazingly well with the subversive topical approach to love.
Your Lie in JuneThree years into a relationship and it's the perfect time for a proposal in a carpark, but a shootout and sudden gun showing reveals cracks in the relationship of our 2 leads that are more like chasms. I liked the idea of love conquers all being presented here, and playing it deadpan in terms of dialogue was probably a smart option. Reveled in ridiculousness, and whilst the team kinda said screw you to the request to be respectful with guns, it all worked within the story for me. Nollywood quality squib effects brought the house down, while whoever played the character with the blonde wig could be up for a Wellington best actor nomination in my book.
ImpastaSock puppets have a spaghetti-eating competition, only one of the contestants may not be quite who they seem to be. Is the fact that one of them is the size of a human the giveaway when all the others fit on hands and feet? Only time will tell. Absolutely farcical and surreal I was completely sold on this sock world as it felt hypnotic to me. It honestly felt fully formed from the jibberish language, to little and not so little details such as not having teeth being key to being allowed to enter the competition. Whilst the location could have had a bit more detail to it to be more engaging, the team overcame the plain background with lots of close ups and a large variety of colours on screen giving this energy and vigour.
Bump In the NightI assume sound design is an award again this year? Definite nominee right here in my book. We followed our protagonist through a pretty drab rundown looking Kilbirnie, which seemed to have splintered off into its own little society with the Kilbirnie Post newspaper, and a whole lot of chaos such as the main sportsfield now being "KILLbirnie park". Several people were missing on flyers in this chaotic vision of the future, but our lead had strong screen presence as he made his way home after having had to crash at a friend's for a while. Nice payoff that was reliant on sound, that earned its dues because the team had good sound like I said earlier! I loved the world building, I just wish there was a bit more in terms of plot to this one.
Cop OutI wouldn't steal a car? Is that a challenge? Nah fair play team this was off the walls beautiful, a veritable barrage of humour that made me yearn for my years of working in a video store when I was much younger.
Yo ho ho it takes a lot to genuinely avalanche the laughter in a short. Started funny, got chortle inducing and then genuinely jaw droppingly good. Black comedy hasn't had it this good in this comp for ages.
Ta DaFantastic 3D animation in a style reminiscent of Shanks and Bigfoot, here we got a very Scottish take on a drive-thru where the personal ghosts of the past get in the way of a tasty trout and gravy meal at MacDougalls.
World building so good I've literally jumped on a search engine just now to check out 'Bonnie Boxes' probably much to Andrew's delight, I particularly liked the nonchalant attitude of the hungry driver even when faced with the possessed menus coming alive.
The rage and groundstanding of the fierce Scot who doesn't take any shit even from a ghost was also a highlight, though I think the comedic aspects of the script were probably its greatest strength, with the server having me laugh out loud at one of her responses.
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