ClassicLuke

I MetaMan™

My biggest issue with last year's Zero Mum Game would be that the visuals were slightly lacking. It was excellently shot! But excellently shot in ordinarily-lit houses.
I MetaMan™ (which should have been titled iMetaMan) vastly improves on this issue. The shot in the bar/warehouse/studio was truly inspired and visually striking. And the late night back alley stake out looked great too.

I was confused by the choice to paint the robot man's nails until *that moment*. Then I realized how vital that seemingly minor detail was.
The frantic whip pans which follow that moment were superb. The obvious (and less effective) way to execute that moment would be with a very wide locked off shot.

Alright, that's a lot of praise so now I'll say that the cheating plot beat didn't really work for me. I felt that the film was setting up a commentary on the pursuit of a "perfect" partner being impossible due to everyone's inherent individualism and humanity. Perhaps even saying something about the many people forming relationships with ChatGPT; a conversational partner designed to agree with everything the user says.
To have him just cheat on her made me question why he was even depicted as a robot. Why not have him just be a human man?? A question especially prescient considering the assigned genre.

Legion

Big stand out of the school teams for me.
Everything looks better in black and white. Not to say there wasn't good cinematography... but even ordinary shots are elevated by greyscale.
Loved the low-framerate/stop motion choice -- very inspired.
My biggest criticism is the location. Dialogue tells us that it's an abandoned house. But it has a working porch light? I'm not saying you need to shoot in a house full of broken glass and rotten floorboards. I'm saying the story could've easily fit in a forest, warehouse, farm building...
Ask around! you'd be surprised what people you know have access to.

Better Come Quick

Really funny.
And perhaps more importantly a VERY strong ending (in a competition notorious for endings that are too often rushed or unsatisfying).
My gripe is relatively minor:
The match cut was well executed, quite satisfying to watch.
But it completely confused me. Visually, I was told that he was running and then he found a scooter which he began riding. It took quite while for me to realize we were now following a completely different character.
That aside, this is definitely one of the strongest school entries this year.

Noise Complaint

Awesome take on the "one man against an army" subgenre that's growing increasingly popular in cinema, following John Wick.

With creative kills like the music being stopped by smashing the DJ's head into the speaker, this film just needed to get MESSIER!
Every blood splatter seem to be shot against the same wall. Entrails should've been flying with every hit! By the end our protagonist should have been drenched in blood.

I'm guessing you didn't want to ruin your house. But to that I say, find a fake blood recipe with a detergent base (washes easily) or find a location that can be ruined. Maybe the bulk of the party was happening in the back yard.

Blood Magic

I won't repeat anything already said because I agree with all of it.
I thought I'd figured out the twist when I saw a mysterious figure lurking behind the wall for most of the conversation scene. But it turns out this was just a crew member? Because they were never acknowledged by the film.

As I write this, I realise it's a pretty minor thing to complain about but I think viewers should be rewarded for looking at things closely! And I was genuinely confused.

Anyway, huge potential on display here. Having one short scene before the main film to establish our protagonist's conflict went so far in keeping me interested in what would happen to this character. The fight scene was pretty great too!

The Anti-Possession Centre

Great premise which inspired a lot of funny moments. Though after a couple of minutes, I was felling the absence of a central narrative through-line. So I was happy to see the twist reveal. If only the film didn't end 5 seconds after the twist was introduced.

God Has Abandoned Us (The Devil Is Here)

My favourite film of the year. I thought it was just because I'm a huge fan of demonic aesthetics and post-apocalyptic settings. But after rewatching this at the city finals, there's lots more good stuff in here! The world feels like it extends well beyond what we see. The film starts after the possession's already happened and the crew have been called in! While it's a cheeky stretching of the "real time" genre, the vision of the future is so cool (the priest's pupil matching into a burned Earth... chef's kiss). So many of the shots are so dynamic and visually rich. And I love an anti-arc (where the protagonist looks as though they might change but are revealed to have stayed strong to their beliefs the whole way though).
I guess I'd better critique something.. . Could've ended a bit more triumphantly with the priest performing a cool finishing move... drawing some sigils, drowning the devil in holy water etc.

I wish I made this. It's awesome.

Stage Fright

Great to see the above reviews but our film hasn't actually screened yet lol.
You're looking for the other Christchurch film called Stage Fright which is not yet on the screening room.

Ghost PTSD

I think this film needed to place more trust in the audience.
The big reveal moment when the soldier fades away could have been a huge revelation but I think everyone saw it coming from a mile away. Which is partially due to the genre and title of the film. But moreso from the character literally saying "It's like they can't see me! It's like I'm not even here!".
Hint towards a twist. But don't spell it out before the reveal.
Other than that, it was technically well done. Especially those explosions on the battle field! Wow!!

Match

This is a really genius interpretation of a "match cut". Although the story felt like it had been unnaturally twisted into shape to be able to accommodate the cut (I'm imagining a character stopping someone from igniting a fuse by dramatically chopping the head of a lit match out of their fingertips).

Good utilization of the LED screen and fourth wall break scenario was very fun too. "Keep rolling, it's funny"

Misplaced Death

DennisTribe's previous (and I believe debut) entry; Tractorius Vehiculus: Bringer of Destruction has become one of my go-to examples to show people the wonder of 48 hours.
It's so fun, gross, scrappy and creative. Exactly what the competition's all about.

And Misplaced Death is an improvement in almost every way!
Almost...

Tractorius unfortunately didn't make it far in the competition last year due to a very one-note story and none of the characters really having any traits or goals or conflicts.

But Misplaced Death improves on all of those issues. Paired with some added very clean compositing effects, this is a huge step forward. Aside from one thing.
This film doesn't have nearly as strong of an identity as Tractorius. It's hard to judge something which is merely a vibe. But the imagery of a sheep's head wired to a farm vehicle, opening it's eye is far more memorable and powerful than anything in this film.

So I say: continue progressing on the technical elements and writing. But please don't lose your DennisTribe strangeness!

Pop's Precious Pranks

What a masterful execution of creating a dreadful moment of anticipation. Everything is progressing as expected with her setting up the water balloon... and then the close up of the still-spilled cup at the base of the stairs comes in. And the audience is left to stew in the drawn-out slow motion (which I think has great shot at winning "best use of slo mo"), knowing what is surely coming next.
It's excellent. When so many films in this comp barely squash their huge ideas into the 5 minutes and others seem to drag on and on. Having a moment linger so long shows a great deal of control and understanding. I was very impressed.

But then that moment was blown out of the water by the ending. The long unbroken take of the police officer walking towards camera, slowly revealing more of his facial features. It played so well in the heat as I could hear people around me figure it out at different moments.

Should have made the finals.

Emergency Key

I think the decision to give the pursuer a head torch was a great one. Lighting a nighttime scene is time consuming. And it is even moreso when the characters are in constant movement between locations. But this problem is solved by having the light source attached to a character. It also creates some very nice silhouetting of the chasee in a few choice shots.
Ofcourse you did also have the occasional fill-light attached to the camera but I find this flattens the image as it eliminates any emotive shadows from side-lighting.

Creatively, I think this is a step down from last year's Noise Complaint which was a constant feed of unique and interesting kills.
Meanwhile Emergency Key has long stretches of time which are just people running. The high-adrenaline energy that you capture so well takes a dip when it doesn't change up, innovate, build on itself. Which you do of course in moments like the car chase and the beach fight. Just needs more of that.

Blood Magic

I won't repeat anything already said because I agree with all of it.
I thought I'd figured out the twist when I saw a mysterious figure lurking behind the wall for most of the conversation scene. But it turns out this was just a crew member? Because they were never acknowledged by the film.

As I write this, I realise it's a pretty minor thing to complain about but I think viewers should be rewarded for looking at things closely! And I was genuinely confused.

Anyway, huge potential on display here. Having one short scene before the main film to establish our protagonist's conflict went so far in keeping me interested in what would happen to this character. The fight scene was pretty great too!

The Adventures of Shart Boy and Larvae Girl: 3D

Maybe I'm overthinking this and I was just caught up in the energy at the screening... but Herms Heroes have an incredible ability to maintain energy and momentum.
Camera movement, music and editing keep a minute and a half of people being introduced lively. I think this is most prevalent in their "24 Hours" entry from last year which is kind of just a guy running around fighting a mannequin but it's actually kind of adrenaline-inducing (https://youtu.be/jmK0HQEpgZ0).
The other thing keeping the energy going is the constant changing of techniques. From 3D to abruptly stopping the 3D, greenscreen, reversed footage, a dummy, miniature work and then a section of the film which seems to have been printed onto paper and had effects drawn with crayon??
I won't talk about the lack of story because the team is obviously aware of that.
I'm just amazed that they put so much together in a weekend. All the costumes, animation and a "cardboard cathedral".

My only criticism is that the Rubba Monkey didn't fight a Digital Pigeon.

There Came a Big Spider

The quote has always been that "the teams nominated for the Incredibly Strange award won't land anywhere near the finals list". They're simply too raw and unfiltered.
But this film finally bridges that gap! (Rather it should have.) I can't believe this isn't a finalist.
It's so well crafted! I don't know if the spider looks so good due to the black and white, lighting or just a genuinely great puppet.
To execute such a strange idea so well is something this competition hasn't seen before. It's strangely competent. Or competently strange?