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Wolfgang

by Team Spielberg 302 views

Reviews

Default Avatar Hunter Blair

Unclear whether the bitchy girl was real or not. Singing to Mozart was at times barely understandable. The movie producer's reaction to the composition didn't really make sense; she contradicted herself with no reason for doing so in terms of furthering the story. However, original and funny idea with singing to Mozart for inspiration.

Default Avatar Dogs Breakfast

A girl and her muse (real or not?) write a classical score for a movie producer who comes in at the end and loves it then wants it rewritten. Props to the team for actually singing a number of songs and making the most of what they were given.

I'm a fan of Team Spielberg. Been in the same heat as them for a while, and Loved their One Room film a few years back. This year they got Musical. Some teams look forward to this genre, others (like myself) fear and loathe it, and this year was even harder as Timpson removed 'dance instead of musical' option. So Team Spielberg made a musical. I get the premise I'm sure (maybe not, was quite tired), which was Vic Meyer, the film composer's (working from home), is an insomniac who hallucinates (self projects) a 'negative' friend (we'll call her Girl #1). She also 'sings' to a poster of Mozart on the wall (for inspiration?? - cause they are close?? - because she's an insomniac?? most likely). She writes (with Mozart's help?) the score (which she's writing under pressure from some mega-bitch Director) only to have the Girl 1 tell her it's shit. So Vic/Girl 1 (herself) re-writes it super-last minute... but all that is to no avail because when the Director comes to collect the score, she hates it anyway... but not without first suggesting that she likes it for half a second. This is the payoff for the audience thinking that Girl 1's re-write saved the day. I'm no fan of musicals and can't judge singing so I'll not comment, but the film itself was fine. Perhaps creating a 'composing studio' for Vic (a little set-dressing required) could have added, also a huge imposing wooden frame the Mozart picture again might have helped. The acting was fine - not sure if they were singers invited in, or actors asked to sing - either way the acting was standard for a 48 Hours short. To end on a positive - I really love Spielberg Team Intro (second time now)... that's prize-worthy itself.

Default Avatar me myself and i

Editing was good in parts but could have improved, particularly in the first song: nearly half the song is one long continuous take of the actress' back. At first it felt like the team was taking a shortcut by using playback singing and not actually showing the artists sing. However seeing the actresses actually sing on camera was great. Kudos to the girls for doing so. Good job in the music department. The doppelganger was ambiguous and used smartly. Musical is always a curve ball and I think the team did a good job. Well done. Enjoyed the slapping scene.

Default Avatar Hot Toddy

Another challenging genre. This film had some good original scores and some good acting. However, I really didn't follow it all that well. I was confused by the evil side-kick and felt she was too much like the "agent".

Default Avatar Papasmurf

Hard genre to get, the film looked really good, but felt the story lacked a bit and I was confused by who the characters were and what was going on. Was the bad girl (brunette) real? The acting was good and kudos to the actors for singing.

Good on you girls for singing on camera with hardly any backing track! That takes guts. I found the first song really haunting (slightly off-key but that was the beauty of it!) but it went a little downhill from there - possibly because I struggled to understand the storyline. The ending was a little anti-climatic. I really liked the nice editing and the actors were pretty good... especially the slap around the head with the music papers! :D

Default Avatar hotdogsandwich

I realise that musical is a horrible genre to get even if you have musical ability - how to shoot it, how and when to include it not to mention making original compositions. It's a hard genre and you gave it a go, the girls did a fine job singing and the acting wasn't bad either. I just wasn't a huge fan of the story and the ending just sort of left me hanging. At least you've done it now, the learning experience of it is done and if you get it again I bet you'll be able to more than top yourself.

It was watchable and I enjoyed it. Started out well in terms of camera work and editing choices. Good attempt at singing - OK it wasn't pitch perfect but the songs fitted in and added to the storyline. So many this year have gone to the pill jar, coffee would also have been an option at that point in the storyline. One small thing, just watch for continuity/flow issues when it comes to clocks. When the dark haired girl is about to sing the time jumps an hour in the space of a couple of seconds. I'd happily watch this film again.

Default Avatar MR

Props for trying something a little different for a 48Hours musical. Writing a musical about the creative process isn't a bad idea, and the story was well-structured, but I don't think that the way it was executed worked (it seemed a little too simplistic). I get that she's battling her inner demon/muse while trying to meet her ideal (in this case, Mozart, which I thought was a slightly odd choice), but the way the conflict was handled didn't seem especially believable or interesting. Lyrically, the songs were alright, but the music didn't really match the lyric and the lyrics lacked structure themselves. It was also a bit strange to shoot the first musical number with Vic's back to the camera. Seeing as you mentioned Sweeney Todd as an inspiration, I wonder if you are familiar with Sondheim's musical about the creative process and being an artist, Sunday in the Park with George. It covers some similar ground to your film, though in quite a different fashion, and it might have given you some good ideas about how to handle the creative process in song. Overall, it was good that you tried something different, but it didn't quite come off.

I'm a fan of Team Spielberg. Been in the same heat as them for a while, and Loved their One Room film a few years back. This year they got Musical. Some teams look forward to this genre, others (like myself) fear and loathe it, and this year was even harder as Timpson removed 'dance instead of musical' option. So Team Spielberg made a musical. I get the premise I'm sure (maybe not, was quite tired), which was Vic Meyer, the film composer's (working from home), is an insomniac who hallucinates (self projects) a 'negative' friend (we'll call her Girl #1). She also 'sings' to a poster of Mozart on the wall (for inspiration?? - cause they are close?? - because she's an insomniac?? most likely). She writes (with Mozart's help?) the score (which she's writing under pressure from some mega-bitch Director) only to have the Girl 1 tell her it's shit. So Vic/Girl 1 (herself) re-writes it super-last minute... but all that is to no avail because when the Director comes to collect the score, she hates it anyway... but not without first suggesting that she likes it for half a second. This is the payoff for the audience thinking that Girl 1's re-write saved the day. I'm no fan of musicals and can't judge singing so I'll not comment, but the film itself was fine. Perhaps creating a 'composing studio' for Vic (a little set-dressing required) could have added, also a huge imposing wooden frame the Mozart picture again might have helped. The acting was fine - not sure if they were singers invited in, or actors asked to sing - either way the acting was standard for a 48 Hours short. To end on a positive - I really love Spielberg Team Intro (second time now)... that's prize-worthy itself.

Default Avatar MR

Props for trying something a little different for a 48Hours musical. Writing a musical about the creative process isn't a bad idea, and the story was well-structured, but I don't think that the way it was executed worked (it seemed a little too simplistic). I get that she's battling her inner demon/muse while trying to meet her ideal (in this case, Mozart, which I thought was a slightly odd choice), but the way the conflict was handled didn't seem especially believable or interesting. Lyrically, the songs were alright, but the music didn't really match the lyric and the lyrics lacked structure themselves. It was also a bit strange to shoot the first musical number with Vic's back to the camera. Seeing as you mentioned Sweeney Todd as an inspiration, I wonder if you are familiar with Sondheim's musical about the creative process and being an artist, Sunday in the Park with George. It covers some similar ground to your film, though in quite a different fashion, and it might have given you some good ideas about how to handle the creative process in song. Overall, it was good that you tried something different, but it didn't quite come off.

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