Misplaced Death

I feel like I've seen the "Death tries to kill people, antics ensue" movie in this comp so many times!
He always has a little stopwatch too!

This movie set itself apart by using some cool graphic match cuts during important plot beats - which was really neat.

Loved this one!! My favourite so far, just really enjoyable to watch and funny. A coherent concept, well paced and easy to follow. Strong match shots and intro sequence, and it was nice seeing the altered view for Death's perspective too. The miniature element is worked in well here, integral to the story rather than an add-on. I quite like how violently Death was striking people, really gung ho - actually, he was really fun throughout, I hope you keep acting and this team keeps making films!

The best film of a very strong heat. From the very first shot, you use every technical tool and trick at your disposal to set a compelling mood and tell a funny story with some great dark comedy. Titles, red colouring, video filters, music, substitution splices, smooth camerawork, and great editing all stand out for their contribution to this film. The dialogue is sparse, purposeful, and brilliantly delivered.

What got my attention:

Great acting from Death. A frustrated Grim Reaper is one of my favourite characterisations and your lead did a great job with his physical acting. Clever shot choices also added to this. Great humour throughout with some well-timed delivery. Big fan when school teams respect age appropriate casting and you got that right here. Loved the slow motion of Death running – really well executed shot. Well-timed editing worked a treat with the switches from the ethereal Death vibe to “real life” working every time.

Things to think about:

In scenes, for example, when they get out of the van after being dropped off you could have replaced all of that audio to make it cleaner sounding. Invest in a microphone to cut some of that wind noise. Watch for continuity – a few appearing and disappearing vehicles in the background. And was that a random dude taking stills in the background at one point I spied? Happens.

Overall:
Played really well to the live audience and in a heat of great school films this was one of the best.

This was a pretty cool watch - comfortably in my top 3 in the heats. All my positive notes and feedback in the future has already been mentioned by the ones above so no need for me to echo it!

This film was the best out of both the heats so far and its not even close. Your premis was entertaining, the physical comedy was perfect, and the visual shorthand was very clear and clever.
An issue that I noticed a lot of the school teams (including my own) have fallen victim to is having too complecated a plot line. The films in your heat were often really funny, but often really hard to follow too. You managed to tell an interesting and comedic story while also never losing the audience, and i think its that which really secures your film as the best so far.

Death tries to kill people, misplaces his scythe, antics ensue!

Hands down this for me was the strongest film of the heat (watched it online last night as we couldn't make it in person!)

When it comes to a lot of 48 Hour films, so many folk (myself included) get caught up in telling over complicated stories - what Death Misplaced excels at so brilliantly is telling a short, simple, compelling story beautifully! With a concise beginning, middle and end this story was clear and engaging throughout.

The visual storytelling was sharp, concise, and informative all at once. Cinematography was sharp, Death's actor handled the physical acting fantastically, and WOW that slow motion shot of Death running, cape billowing, absolutely cinematic.
I'd also put this forward for best use of miniature, love how integral it was to the plot, and how panicked Death was when he lost it.

One thing I'd suggest for a film with this, it would've been cool to see this film go totally without dialogue - for me while it was enjoyable to see, it may have benefitted from purely physical storytelling. But that's just a little note!

Overall: Brilliant story, handled excellently team, this feels like city finalist material! Cannot wait to see what you create in future!

Misplaced death is a huge technical step up from last year (although I LOVE Tractorius Vehiculus, bringer of destruction). Not much to say that hasn't already been said. Fantastic no dialogue story telling! Definitely a team that's gunning for a win in the future, that's all I will say. I only ask, WHO is running this team? Is its children? Is it adults? I will watch your career with great interest.

To answer Buddy's question, as others will wonder also: Almost all the production of this was by James, who you'll probably have seen wearing a grey cloak at every heat, who is 17 years old (scriptwriting, most filming, directing on set, all editing and special effects). He couldn't have done it without a large team of enthusiastic teens brainstorming the story, acting, running extra cameras and sound and so forth, and some adults making sure they're fed and safe and brewing gallons of fake blood... But in terms of production, it's the work of one teenager. As was last year.

That's incredible and certainly adds to the overall film! Fantastic work James! It was awesome seeing him at the heats, even the ones with some questionable subject matter 🕷️ For sure, this team is gonna win the whole thing one day. Mark my words 🏆

An excellent outing from DennisTribe this year! I'd love to echo all the above praise to the technical prowess but I additionally want to shout out the attention to wardrobe here. Many school (and non-school) teams would look at death and say 'black cloak and a scythe is enough, right?' But it's not and these guys know it. A certain stand out from the heats. Great work team!

This film is an absolute wow! By far the strongest film of the first 2 heats, and a great contender that I expect to see in the Christchurch finals. This film excelled at telling a great story - one that is clear, concise, and perfectly suited for the limitations imposed by the competition. Its a great comedic premise and the film delivers! Massive kudos for the incorporation of elements as central parts of the plot - it is a difficult thing to achieve and this team did so flawlessly. I was impressed by the visual storytelling in your film - for instance the visual techniques to make it clear to the audience that others can't see death. In doing so you save yourself a lot of time to really focus in on the core parts of your story. I was also impressed by the technical elements of the film - overall great shots, good audio, well paced and well edited. The slow-mo shot of death with cape flowing out behind him in particular was just awesome.
I have very little to give in terms of feedback for next time, my one suggestion would be to check your dialogue lines are sounding natural. I think this film could've even fully done away with the dialogue - although it has now been a bit since the heats so I may need a rewatch to see if I still agree with myself on that!
It cannot be said enough just how incredibly impressive this film is for a young team - you've excelled at things many teams with more experience struggle with. I will be keeping an eye out for your films in future competitions and can't wait to see what you do next! Ka pai to mahi!

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!

Well well well Dennistribe! We were blown away by the incredible step up this film is compared to last year (though last year was amazing for very different reasons hahaha). We’re so happy the judges recognised the achievement this was! In a sea of complicated and messy stories, this simple tale really stood out.

The best part of this film is obviously the twist - a twist so brilliantly executed I’m sure it made even the strongest competitors in this competition jealous. You had the audience absolutely hooked and rooting for Death to win! How hilarious. The technical step up from last year was also massive. Framing Death’s perspective in a distinct style was a great choice, the physical comedy was peak, and the final moment where he slips his scythe into the other pocket was a slam dunk.

Now - given you made finals, that means you’ve not only cleared the threshold for best school team this year, but you really are playing with the big boys! And I’m sure you want to stay here, so with that in mind, here are our notes for next year (in other words, on the assumption you’d appreciate it, we’re about to grade you on a the biggest curve out of every team hahahaha).

“Death” really is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this film. Outside of his performance and arc, every other performance and technical aspect falls a little flat. Continued development of technical and writing skills is a guarantee for this team though, so we’re not worried about it. The sound mix was mostly okay (and way better than last year), but there are lots of moments where it’s just music, and adding some ambience and other foley would have made everything more cohesive. The rest of the cast are all very warm and cheerful, but the dialogue and dancing around muddies the waters - both narratively and because they’re quite a stark contrast to the very strong Death character.

Your shortlisted rival Brunch Solstice was nipping at your heels for best school - particularly around technical elements, structure, and performances - and it wasn’t until judges clearly praised your concept and story that you ran away with it in the end. So, there’s still a wee way to go as far as what you’ll need to do to continue landing a finals spot, but the good news is the steps are pretty clear cut:

- Recruit team members whose biggest strength is acting. You’ll want to guarantee your performers can deliver, even if your next idea isn’t as lightning-in-a-bottle as Death losing his scythe.

- Hire or buy some camera and sound gear that can elevate your visual look. You’ve won a tour with Lightchasers! So take advantage of this and get advice on what to upgrade to for future films.

- Continue sharpening your editing chops. Watch some of the top-tier films this year and figure out how they did what they did - then try it yourself. (iMetaMan is a great place to start.)

THE BEST THING: A hilarious, tightly told tale with one of the best ideas this year and some great uses of the elements. We’ll be backing you for the Best School in Aotearoa award, and we hope the judges agree!

THE NEXT THING: Dennistribe is here to stay. So long as you keep coming back, learning, and improving with the commitment you clearly have, the sky is the limit. Take on our notes and go hard. We’re super proud of you - keep going!