Walk It Off

Returning to the competition together for the first time in 7 years, the goal for the Hazy Pale Males was to focus on the story first, and deliver a film that didn't feel rushed.
Write a plot that had a definitive journey, as opposed to the historically convoluted films in our past - possibly an influence of doing 48 as school teams, where you end up with a large number of people sticking ideas on the wall and it just gets too busy - or you try to shoehorn in too many inside jokes.

Walk It Off is a personal tale, a snapshot in the lives of two relatable characters on a journey. A good foothold into the world of creative filmmaking after so long away from it. We all agree we may have played it too safe, but we are happy to have used the opportunity to get back into storytelling on camera once again.

HPM will be back in '26, for sho!

Pretty, fun concept, but I think the effect yall were going for may have been distracted from by the gut-dropping face-numbing ZINGER the daughter laid on her dad in the middle of them bonding. The new effect is that we stand with the dad he is a victim and I would have fully supported punching a woman.

I think this team really achieved their goal this year.
I'd be really interested to see what happens when they spin up and craft a more intense narrative.
The tone and setting are quite standard for 48hrs, but things are elevated by generally quite strong technical elements.

I felt there was much more to explore in this relationship.
I feel like time was given to maintaining a lighter tone, as opposed to exploring the relationship more deeply.
A more elegant screenplay might consolidate the two! Use the gag to tell us something new about the characters.

I feel that some minor script tweaks, plus some more varied and emotive cinematography would have elevated this movie from solid to great.

You had me just with the team name.

The dad has a yellow backpack like me in Toot Toot's film – except he has a proper hiking backpack. I'm jealous.

Some great dialogue relationship dynamics and metaphorical dialogue in this. I love the simultaneous "We go north"/"We go south". Great gag on the bladder.

This is a rare contender for the most wholesome and normal film of the heat. A quaint look into navigating a child's anger over parental breakups. A difference of opinion about the direction that life should take. A coming of age where daughter knows better than father.

This is probably the last film I expected from a team called 'The Hazy Pale Males' but I'm so glad this is what we got. A real touching story, which (anyone who saw this in the heats will know) felt like a breath of fresh air. Tino ātaahua team!

In the good ol’ days of the early 2010s, THE HAZY PALE MALES would have cleaned up from start to finish. The performances are earnest and convincing, with excellent chemistry. The cinematography and editing are seamless — nothing in this film ever pulls us out of it. On the second and third watch, we enjoyed it even more, and as we refined the longlist, it climbed higher. We think all this really needed was just a bit more of their story! The tension resolves a little too quickly; perhaps if we were still doing 7-minute shorts, they could have actually split up and then found each other again?

THE BEST THING: Definitely the performances — your two leads really sold it, and the story felt lived-in. A great slice of a bigger story.

THE NEXT THING: Given we know you all personally and what you’re capable of, next year we want to see something with the dials turned way up. You have the technical prowess to deliver something truly special, and you’re already sharp enough to have figured out halfway through this year’s comp how to improve next time. We’re super excited to see what comes next!