Sub-par rep here. Thank you DennisCheif for the Victory. That makes the score 1-1. Next years film will take the lead.

For those wondering, the fight scene at the end was intended to show our Noir lead kidnapping our victim, which then leads to the interrogation in the garage. We were hoping it would bridge the timeline between the flashback and interrogation a bit, as well as further showing our lead do terrible things to feed his paranoid fantasies.
However if we are being fully honest. That scene is only there because we really wanted to do a fight scene. We didn’t even know where we were gonna put it until we were in the edit. And even if it is a little confusing I’m still glad we did since it was great fun to film. We got to do fight choreography and folly for the first time. And what is 48 hours about if not having fun and trying new things?

Thank you all for the positive feedback. Can’t wait for next year!

Well well well, this was certainly...something! I really enjoyed it...yeah, yeah!

The idea is surprisingly strong, and we need more of it in this comp - bold, random and a strong visual style and direction. What it lacks in story it makes up for in total emersion and consistency. It's bizzare, it's a nightmare, and it really does feel like you're trying to wake up.

Our biggest critique? While the escelation is awesome, it does plateau, and once that hits we still have maybe another minute or two to go, momentum is lost and we're left sitting at the end wondering if you accidentally went over the time limit (you didn't, but it did feel like maybe you were going to).

While we loved it, it unfortunately couldn't hit shortlist due to it's lack of story it had to tell, which I think is pretty sad. The judging criteria doesn't create a lot of room for this sort of work to get the recognition it probably deserves. I'd go a step further and say a film like this directly challenges one of the core questions of this competition, "What makes a good film, and who gets to decide". I imagine if the city finalists were picked by a monsterous combination of judge, manager, HQ and audience feedback, this could have gotten a lot more love.

Some of these reviews say it's bonkers you didn't make shortlist, some highly respected members of the Chch community chip in saying its something they've never seen before! That puts you in a unique spot for the future - you can continue to focus on your specific craft, and find yourself amongst giants like Herms Heroes, Toot Toot and Team Diversity - teams that make something uniquely their style, at the risk of judges not being particularly gripped by it. You could also pivot, and take this incredible sense of style, atmosphere and character and put a metal rod of plot through it's spine - who knows where that might take you!

THE BEST THING: great editing and an escelation that shouldn't have worked, but it does.

THE NEXT THING: Hmmm I don't know what to advise here! Do the same thing again if you want? But also maybe take your talent and consider a more stock standard tale that could actually get you some more support in the judging realm. Up to you! But I personally would love to see more of this vibe in the future. Awesome stuff!

Sub-Par return with a step up from last years short! Great to see the school teams returning and continue to hone in on their craft.

This was by the far the strongest 'detective' short we got this year, with an excellent twist of the noir elements of the story being in the guy's head. It's got great style, great interior shooting and lighting, and a confident performance from your leads (even if they are swinging between kiwi and us accents hahahaha). A great score, a great final shot, there was a lot to love here! It's a shame it fell flatter for the judges. They thought the script was good, the story was mostly easy to follow and the choice to cut to colour to show reality was inspired.

Where the story lost us was the final conflict, and the cut to Lucas randomly attacking Zeph under the bridge, I still don't quite get what was being revealed here - are we saying that the whole interogation was in Lucas' head too? What layer of reality are we looking at in those final moments? Whatever it was you had in mind, sadly this is where it looses us and likely why it didn't climb higher on the judges scores.

THE BEST THING: The strong sense of style, and the goldfish line was *gold*

THE NEXT THING: It's funny to note the friendly rivarly going on between you and Dennistribe, and the fact that you both got noir so making the comparisons this year is actually a helpful exercise for noting strengths in both films. For you guys, your setup and style was stronger, but your ending was messy, whereas Dennistribe took a few minutes into their film to find it's feet, but it had a really strong ending. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, your film next year needs a sheep.

Team Abyssinian return with their strongest film to date! A really solid attempt at a tricky genre. The characters were well thought out, the structure and pacing between the rooms was good and the payoff of the silly painting was a lot of fun. "I wanted the one in Nice" was my favourite line, and there were a good collection of witty moments that gave each character a chance to shine.

There were a few key moments where the action is happening out of frame due to camera positioning (eg. The conversation with the girl about school/school break is happening while the camera is pointed at the leads back). One shot is a tough technical thing to carry the whole way through and unfortunately in a collection of really strong one shots this year, those moments stood out as the sort of thing that we would have suggested needs another take. Once the camera settles in place for the will reading, the energy and momentum of going from place to place unfortunately just sort of fades away, and the final joke is fun but it wasn't enough to really feel like we got a satisfying payoff.

THE BEST THING: A well orchestrated film with a consistent tone and unique and interesting characters.

THE NEXT THING: Perhaps a bit more drama beyond the characters not being fond of each other would have been the next way to elevate this story, and keep the momentum going? Maybe the guy isn't dead and he rocks up to his will reading? Maybe the painting is actually stunning and someone tries to grab it and run? You guys have a good knack for interesting characters and thoughtful use of genre, so we very much look forward to seeing next years entry as you continue to work on your craft! Well done!

Mime Time! Congrats on your shortlist spot!

This is absolutely the strongest contribution we've had from meme team so far! And I'm a bit sad it didn't get more love from the judges. I do get it though, while the setup and payoff are in my opinion very strong, and you had one of my favourite endings from the comp this year, the contents of this story sandwhich are pretty one beat. The guy talks to one person, *joke*, then another person, *joke*, then another, *joke*. A very witty skit, ultimately not enough for the judges to chew on.

Judges thoughts aside, I enjoyed it a lot! I absolutely LOVED the ballsiness of just setting up a family camping tent and going 'yep, that's the circus tent!'. The portrait element was excellently executed. There were some really slick lines that had the audience cackling, the energy of the crowd responding to this one was awesome.

THE BEST THING: A great concept that is delievered with another step up in the technical and production realm for this team, nice job.

THE NEXT THING: Give your lead more to do than tour around an area! Two years in a row now where it's been characters walking somewhere, interacting with something, and then moving on without much consequence. Take heart meme team! You have quietly become a chch staple that us regulars root for every year. We look forward to next years entry! And we promise to not turn up to the house uninvited and cause the computers to blue screen of death next time...

Naw guyyyysss I would have loved to see this one in finals! - by far the best film produced by this team so far. An incredible blend of super uncomfortable and super sweet and charming. The biggest comment from judges for this one was COMMITMENT - knowing what it was, unashamedly, and knowing it probably wouldn't be for everyone, but fully owning it. Also from the judges - a great use of genre! That should be celebrated because the judges are sticklers for genre, so well done!

Production quality also a step up from this team this year, while probably not quite high enough to compete with the top tier, it's a noticable step up from previous years and you should be proud of that momentum. Loved the music too! So cool to visit you over the weekend and see your writing process on that front.

The main feedback we have for where it needed work was simply escelation of the story. It's over before the crazyness has truly kicked off. We probably needed less setup time, and more time seeing things get truly out of control, before the satisfying resolution. You guys aren't ones to shy away from someone getting knocked unconcious and assumed dead! lol so that's probably the level of error and comedy it needed to get to for it to get more judges attention.

THE BEST THING: A confident short that knows what it is and entertained us very much, and another feather in the cap of an excellent team.

THE NEXT THING: Honestly, you guys know what you're doing, I have faith you will continue to improve! No strong notes, just keep it up!

By far the best film this team has made to date and so freaking charming. There haven't been many times in my life where I've heard someone go 'come on everyone, lets dance' and I've actively wanted to dance, but this was one of them hahahaha

Your characters are distinct, your editing was strong, your heist vibes were immaculate and your puppets were hilarious. Hacker rabbit was one of the best moments of the watching experience for me this year.

The judges weren't super gripped by it overall, although there are notes that it was charming and entertaining, and feedback that the energy was great but the technical craft would be the thing needing work to get a higher score. So take those thoughts as you see fit!

THE BEST THING: Hacker Rabbit ahaha

THE NEXT THING: Probably a similar thing to last years 'next thing', your stories are solid, maybe some investment into some lighting, lenses etc. would help raise the film making craft going on here and catch the judges attention a bit more. Nice job team, can't wait to next years entry!

Love it!

Ew but also... yes.

This is actually scary. The analogue, homemade and clearly fake gore actually added to what made this so disturbing. A million shots, all edited together in a feast of sensory overloading sounds and cuts.
It started awkwardly hilarious (The pen slide out of hand is our goat) and ended actually giving us tinglies.

It plays with the form itself and is more of an experience, than a standard grade film. It is effective. Evocative. Creative, Brilliant.
We think this is amazing. It doesn't fit in the box, which may hinder it in competitions like this. But when people say a film is art, this is the kind of thing we think of. One of our new fav entries of all time!