Rumour

Visually, this film is exceptionally polished. Great cinematography. Great "hacker" user interface on all the computer screens. Really believable $100 notes in the envelope. Well done!

In many ways, the film sounds great too, with good music and sound effects. The main area for improvement in this department would be capturing the dialogue better using a boom mic, lapel mics, ADR, or even a hidden phone near your actors' mouths. Clearer dialogue would help the audience understand the storyline better. I caught a passing mention of NFTs, but I didn't really understand the film until a second viewing with subtitles turned on.

Adjusting the sound levels may also help, to ensure the dialogue is louder than the music and sound effects. If you're using a video editor with an audio meter, the 48Hours film submission guide gives some advice on the peak decibel level you should see in the audio meter for speech (-10dB), the loudest sounds in your film (-6dB), and background/atmosphere audio (-18dB).

NFTs are a cool basis for a story, but what's missing is some kind of plot twist or surprise ending. Next time, think not only about what could be a cool concept for a story, but also the emotional journey you can take your audience on with some twists along the way. Can you trick your audience into thinking one thing, then surprise them with something else? Can you find a clever, subtle way to foreshadow your ending right at the beginning of the film without giving it away?

You're a very skilled team and I look forward to seeing what you bring to the competition next year!

THE BEST THING: The look on this is excellent! The shots and the colour grade is very good, real Mr Robot vibes. Some sick transitions too.

THE NEXT THING: What is missing is the story. We couldn't really hear the conversation at the start, and because that conversation is where he learns whatever it is he is chasing, we spent the whole film not knowing what he was after or why it mattered. So the next step is not more style, it is stakes. Looking forward to seeings next years entry! Well done team.