Smoke and Mirrors

Very fun, very cute! The choice to do a musical without music was....interesting. Im guessing this film had some extra ideas that didn't make the cut due to time (such as the greenscreen mirror) but that's all part of the charm! The crowd had a great time with it!

A lovely family of songbirds with uniformly great chemistry and different levels of singing skills brings a much-needed “Les Mis” flavour to this otherwise very grim and serious tale of a family who stumble across a haunted mirror which spells trouble for them and in a BIG way. I think? Not sure what was going on. Not sure what’s more impressive — the winning verge-of-laughter performances or the loophole they found for getting around having to compose a bunch of music.

What I love about this film is that your singing is atrocious (sorry, but I think you already know that and it's part of the joke), and yet you just went for it. But most crucially, ALL OF YOU went for it (well, enough of you to fill the acting roles, maybe there was a shy sibling behind the camera!).

Most people would be too worried about what people would think. So most families might have one person who was willing to do something a bit crazy, but the others wouldn't be willing to join in. But whoever wanted to do this was supported by the others, everyone went along with the nuttiness together, and the result was brilliant.

You've got a great family, and I hope you all had a great time making this!

This is a fun film that the heat audience enjoyed, with exactly the vibes that we love about 48Hours.

The film begins with one earnest voice in song, but one by one, every family member succumbs to the power of the acapella musical! Fun, cheesy rhymes abound.

The gang of judgy women at the garage sale look visually distinctive as they form a united front against the lead.

Alongside the story of a family turning their life into a heartfelt musical, we have a great genie-style story about a magical mirror. The team didn't have enough time to do their greenscreen composite, but I could see in my mind's eye the shots they were going for and completely understood the storyline.

This film takes the realities of parenting an adolescent and ramps them up to a supernatural level of absurdity. What better way to do this than with a story about dating gone wrong?

The moment where the mirror-girlfriend-genie offers the guy her bracelet was clever storytelling. The fact that she couldn't put the bracelet on him (he had to do it himself) had vampiric undertones, strongly implying that he would become trapped in the mirror. But while I could see it, he couldn't. After brief protestations, he relented. It's great when an audience figures out what's going on but a character doesn't.

I'm not sure what to suggest for the future. Keep experimenting. Keep having fun. Keep honing your art and figuring out what works. Keep finding more people to collaborate with. 48Hours is the perfect space for it!

Great dedication from the whole family! I loved the singing every line, everyone committed 100% and it was so good! The Dad's lines had me in stitches every time.

I have watched this film 8 times now. I've shown my wife and my writing partner and it is my favourite film of the heat. It's an absolute travesty it didn't make it onto the shortlist.

It's charming, self-aware with deeply commited performances from all involved. I'm sure this conceit must have been done before in 48, but I haven't seen it and I absolutely love it!

What makes this film so special is the ever-present sensation of actually being there on set. I feel somehow as if I'm a fly on the wall at a table read for a musical prior to any musicians arriving. This makes the whole thing feel strangely voyeristic, like I'm somewhere I'm not supposed to be. But what starts off uncomfortable, quickly leans so hard into its format it's impossible not to root for everyone involved. By the time the 4th-wall-breaking dialogue comes along, we know we're *allowed* to laugh at this and everyone is in on the joke.

Beginning with the slightly problematic "magical black person" trope (whose cadence in this immediately reminded me of the Cucumber Man video!) we're transported to a world where everyone sings what they want to say with seemingly no concerns for melodic or rhyming structure. Soon after we're presented the outstanding delivery of "the gays, Jim!" which, in three short lines, sums up a whole generation of well-meaning people doing their best to learn and grow along with the landscape around them. Immediately after we're hit with the "woke, not awake" line to hamnmer home this point. I thought this was a lovely little interchange as the punchlines were never targeting the subject.

The husband's pained expression during this interchange really made me laugh. I felt this kind of anguish percolating within him every time he knew he was about to sing.

From a storytelling standpoint, its well-worn landscape - but it doesn't seem to matter! The beauty is in the form it took and the enthusiastic participation of all involved.

Side note: I was a little confused by the piece-to-cam at the end as I assumed it was meant to suggest her looking in the mirror. But the mirror was already broken? Maybe it's mystery not meant to be solved!

Overall a brilliant achievment I personally feel was robbed of a place at the finals. This film may not have been for everyone but I totally and completely get it. And loved it!

What I liked:
Silly and ultimately dark “musical” that is strangely captivating. Enjoyed the spilling of the coffee. A family that just sings everything is not a bad approach in this genre without the burden of having to create any music to go with it – although in your credits you did do one actual piece of music? The dad is pretty funny, and the girlfriend/siren has some decent sass.

Take it or leave it:
The lack of music makes it all more painful at points. While some of the lyrics are funny, nothing is particularly catchy as it’s all one-note. Focus on your macro shot could have been a bit sharper. The film feels very long!

Final hot air:
Great enthusiasm with a difficult genre. Well done for taking the more challenging option.

Huge reponse from the crowd for this film! We were really happy you chose to take on Musical - I echo the words of a previous 48Hours Manager, "Musical shouldn't be something you can opt out of!"

You were the only team brave enough to take on this challenge in Chch this year, so that on it's own earns you a massive round of applause. Choosing to go for it, regardless of musical ability, is what makes gems like this one shine.

The story was pretty sound! technical faults aside, it was mostly easy to follow. The rules around the mysterious girl were maybe a bit muddled, but overall the structure and pacing of each part of the story was well thought out.

For me the highlight of the film is the father's gripe with singing - I wonder whether focusing on this aspect of your story as the A plot may have strengthened the argument that this is a 'musical', and maybe it would have simplified some of the challenges that you face getting all the other plot information across to the audience. I see a version of this entry where the entire premise is mum and son trying to convince dad to sing along, and in my mind it's very funny haha, maybe next year you'll get alternative dimension movie and can tell it exactly how I have in my head and no other way :P

There are some real ambitious folk on this team. I appreciate the hustle, and your contribution to the community we have here.

THE BEST THING: oh for fuck saaaaaaakkkee has become a bit of a regular vocal stim for me, greatly appreciated while driving in traffic

THE NEXT THING: I reckon the main thing I can say is sometimes simple is better, we see that a lot in this comp. A simple idea told well can often trump complex tales, for both the judges and the audience (although in this case the audience lapped up what you had to offer regardless). Very much looking forward to seeing a film from this team next year!

Really appreciate all the reviews, thanks to everyone! Love em all!! Yeah totally know I cannot sing! he he
we didn't get our cool special effects done for the comp..here is the link to the edit with special mirror and green screen effects our editor did
https://youtu.be/VuWpIFcF6R0