The Mis-Take

I think one take is a tough genre and you did it brilliantly. All the chaos going on around him, and the way the shots were shot felt seamless. I need to go back and rewatch because I don't know if it really was one take and you all nailed what you were supposed to do, or if it was very smart filming, timing, and editing. Either way, amazing job

Incredible one take film due to its sheer complexity. The amount of planning and rehearsal that must have gone into this is amazing, such a large cast and all played their parts well. Most especially, well done to the on-set director, and whoever was behind the camera!

Impressive work on this one. Fully immersive in the mad tension and no moment feeling out of place, all flowed natural as

This is an amazing film. I suspect this will be the best One Shot films this year. You really understood why scenes are usually filmed in one shot and fully leaned into it. Unlike some of the other one shot films where the one shot feels like a hinderance to the story telling, I can’t imagine this specific story being told in any other way. 10/10 use of genre. Also ofc the choreography and acting was top notch.

Also, this is clearly an Ara team, but I’m not sure if this is NASDA or screen and filmography or a mix or whatever. Anyway, if you are at least partially NASDA, I’m disappointed you didn’t do musical, because it’s so rare to see people lean into the musical genre properly, and we all know for a FACT, that the NASDA students can sing and dance. Seeing that would be magical.
If you are in fact not NASDA, then I have no notes and your film was perfect. Great job! I hope and expect to see it in the finals

I was fully gripped from that first image, with the use of multi level movement and smooth camera work that constantly landed on the marks... until... it unfolded to "one take of chaos". If there was a bit more going on story wise this would have been a magical - the type of film we all dream of making.
Don't let that detract from the incredible work and achievement it was to pull something like this off - I fully get how hard just a short simple tracking shot is, so this needs to be noted how great this whole thing is.
Give us a little bit more story and this would be a master work.

What I liked:
Super coordinated one-shot utilising, unless I’m wrong, the facilities at NZBS. Lots of energy, movement and OTT performances to match the chaos of a TV shoot gone wrong. Loved all the little things going on in the background. Sound and cinematography are well-controlled, and to my eye there weren’t noticeable cuts.
Take it or leave it:
Basically, it’s a lot of shouting, right? And while this fits the story and the problem to be solved, it can get a little tiresome. I was hoping for something bigger at the end, and while it does tie things up, there’s no real redemption for our lead. But hey, rightly or wrongly, he sucked, and the industry is tough, so fair enough.

Final hot air:
A top production, and if the judges see enough story, you may find yourself at the CHCH final for execution of a one-shot alone. Great job!

My jaw hung agape as this played. The camera work and choreography is stunning! (Aside from one brief out of focus moment).
Many oners restrict themselves to one framing, staying as mid shot for the entire duration. But this had distinct planned frames. When he walks up stairs it becomes a close up on his shoes. When he's in the control room it's a back-lit wide. And most innovatively, it transitions to POV!
And the chaotic energy is wonderful.
Unfortunately, that's all I can say as positives. Because this had nothing in the way of plot. I probably could name 2 things that actually *happen* in this movie. Which is something that I usually wouldn't be worried about with such a complex scene in this competition. But this was one take! What did the crew do for the rest of the weekend?
They could have genuinely spent 40 hours writing the most intricate, character-driven deep and meaningful story and still had a whole 6 hours to rehearse and perform the scene (I imagine audio and colour wouldn't take more than a couple of hours. Especially when you have immediate picture-lock). Squeeze everything you can out of every hour in the weekend!
It may sound harsh but that's because this team is clearly so skilled. I really did enjoy watching the film. I was just left wanting more when it ended.

As a take goes amiss, a runner learns the hard way just how chaotic a day on a TV show set can actually be.

Beautiful work NZBS students! This was a whole heap of chaos that just put a smile plastered across my face! Fantastic use of the Broadcasting School TV studio (and what a great way to use that children’s show set in the off hours of your study ((I work at Ara and mayyyy have borrowed some lighting gear this year and was told what was going on in TVBlock haha))), you really used what you had available to you to your advantage. The camerawork was slick, and transitioned from scene to scene near flawlessly, my gosh capturing your lead’s feet as he ran up the stairs, shifting back into the control room, beautiful movement!

My only note would be echoing what others have already brought up - the story is lacking. Having a bit more of a narrative, allowing for some quieter moments to mix in with the loud chaos may allow for more dynamic energy levels than simply ‘sheer madness’ and could help elevate the film even more so. But in saying that, the sheer chaos you’ve created is so well crafted - it’s clear every beat was planned for and nothing felt unintentional in its delivery, so well done there!

A great polished entry already proving your skills for the industry! Congrats on getting shortlisted, I hope you all make it to city finals!

Pure chaos! (in a good way!)
great cinematography

Best one-r film of the comp so far, I would love to know how many takes you did and how you blocked everything.

This film absolutely blows me away with its beautifully orchestrated chaos. It feels like some CG trickery is being pulled on me the way the smooth shot just keeps flowing and actors keep reappearing here, there, and everywhere. A lovely stunt thrown into the middle of it all. The performances are stellar too – so committed and funny!

Excellent use of your enormous cast and crew.

Maybe there's room for more story and character development? But I dunno, it's so enjoyable exactly as it is – a vignette of cruel colleagues, incompetence, and the madness of a TV set!

How many takes did this one take take?? I hear it was exhausting! Sorry we missed out being able to hear the rest of your process when we were chatting on finals night - I look forward to connecting with you guys again in the future so I can hear more about it, maybe at the schools/tertiary workshop next year!

I have dabbled in complex one shots myself, one time with a cast of over 60 kids, so I know the plight of the cinematographer breaking their back trying to get this thing right. And I also know the feeling when it finally, FINALLY comes together, and everybody is estatic. I have the biggest respect for you all! The cinematography win combined with the director nomination is no small feat for a tertiary team, you should be super proud of that result.

You did well to know your strengths and lean into them. Having a location like that is an absolute slam dunk for this kind of thing. The whole production felt very genuine, I think I recall you saying you had just wrapped up some sort of childrens TV assessment? That checks out!

Here's where things start to get a little shaky though - while the commitment from your entire cast was outstanding, you all did look a little too young for this story to be convincing. Having someone say straight to camera 'You haven't got what it takes' when everyone in that circle look like a bunch of first year B-schoolers was both hilarious and a bit of a draw back for the overall thing. Perhaps theres a tweak in the story somehow that puts the incompetent nature of the whole team in question, as opposed to picking on the one guy? But then you'd loose that fantastic ending shot of everyone yelling, so maybe it is ultimately a taste thing. Still, the biggest gripe to come out of this was that it didn't have enough context to feel anything for anyone, so it may have been entertaining, but there wasn't a story to follow - and story is king in 48hours!

THE BEST THING: An incredibly slick choreographed piece with every member of the team laser focused on it's quality, fantastic work.

THE NEXT THING: Being entertained is one thing, being moved is another! You have your technical nailed, now it's time to bolt it to a spine of a story that nobody can ignore. Get that right, and you'll be taking out this whole competition! Bravo Egors Ensemble!

Damn team! Amazing stuff! Was great to have a quick yap with you after the finals. I said it then, and I'll say it again: I'm sooooo unbelievably pumped to see what you guys do in the future of the comp. If you're pulling things off like this with your first film, it's only a matter of time before you're taking out the whole thing. Just need a good story, and you're there!