Patricia

A Million Years

The editing was excellent. It cut well to the soundtrack. The VFX were extremely well done. The world building in the script was accomplished. The humour in the film will play well to a cinema audience. The story touches on a nice moment with a human message. 

Worlds Collide

A heart-rending sci-fi drama. Well performed (they did well working with the child). The production design and colour were effective, although the house could have had more signs of the family unit. The final VFX shot was impressive. I felt the reaction to the child being taken away was understated; it could have been played more, but that may have led to melodrama. 

Whites In Their Eyes

Some technical issues: sound issues; typos in the subs.

I found the ending to be anti-climactic.

It’s an interesting way to look at man vs. technology. The frustration of speaking to a customer service rep comes across. The VFX are okay, and the lighting and cutaways to the dark space are effective.

Watchtower

Plays like a proof of concept for a much larger piece. I’m not sure I understood the story – the start of a conspiracy with clones? The location was excellent, the lighting was good, and there were some memorable shots (the silhouette at the window and the drone shot at the beach). However the story wasn’t there.

The Night After

Some clever concepts. The smoke and lighting were well done. I found the static shot with timeline jumps (before the autocratic emperor is revealed) to be effective. 

The end credits ended abruptly. The black and white TV interlude felt out of place. Good ideas but generally talky.

Stolen Thought

The editing and pacing are frenetic (in a positive way). The locations are well selected. The music was effective. In general the performances were strong. The conspiracy twist was a good reveal. However I’m not sure that I understood the stakes in the story: there’s “getting caught” and “working with them”, but the place they were going and the task were unclear (was it to find the plant, or turn on the synth air?).

Late Night Show

The opening shots are pretty amazing. 

It’s admirable taht the filmmaker aimed to shoot by “candelight”. However using battery candles makes the lights flicker in a rhythm. 

Some of the shots were effective. The cuts to a person in a dark room were meritorious. However the shots were overall too dark, the storyline (a man from a Western being abducted by aliens?) was not clear enough, and it was told to us by voiceover instead of visually.

Fallback

They really lucked out with the locations. 

Some effective scenes. The confrontation in the stairwell was well done. I felt the motif with the coloured drinks was unclear, and the story felt as though it lacked substance. They tried to cover too much in the storyworld and would have benefitted from focusing on one moment instead of packing in so much.

Somewhere

The cinematography is excellent. The soundtrack is effective, very Steve Reich / minimalist. 

The pacing dropped out when the narration came in. There were some production design choices that I felt needed more consideration: the colour scheme was good, but would a severely dehydrated woman have perfectly painted nails? even if the colour matched the flower and suited the colour scheme? 

The story did not have a resolution.

Taken Back

I like the message – the failed escape of a cult. 

I felt there were issues with sound levels and colour correction. 

The montages worked to show pain inside the protagonist’s head. The masks were effective. The script built a sense of intrigue. 

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Ben

STOLEN THOUGHTS 
Professional – cinematography, performances, script, editing, music

TAKEN BACK
Lovely style and story

WORLDS COLLIDE
Good performances from the female leads

FALLBACK 
Nice pacing.

WATCHTOWER 
Nice production design and cinematography.
Odd performances.

A MILLION YEARS 
Nice idea, good comedy pacing

SOMEWHERE
Good make-up. Red wash a bit much.

THE NIGHT AFTER 
Nice film noir piece
performances a bit wooden

LATE NIGHT SHOW 
Nicely shot

WHITES IN THEIR EYES 
Good use of music at start. Nice VFX

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Suzie

Worlds Collide

 I liked how simple this film was in terms of its setting, but it felt like a complete story and created an emotional connection with the audience in a few minutes. I felt like I cared about the characters despite the short time. Well done! My only constructive piece of feedback would be to trust the action/visuals more and lose some of the exposure in the dialogue – that would increase the tension even more and maybe use camera shake to convey the feelings of turbulence/world crumbling a bit more. 

A Million Years

This was the most original concept out of the shortlisted films. I loved the use of colour and music. Felt like I was watching a 1980s film. Great fun. The only thing I would say is that it felt like there was too much emphasis on giving the main character (the cab driver) a deep back story – felt that was a bit too much for a 5 minute film and distracted a bit from the fun around the original concept, might have been better to complete a short and funny story arc with the characters in the back of the cab. But great job overall and I look forward to seeing this made into a longer film.

Stolen Thoughts 

Stolen Thoughts: I loved the first sequence – was great at establishing a chaotic, tense and dystopian world. Story-wise felt like maybe a little too much to pack into 5 minutes. 

The Night After

 The Night After: a complete story in 5 minutes, fun, entertaining and quirky.

Late Night Show

This was so bizarre that it stood out. Refreshing concept – felt like the Twilight Zone from the 1980s. I usually don’t like too much voice over, but thought it was ok here.

Taken Back

I liked the combination between paganism and sci-fi. Felt very Wickerman or Picnic at Hanging Rock to me. 

 Whites in Their Eyes

An interesting concept and definitely one of the more unique ones from the shortlist – felt quite like a mini Black Mirror episode. I wonder if we could have had a few more clues earlier on around where it was leading to – that the mum was sort of forcing her daughter to undergo this therapeutic treatment?

The Watchtower 

Nicely shot, great effort and nice sets as well. Would have cut down on the exposure in the dialogue as most things should be implied by looks and maybe not so much in the dialogue. Despite the exposure in the dialogue I still wasn’t sure what was happening. Felt like an intriguing trailer for a TV show (which I would have loved to watch) but couldn’t see a clear beginning – middle – ending that I would expect from a short film. The quality of the look of the film was excellent though – felt very professional, so I look forward to seeing your work in the future.

Fallback by The Jungle

Great sets. Felt there was maybe a little too much to pack in, in terms of story in 5 minutes. Think it would make an interesting, longer short film. 

Somewhere by The Motley Crew

There was a creepy ethereal feel about this which was spine chilling, would have liked to see where it would go next.

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Chee

A Million Years

I thought it was a fun, quirky and clever concept. Enjoyed the short.

I thought this idea had feature potential. Reminded me of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. I liked the ambitious nature of this short, with costumes, characters and vfx.

Perhaps not as cinematic as the others but I thought it had a lot of interesting ideas which could be explored further.

Worlds Collide

Strong, heartfelt Performances. Well shot. Intimate and a good reveal/ twist at the end.

The Night After

Fun film and concept. Good performances. Simple premise but feels like it could be expanded into a feature conceptually

Fallback 

Concept is strong

Good atmosphere and tension

Good intriguing opening

Good use of locations

Somewhere

Good use of sound design and music

Well shot. Strong visuals and good tone to the piece.

Stolen Thoughts

Good opening. Good atmosphere

Felt cinematic. Good ambient music

​​​​​​​Some strong visuals

Nice to see an ensemble

Taken aback

Good visuals

Nice tone to the film

Good performances

Quite unique in its approach

Wicker Man vibes.

Watchtower

Good production design, nice cinematography

White In Their Eyes

Interesting story on how we are becoming more and more reliant on external devices in our lives. Unique concept.

Late Night Show

Interesting approach to the storytelling. Quite abstract. Interesting visuals.

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Celia

A MILLION YEARS 

Great Scott! How is it even possible to have made that in 48h? Did you time-travel, or? 

Very funny, touching too, and incredibly creative. I would love to see this turned into a feature someday !

TAKEN BACK 

Beautiful ! A unique take on the sci-fi genre for sure. 

It’s mysterious, eerie, and surreal, and looks like a Magritte painting at times.

THE NIGHT AFTER 

Solid cast ! Cinematography looks sharp and pro. Loved the film noir, the humour, and the costumes too ! 

Always great to end with a good old fart.

WHITES IN THEIR EYES 

Creepy Black Mirror style story, well done ! 

Very effective way of conveying episodes of dissociation. And super cool FX !

WORLDS COLLIDE BY TEAM NEVER COMING BACK

Great way to build tension as well as a touching story in such a short amount of time and simple set up. 

It gave me chills !

STOLEN THOUGHTS 

Very solid pacing, and some impressive VFX.
Each character seems to have a backup story. Lots to say in such a short amount of time, and it all feels coherent.

SOMEWHERE 

Very poetic and dark. An intriguing premise that seems to open the door to a great story, in just 3 minutes, wow !

LATE NIGHT SHOW 

Love a good mix of sci-fi and western. It was smart and a very mysterious fable. 

A very eerie atmosphere. Well done !

WATCHTOWER 

Cinematography looked great ! Impressive.
Sound design was a bit too busy maybe. The ending is very intriguing, I want to see more !

FALLBACK 

Great use of decors, gives it an expensive and grandiose look. 

I particularly liked the performances. It feels like a maze !