Sci-fi London 2024 48hr Challenge – Panel Feedback.

Gavin Saville

Rapier’s Folly
A nice skit; well-shot, well-acted, and well-timed twist on the man in the shed. I mean who doesn’t like cats videos.

The Newcomers
Nicely done. Thoroughly enjoyable. Nice prop suit, lovely gun blasts. Nice alien invasion short. Fog hidden aliens good but leaves options to work the concept in many ways.

The Minimalist
The slow walk was amusing but it left me wondering; could have been played straight rather than for comedy. The variation in locations and setups must have been challenging in the timeframe and is applauded.

You Must Be Tired
Brave subject matter handled in a sensitive way. Nice production values. Could easily have gone young and been distasteful but sensitively handled.

Parallel
This was sooo bold. Very nice. Only thing is that it seemed to be more comedy than scifi but I did enjoy it.

A Small Detour
Nice concept. Nicely performed. Worthy of a rethink and make into something bigger and longer.

The Under Current
Surreal, a touch odd, generally interesting, sound mix distracted a little. Some nice imagery and performances were good.

A First Move
It felt a little like they stuck exactly to the challenge brief. I liked the concept but didn’t put their own stamp on it enough.

Out In The Cold
Good attempt. Tried to cover a lot of ground in a short time. Liked the attempt to use colour for atmosphere.

Echo Chamber
Daft, a bit silly, good fun. I love my toaster… but not that much.

Kelli Maroney

A First Move–clear story, great performances, especially the clone, and I wanted to see what the actor was going to do to not let the clone just be destroyed.

The Echo Chamber—Loved the toaster! Clear story.
Rapier’s Folly—-cat videos! Clear story and insightful premise.

Parallel—Clear story and coming up with Broadway stylings on such short notice is a bold and committed choice. Great comment on the current state of the US’s political “dilemma.”

The Under Current-–Use of the teddy bear that became “real” was unexpected.
Out In The Cold—Clear story, very “The Twilight Zone” twist.

The Newcomers–I liked the contrast of the light dialogue and the way it was delivered juxtaposed by the suicide mission ending.

You Must Be Tired—Beautifully shot and a pretty clear story.

The Minimalist—Clear story and a sophisticate way of handling the enforcer aircraft.

A Small Detour--they were able to show what happens to a person when they take them over–the physicality especially.

I keep saying “clear story” because I’m in awe of the skill shown here to create characters and a universe and tell a story with beginning, middle, and end in such a short amount of time, both screen time and the 48 hours they had.

Alexander Milas

Parallel
I laughed. I cried. I feared for the future. This is one of the single greatest short films I’ve ever seen — the absence of fucks was noted and appreciated, loved it so much I watched it three times in sequence. Bravo.

rapier’s folly
The only issue I have with this film is that it isn’t science fiction. You know this is exactly how humanity’s future plays out. Lovely homage to the HAL9000 (lives)

A small detour
Great dystopian concept, brilliantly told in such a dense timeframe and all about acting, storytelling, and bringing big ideas down to Earth and quickly, loved it.

Newcomers
Holy fucking shit this was great fun, and kudos for the shoulder mounted minigun: whatever the buget, this felt like prime-time Hollywood if Hollywood had a clue about how to put great sci fi together these days. Whatever you’re doing keep doing it. Chill-inducing.

The minimalist
This had such a great feel to it all — funny, well observed and so brilliantly put together — hats off to the actors and director who brought that wryness out in everyody.

Out in the cold
Awesome John Carpenter vibes and great gore — good work!

You must be tired
What fantastic VFX and a creepy thought provoking concept. Well done and I can’t believe you did this in 48 hours! I wanted to ‘get’ the plot as it passed me by a little the first time is the only thing keeping me back from totally loving it.

The undercurrent
Super cool and stylised, and m god that little bear creeped me out. Genuinely unsettling. I don’t know why. Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone for the modern age. Lovely.

A first move
Dark as you like and completely believable,real twinge of emotion when the clone reveals his likely demise. Nice work!

Echo chamber
Very interesting concept — big ideas brought down to micro scale. Would love to see this extended to a feature!

Timandra Harkness

Parallel
Funny set up
Great use of songs
Lovely way to explore ethical/emotional aspects of being human
Wonderful ending (LOL)

Rapier’s Folly
Good set up, intriguing start
Nice character acting
Good simple props and visuals

A Small Detour
Intriguing, dramatic, great build of tension.
Simple, effective visual storytelling.

The Minimalist
Good set up
Nice relationships between characters

You Must Be Tired
Good visuals
Intriguing but inconclusive
Good use of tension & change of mood

The Newcomers
Great first shot through fog & great costume/props
Nice relationship between characters

Echo Chamber
Nice storytelling
Funny performances
Mysterious

The Under Current
Nice use of sound & camerawork
Surprising set up – intriguing
Tantalising – story set up but doesn’t get very far

Out In The Cold
atmospheric
Nice twist at end

A First Move
Nice set up
Chemistry between performers