premiere had 12 films ranging from documentary to comedy to romance and a little sci-fi.1) Fish Out of Water by Kyle Pigeau - Apparently people find the word 'Yar' funny. The film had a very stylized animated opening which caught my eye, but the rest of the film was live and felt flat. The film was about a janitorial pirate you finds love. I thought the script needed some more polish and I think I only smiled once.
Grade: C
2) Collide by Ada Jules - I loved the idea, it has potential to hit home with the sci-fi fans and the romance films. The idea is that a guy gets the ability to learn everything there is about an object by touching it. He shakes hands with a girl and falls in love with her. The script needed a bit more polish (romance is hard to write, I know!). But it's the grounds for a good short.
Grade: B-
3) Love Doesn't Hurt, Only You - An interesting short with no diolog, only music. It played very much like a long music video. This short and many others featured copy written music which could effect them in the long run. My instructors always told us never to use copywriten music unless you have permission from the artist themselves. So placing the copywriting music in their short means that they can not submit it to film studios or other film festivals. The short itself could benefit from some cutting and shortening in a few places. For an example, I don't think the viewer needs to see 3 minutes of footage of people playing The Game of Life.
Grade C+
4) Crimson Steel by Brian Dycke - This one was interesting. It stars a guy with a sword in a Mafia movie, in Tokyo. Pretty interesting idea. Much like Loves Doesn't Hurt, the movie also featured copy written music and needs a few more polishing points, especially colour correction and audio sync. For an example when 2 people are sword fighting the swords are completely out of sync. Was interesting though.
Grade C+
5) Passing By by Kaylan Wiebe - A romance story about an actor who gets into a car accident and is paralyzed. The romantic lines and timing needed a bit more polish (I know, it's tough to write romance!), but it was on the right track. One thing I'd have more pronounced in the movie is the relationship with the actor and his friend who was driving when they got into the car accident. At the end of the film I was like: "Who is he? I swear he only had 1 line earlier in the film."
6) Fishers of Men by Cherly Hardy - A documentary question and answer feature about Christian religion. I have to admit, it started off very funny. I don't know what side was funnier, the question askers or the answers. But soon they begun to touch on some more pressing issues. One thing I must point out was a lack of commitment to style. There were questions being asked by people, screen shots and the people answering themselves. It's best to have a set set up.
Grade C+
7) In The Night - A very funny cynical and dark film about a guy's day and his thoughts on several things that he does. It was pretty funny.
Grade B
8) Candy Kane by Jordan Lange - It was nearly anime brought to life. Sure no giant monsters, but there was a scantly clad woman talking to a stuffed toy. It was twisted and a breath of fresh air.
Grade B+
9) A Lonely Day by Nick Starsky - A movie that used the power of green screen in the real world environment. Very surreal and boarder line "mind fuck". The camera man's shadow was vi sable and took away from the experience sadly.
Grade B
10) Untitled by Ryan Hiemstra - A wonderfully dark humoured short about 2 morgue workers. The reactions and set was very well done.
Grade B+
11) Work In Progress by Adam Kitter and Curtis Pittendriegh - After a long wait and technical problems the movie finally got on it's way and it was better then imagined. It was about 2 stoners who decide to make a movie about their lives and the problems along the way. The film had a ton of great gags, jokes prop humour.
Grade A
12) Pancake Day - Best for last I guess. This completely improvised movie was shot in less then 3 hours and was great. It told the story about 3 roommates who each looked foreword to pan cake day, the day they have pancakes. The over the top performance by Josh G really pushed the film down the direction it needed to go. It was shot documentry style and featured interviews with the characters which added to the comedy. Anyway, pan cake day turns bad when a new addition is added to the apartment (won't spoil it) and it turns the guys against each other. There's a great scene which is about 7 minutes long and is a confrontation of Chris about the addition and they pulled it off great, without a cut. Sure there were a few smiles, but they remained in character and the dialog was great for being improvised.
Grade A+
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