Here are some individual reviews of films that stood out for me for one reason or another:

-How Did That Make You Feel- (Ruby Jones, Aliqa Sendyalaras, Laura Womg, David Ludlow):
I didn’t believe the set was really a psychiatrist’s office. It looked too much like they’d just found some stuff in an old classroom and pieced it together. Also, there were some definite technical faux pas, such as including a take that prominently captured a crew member in the mirror for a good five seconds. The male actor wasn’t overly brilliant, but the female actor who played the psychiatrist was quite good in her role.

-Dirty Laundry- (Lucy Forge, Adam Tzinis, Sheau Huey Wong)
I was quite interested to see this film because we made a film out of the same script. Needless to say, our two films are radically different. To be brutally honest, I think the creative forces behind this film could have worked so much harder at making it a more innovative and exciting work. They went for some sort of horror angle, which I don’t think really worked. The script contained so much potential for creative exploration, and this film went down a more predictable route. I was slightly confused by their interpretation of the story. I was thrown, because I read the script as a metaphor for a bad first sexual experience (entering the basket= a vagina, and so on and so forth). The look of the film was quite generic and didn’t really carry any dramatic weight and wasn’t visually atmospheric. I didn’t think their “Granny” (who had evolved into a young man) was very menacing either. Having said all this, I may just have my David Stratton hat on because this script and the project was so close to me and it has been living inside my head for three months. Maybe I’m just being overly competitive and I am just picking at the film because I wanted our version to be the better adaptation of the script. Either way.

-Lucky Game- (Eric Calatayud, Sarah Furness, Melissa Toh, Aloysius Teo, Hui Xiong)
I really really really liked this film. It’s definitely in my top list of films from the screening. I thought it was so well cast, and the child actors were so believable and were actually better than the actors in most other group’s films. I also loved that it had a light and positive mood, whereas most of the other films were sombre and angsty. The visual style was really impressive and the audience got a kick out of some of the little visual gags. Very entertaining!

-Cake- (Shereen Tan, Pei Tan, Kapila Selvadurai, Diana Tjoa)
This film was quite awkwardly made. The actress looked really uncomfortable and her lines were quite incoherent. It was such a bad idea to have her talk to herself because it looked so unnatural and silly. It sort of looked like it was filmed on someone’s handicam too.

-Sneaker Spastic- (Maria Skog, Vanessa Gerdes, Goi Azua)
This film was quite bizarre, and not in a Lady Gaga or David Lynch way. The choice of style was just so odd and clunky. The shots were framed in such tight close ups that it was impossible to really see what was going on. Also, there was a ridiculous pin-hole effect used, which I cannot see any reason for what so ever. It looked like they filmed it in the corner of a room and just stuck some newspaper on the walls, which absolutely ruined any cinematic illusion. The acting wasn’t the greatest either, but, then again, it’s difficult to gauge because the sound effects drowned out their lines.

-How Did That Make You Feel?- (Rosie Holden, Melissa Edwards, Jessica O’Farrell, Ned Considine)
So so so good. This was shot beautifully, I thought the set was totally convincing and the actors were wonderful. The colour grading was perfect and the choice of music was so effective. It was a most entertaining, intelligent and humourous work. Thumbs up!

-In The Dark- (Flavia Browne, Gina Liu, Diane Vu, Alana Ward, Nick Schomburgk)
This film was possibly the most professional-looking. The colour grading was excellent; it was dramatic, but still naturalistic. Quite well accomplished. Also, the actors delivered perfectly subdued and convincing performances. This was a most mature, beautiful and intelligent film. Kudos!