Our contingent always seems to make a special occasion of it by meeting up before hand to indulge in a splendiferous meal at a local hostelry. Thus with a satisfying aura of well being the band feel in a more fortified position to withstand the brickbats of critical disdain from the judges which might fly in their direction. Brickbats there were and from the direction already indicated but this was somewhat mollified by the fact that the majority of the audience preferred our entry over that of fourteen other. The comments below reveal the judges impartial opinions and thoughts on our efforts.
The Judges Comments: THE PHONE CALL This was a good idea, well written and acted, but a bit slow. The editing needs tightening up, reaction cutaway shots, especially close ups of the other members of the group, would have broken up the rather long winded shot of the man on the phone. Sadly, good as this film was, it was let down by the punch line which became too obvious after the second purchase.
Ray Puleston
The punch line really fitted a one minute film. I agree that you needed to develop the build up for longer, but felt you over did it and the irrelevant shot of the barmaid at the start did not help. Acting, visuals and general sound was good, but the woman sounded as if she was doing voice overs. You should have recorded her actually speaking over the phone. Lastly, a man playing along when he realises he has been taken for somebody else does not really fit the theme.
Richard Mercer.
It didn't matter that this was essentially a shaggy dog story and an old one at that! It was a good gag that had me smiling at the end, but I felt the film was visually dull - essentially a man taking on the telephone. I thought in parts there would have been a tighter editing in the phone conversation and I felt the opening credits could have been more imaginative.
Roy Haynes.
Alas our film did not get the backing from the judges to go through to the final but we must congratulate Barbara & John Gollop who worked quite hard on the project and gained the appreciation of the audience. It seems that some people just don't have taste!
Norman Bull |
