Rootclip

You all win this week. Loved the editing and the effort put into the make up. It was nice simple editing that added to the story. You all have wrote better submissions, but this was still very solid. I liked that we got a nice ending that wrapped things up for us.

I was underwhelmed by all submissions. The storytelling for "The Hard Goodbye" and "White Out" was difficult to follow. "Fly Away, Seabird..." was silly. I give a nod to "The Hard Goodbye" for visual execution. You were ambitious to select multiple locations. Nice make up. Solid editing and good use of effects. Sound design is weak. Poor marks to everyone on writing. Too bad that there were only three submissions. Overall, all every team did some nice work. Best of luck to everyone.

Nice attempt at tying up a storyline that had gone haywire. Liked the use of prior footage. Glad you tried some new editing tricks. Not sure we understand what caused you to end up in a cardboard box, but maybe that's just the way it is with mind-controlling cel phones (not much research on the subject).

Joel and No - if you had used the characters and style you ended with - it would have made things a lot easier. You always have some interesting shots. Audio suffered for the most part (a problem that has plagued many of your scenes). You started this messy story line - and even you couldn't finish it.

Team Black Rock - you made a stab similar to Render This, just wasn't as slickly done.

Against The Clock - do you feel better now that you've gotten that off your chest? It WAS funny, and you have some valid points that we will address up front the next time we undertake this project. However (and now I'm going to sound like my 9th grade English teacher) because you have the knowledge to spoof situations, you obviously know what probably should have been done to succeed - "at this time, in this venue, with these judges, etc.". I also believe if you had expended as much time planning, shooting and editing all of your other submissions, as you obviously did on this one, our story may very well have taken an entirely different track. Talent and success in the public media are often two different things (heck, look at the dreadful writing George Lucas got away with in the Star Wars prequels!).

More questions than answers.....That's how it is after looking at the unsatisfying conclusions. All in all, it's a "..Hard Goodbye," in more ways than one.

"White Out" starts with a bang, has real potential and then seems to run out of time. "The Phone...It's Hot" isn't a bad premise but the execution is flat.

"Hard Goodbye" and others have some audio problems, but by default it's the most even and holds interest the best for me. It's the most satisfying end to an interesting exercise.

Judging Rootclip has been fun! It's great to see the students work.

Definitely this time "The Hard Goodbye" is the best, but in each case the narrative and how to convey a narrative thread (both from past chapters and within individual chapters), well, that seems to have become more and more elusive each time. At least "The Hard Goodbye" strove to work back in many earlier elements, and frankly it led to some coherent closure. But were there supposed to be one or two phones at the grave site? (I think he tells Annie about not ever being able to find the phoneS.) "Fly Away Seabird," well, I did like a number of your earlier chapters. . .but the device of making it almost a mockumentary, or at the least just self-reflexive at the end. . .eh. However, at least I could follow how you went from one aspect/scene to another. "White Out," again has some nice tech and spfx, but as for being able to tell a coherent narrative. . .still not so good. That switch to the apparent interrogation scene--why? To what end? And "The Phone. . .It's Hot" was hard to follow bc it kept breaking up/freezing temporarily. So, I have to give the nod by a lot this time to "The Hard Goodbye."

Overall, this has been a fun and interesting experience to judge. I must congratulate you all on some fine work. Making these under such time constraints cannot be easy, especially since you doubtless have other courses and other demands on your time. But every week, every project had some fine moments. Just do not forget to keep in mind that in crafting films or television fiction--STORY IS KING. That means characters, clear conflict, and a followable through line to the narrative. Oh, great spfx and tech and cinematography and editing and sound work are all important--but STORY drives the engine and gets your spec script and pitches purchased. Keep at this--I saw signs of lots of genuine talent. And I hope to be able to again judge this project in future semesters if given the chance.