THE FILMS ARE ONLINE!
Yep – they’re all here. Tell your friends, tweet about it, put it in your Facebook status – help us give Tim, Kristi, Aya, Raj and Andrés the big break they’ve worked so hard for by getting their films seen by as many people as you can!
And, of course – discuss them below! Now, most importantly … is that popcorn ready yet?
– Your Big Break Critic
Gasp. Awe. Humbling silence. Scrunch-munch of popcorn.
yeah babyyyyyyy!!!!
Viewed them all and will send thoughts to some of the finalists. Based on first impressions I scored them and put “Sweet As” first by a whisker over two others. Granted, any of them are good enough to win.
Wow, congratulations to all.
My absolute favourite would have to be “Sweet As”.
It meets the mandate of showcasing “100% New Zealand” creatively by showing a variety of different landscapes within an very natural story line.
It shows positive interactions between different generations.
It celebrates the importance of communities.
It has both male and female representation.
It is fun and quirky.
It has a real story line with 4 very different characters that the viewers can identify with.
I had a smile on my face the whole way through.
Loved it.
Bravo to Aya and all who helped her to produce this gem.
Wow!!! Really loved all the films! I think they all had their strengths in different areas, but I enjoyed them all.
Rajneel, your film was a beautiful combination of whimsical and touching and I absolutely loved it. I think the editing and cinematography were particularly fantastic among the five films. I actually loved the LACK of dialogue, it made the film all the more spectacular to watch.
Tim, your film felt like true ‘Kiwi filmmaking’ to me. I think you must be a brilliant director to get such a great performance out of your actors. James Rolleston was just brilliant, and your screenplay was perfect.
Kristi, your film was very beautiful. You really utilised the natural landscapes of NZ and created a very touching story.
Aya, your film was a very peculiar brand of comedy! (The part about the baking competition made me laugh!) I think you cast it very well, and the music is perfect.
Andres, your film was simply amazing. I actually really enjoyed how it began, it struck a comedic chord with me. Then your work with digital effects was stunning. I think your idea was very creative and I really enjoyed your cinematography.
If I must pick a favourite, I think I’d pick Rajneel’s by a hair. Yours was the most logistically difficult, but you pulled it off with flair. Tim and Andres are close behind.
Am I glad I’m not Sir Peter Jackson and I don’t have to pick a winner. They are all amazing.
I just look at them as a movie go-er and not a movie maker. But here are my thoughts:
Rajneel: your movie is so happy. It made me laugh and want to join in with Dave with the jumping around when Lake Dave showed up.
Tim: I have to say that English is not my first language, maybe that didn’t help. For I did have some trouble with understanding the NZ-dialect especially the kid was speaking. But it was really a fun thing to watch and it truely showed te relaxed atmosphere of New Zealand.
Kristi: great movie, great actor, great music. I’m only not really sure somebody who hasn’t read the script understands at the first run when the shooting/shouting starts who is who. But you really used some great shots of NZ, it really makes me want to go back.
Aya: fun! It just shows you had fun and so had the actors, they really fit the part. What I’m not sure about, in your script Granny sends him of to see the world, and now to see the country. That was a bit of a give away to the clue that everything can be found in NZ.
Andres: Really funny. Especially the twist that the person in the first part is actually a giant. And if this break as a director doesn’t work out, you can always try at acting, you really did do a great job.
I’m absolutely not going to pick a winner. When I was writing this, I was thinking “who to pick”, and I just can’t find one absolute winner.
Great job done by all!!!!
congratulations to everybody on a series of brilliant shorts! blood sweat and tears went into each and every one of them, but it’s so nice to see that these five directors had great fun making them… it really shows. good job, guys and girls! you should all be very proud of yourselves.
PS: aya! I AM SO SO SO PROUD OF YOU GIRL!!! aaaah words can’t express it. you are 100% pure flippin’ sweet and i love you.
All movies are beautifully made….very impressive. No question that these five people have a great talent in making movies. Whicheve one is selected, I would not be surprised. Congratulations to all!!! So I list only critical comments.
(a) Blank Space : a beautiful cinematography. I enjoyed watching but unfortunately the message at the end is not very clear to me.
(b) Frosty Man : another beautiful movie. Unfortunately I had difficulties in understanding the young boy because of his very strong NZ accent. This accent would be great to NZlanders but a problem to foreigners, I am afraid.
(c) Something Special : I don’t know a war, a spirit of NZ and the beautiful scenery go together well.
(d) Working Day : I liked this one. It also presents the theme “NZ-the newest country in the world” very well. But the construction of NZ reminded me of an advertisement of Guinness on the TV.
(e) Sweet As : A lvery entertaining commedy. I think this is a most polished peace among five, but more attention should have been given to the credit which is too short and not integrated well in the movie.
My first choice is “Sweet As” , followed by “Working Day”.
Check out the YBB Facebook page for HD versions of the films. Really worth it! (FB seems to have better bandwidth,also.)
http://www.facebook.com/YourBigBreak
And “Something Special” particularly should be watched in HD!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150101516630711&ref=mf
Andrés te felicito, muy bueno. Me encantó la música y donde estaba ubicada, me dió risa cuando tragás la tostada Jaja.
Desde ya, mis felicitaciones por haber llegado hasta acá, obiamente espero que seas el ganador (cosa que no va a ser facil) pero aunque no lo seas, esta experiencia te va a dar un “gran empujón” para tu futuro en tu carrera.
Adios! Pasala bien.
_______________
Simply marvelous! Congratulations to all the finalists! You truly are masters of your craft!
Boy does New Zealand look stunning! If I’m not mistaken, all films were shot on RED?!
The final films are fantastic inspiration to get out there and shoot something beautiful! (so cheers Rajneel, Tim, Kristi, Aya and Andres! And cheers too to 100% Pure NZ!)
Humbled and inspired,
Jack.
Dear all,
First of all I congradulate all winners and for their films. They are good. Also I thank and congradulate the YBB group for arranging the contest. I would like to ask the jury for the suitability of the theme ‘100% PURE & SPIRITED NEW ZEALAND’ atleast in 3 films i.e.Blank spaces, Frosty man & the BMX Kid, Something Special. To some extent it’s covered in Sweet as and Working Day.
If the theme would have given only ‘NEW ZEALAND’ then all the winners suit the compitetion. I was more concentrating on 100% Pure & Spirited part and I think I have not understood the theme.
However they are good films and I appreciate the winners and wish them best of luck for their final round also.
God bless all
As a film novice, I was educated and entertained by the blogs and experiences of the finalists, and in awe of what was accomplished by them, their actors and the technical experts who worked with them.
As a New Zealander, and new grandmother, I feel that Aya’s take in “Sweet As” shows my NZ in a lively, intergenerational and engaging way – tells a great story well – and will give wide range of people a lot of reasons to think seriously about visiting NZ – well done.
Thank you, Aya! you have more than justified the faith of the very many who gave you the popular vote.
What a high quality Movie have you made Andrés!! the music is just beautiful, im quite sure that im not the only one wishing to hear a full version of that song.
You have quite a difficult competition, but im totally sure that you will give a good fight till the end. Now is up to the judges, but you have proved yourself as a talented young director
am hoping you to win!!
(aguante guadalajaraman carajo!)
CONGRATULATIONS TO EACH OF THE FIVE FINALISTS
WOW! WOW! WOW!
They are ALL very special, and BRILLIANT…
Written, Directed, PRODUCED Fantastic!
Congrat!
Loved all of them..
AYA, great great work
Wow!
BIG SMILES from me 
Brilliant.
Loved each momenet 
Rajneel, super mate, super:) loved it
Kristi
Andreas,
BMX Kid, the Best cast,best
Park Road Production team
Very very special work, superb quality 
Barrie Osborne
Bravo! Bravo! 
Thank you all for this blessed opportunity for us all
I loved each and every moment, it’s been emotional 
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE
Love from,
Mo
http://www.equi-lib-ri-um.com/
Hate to be the downer, but while each film is an interesting idea, I’m disappointed that this is the quality of the final product.
I believe Andres showed the most originality, but was brought down by poor technical filmmaking outside of the computer effects.
Aya’s piece was cute, but that’s all it had going for it. More time could’ve been spent on story and less on elaborate traffic signs and forcing the message – and it was so forced.
Tim’s film was a lot of fun to watch, but I feel he missed a lot of opportunities for comedy. The casting was perfect, though, bravo.
“Blank Spaces” was an ingenious idea, and it showed the best technical filmmaking. Perhaps too much so as many shots feel motivated by what looks cool more than what supports the story. That said, it definitely left me wanting to see more of Rajneel’s work.
Kristi’s story made me angry. While the payoff was clever, everything leading up to it was in the line of, “Irving the explainer.” Even with New Zealand’s landscape prominently featured, I felt the narrator was telling me how great NZ is instead of the filmmaker showing it to me. And when the flashback kicked in, how about motivating it with something? Or using your camera to enhance the stress and anxiety in the character instead of going to foot shots that show us nothing but the desperation of his boots (the scene between Redford and Pitt on the roof in “Spy Game” is an example of what could’ve been done http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PedtPtjP2w)? That’s not to mention that the screaming about, “Are we there?” sounds like it was inspired by what the writer thinks war is like as learned from war movies instead of real-world research (won’t I feel like an arse if Kristi’s a vet – but then you should know better! And even if it was dialogue straight from real life, sometimes real life it too real for the movies).
I offer this as a friendly criticism. Believe me when I say I’m far harder on my own work. From my experience a beginning filmmaker gets positive feedback more than negative – because people are excited for their artist friends, and because people want to encourage artists, both good things. So I offer my critique. I’m not saying my submissions were better. In retrospect, the scale of my pitch was likely bigger than what the judges believed a green filmmaker could pull off.
Overall, good work was done, but given the resources and prompt, I expected more. This also goes for the judges (who am I to criticize their selection? In the world of art I believe we’re all on common and level ground – think about anytime you criticized a movie/song/artist before telling me otherwise). I mean, an Iraq story, really? And one written and acted at Soap Opera quality? I’m sorry to pick on you Kristi, you showed some impressive technique, but not in your writing, and when it comes down to it, if it ain’t on the page, it ain’t on the screen.
We all start somewhere. I give criticism in the hope that it will help make the filmmakers better, and I hope that there are those around who will offer honest and blunt criticism to my work as well. It’s not fun to take it, but an artist is better for it.
Ya’ll have skills, keep sharpening ‘em.
Actually, it was Kristi’s film that actually moved me and reminded me very vividly why I absolutely HAD to come back to New Zealand after my first trip here in 2003, and why I spent almost two years of determined effort to get the work permit that allows me to stay here. Considering how much space Jake gave Kristi’s work, at least it pushed his buttons. The other films are some good work and ideas, made me chuckle, but did not really ‘take me there’. My pet peeve is Rajneel’s film. While it is very well done (as was his pitch), the idea of a guy putting his ‘claim’ on a pristine pure lake with PVC letters is awfully macho, not very ‘pure’ and has an underlying message that is far to colonial for me. Haven’t we pakeha ‘claimed and named’ enough territory that isn’t ours?
Whatever my opinions may be (and they are just that), I honour the hard work and passion and sheer heart felt determination that went into the making of all of the films and wish all the finalists the best of luck.
Very well made all of them – fantastic!
Actually I thought my favourite would be Working Day, but… Blank Spaces, which I didn’t really like very much as a concept, really made me laugh and feel great in the end. Good feeling =)
Difficult decision…
Thank you for a very entertaining competition!
Congratulations to all the filmmakers. Considering the timeline you all did exceptionally well..
My thoughts.. I agree with Jade. I thought production value & execution of Blank Spaces was excellent however we need to be considerate of what message we are conveying especially since the subject matter is about the history of New Zealand. I really enjoyed Sweet As but this film didn’t exactly reflect the origins of New Zealand – there were no Maoris. A rather great oversight of the origins of NZ.
Working Day was rather poorly executed and I think it’s a casting issue.
Something special did not embody the brief for me as I walked away sad and confused.
The BMX kid turned out better than I had imagined but would have benefit from various landscape shots of NZ at the end. If this is to promote NZ to people unfamiliar with the country, then we need more footage of NZ ..
I definitely agree with Jake. The quality of the films was a little disappointing. Of course technically they were all pretty well done, because they all got hooked up with professional crews, RED cameras, professional post production etc. so of course it’s going to look pretty polished. But the stories and execution were not as good as I think they should have been. There was a lot of competition going into this and I’m pretty sure several people that didn’t get picked were more experienced and worthy of “a break,” and had better pitches/scripts.
It seemed to me like the judges picked ideas they knew would be easy and inexpensive, which is understandable…but it’s also disappointing that they didn’t pick some more experienced/professional filmmakers who actually just need a big break! Like the two animators Cameron and Benny for example, who probably had the best pitch/script . Filmmakers like that are making films, they’re talented, but they just can’t catch a break to make it big. It’s kind of useless to give a break to someone who just likes movies or thinks it would be cool to be a filmmaker but doesn’t actually have any training, experience, or talent as a filmmaker. In a competition like this, such inexperienced people are just going to have their script completely taken over by the pros…story edited, shot, and post-production by pros and they’re not even going to know what it’s like to really direct a film. Which is what it looked like happened with a few of these films.
Sweet As is probably the best one. It had a creative style, cool shots, pretty good acting and characters. There may have been a few bits of dialogue that rubbed me the wrong way (probably the heavy-handed line at the end the most) but other than that it was pretty solid. It met the goal of showing 100% New Zealand in a good light (although the Youngest Country On Earth thing wasn’t really there).
Blank Spaces was probably the next best. It was simple, nicely shot, and just makes you feel kind of good by the end of it.
Something Special was shot really well (which is expected) but the voice over just turned me off completely. It wasn’t as bad the second time I watched it…but it’s just so on-the-nose and uncreative. We could have either done without the voice over (since the V.O was pretty much telling us everything we’re seeing) or it could have been more poetic and subtle. I also wasn’t crazy about the war thing…it’s not something I really wanna see in a New Zealand advertisement/short story.
The BMX kid was probably my least favourite. I could be missing the point, but it didn’t seem to have one to me. We didn’t get a very good look at New Zealand, the acting/dialogue was cringe-worthy (probably more the dialogue) and it didn’t feel like anything really happened. I remember being disappointed and surprised that this one got picked when I read the script, and it turned out to be exactly as bad as the script.
Working Day was one of the scripts/pitches I was actually pretty happy to see get chosen but it turned out to be one of the weaker ones. The beginning is a bit slower than it should be, the actor is quite bad, and I really think they should have re-shot the green-screen stuff of the guy ‘working’ on New Zealand because it didn’t look perfect, and didn’t match the image quality of the rest of the film. The Maori guys at the end were also really awkward. I wasn’t quite sure what was supposed to be going on there, I’m guessing they are mad at him for some reason, but it felt a little unclear or awkwardly directed…and I also felt that moment dragged on too long and was border-line strange.
That’s my opinion on the whole competition. It might be seem harsh, but it’s a harsh world out there in movie-making land.
These are all so talented. The stand-out for me is Sweet As and its easy to see why this one was the people’s choice. It is the only one about real people and in a very clever way includes a wide range of people, ages and sentiments. For a competition about NZ this is also the only one that showcases many different views of NZ and leaves me with the idea that I could actually do that myself without hiking gear and having to know god or be at the mercy of giants – all a bit scary. The one with the gurgling dying man in the background I had to stop – sorry just too too much information.
The poor judges have a hard job. Each one of these talented movies has its own grab I love Dave’s jubilant celebration – very clever short movie, but it’s all about him and isn’t the competition about NZ. Love the God BMX, but it is a bit sacrilegious and the giant one is a bit like an advertisement I’ve seen before.
Revealed so memorably in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, New Zealand is amazingly stunning, unlike any other place on earth.
All of five films makers truly deserved their Big Break. Congratulations to each of you! My favorites are Sweet As and Something Special.
Sweet As vividly portrays the real, yet undeclared, competition of most grandmothers. It speaks to the heart of our hopes, dreams, and expectations, incorporating the sweet, and somewhat loopy, love that we have for our grandsons. The film’s clever introductions, the grannies’ humorous behavior and expressions, plus the ordinary front yards drew me in very comfortably. The second grandson’s pursuit for excellence, combined with his sheer pleasure in creating “foreign” locations for her photo album, provided many laughs. A granny is never biased when the facts are so easily proven, is she? Very sweet!
Something Special has left an impression that I may never forget because it reached my heart, not just my mind or sense of humor. After watching it, I could not speak for several minutes due to the lump in my throat. It is visually stunning, the music was beautiful, and the locations selected provided gorgeous depths of field while constantly returning to an intimacy through the rock collection. For three minutes, I was also on this journey, hiking and climbing with Jimmy, discovering the unknown wonders, remembering a beloved friend, and capturing Miles’ dream of a place that was heaven on earth. Through Jimmy’s eyes and inner voice, I experienced his friendship with Miles who had passed on his dreams. Miles had willed Jimmy his greatest treasure and his vision, a love for the pure, 100% New Zealand, a very young land with untouched glories and countless opportunities. YES!!
Sweet As is the only movie that has real people in real situations admiring accessible New Zealand beauty spots. It has my vote. Good luck to you all
David,
I don’t like to wade into these discussions because I think the films should speak for themselves, but I really need to verify a point – that we, as filmmakers, got to FULLY EXPERIENCE what it was like to be the director of the film. At no point were we railroaded, handheld or forced or coerced by any of the talented professional cast and crew who worked on our films.
You may want to – at LEAST – read my profile and Tim’s. I’ve been working for 6 years as a writer, director and editor in the New Zealand film industry and have several short films, music videos and TV commercials to my name. Tim has been making films since he was 16 and has worked as an international stuntman on some of the largest films ever made and was certainly no stranger to working on a professional film crew nor getting his creative vision shot and edited exactly how he wants it to be.
I REALLY REALLY need to emphasize that the talented people who worked with us let us BE the directors and did EVERYTHING in their power to realize OUR vision. They did not creatively interfere in ANY way and often went the extra mile to try some of our crazier notions and ideas. To suggest anything of the contrary is speculation on a process that you did not experience nor bothered to do the research before laying such accusations.
Our films are LITERALLY our own – if you hate them then that’s fine. If you think that we’re bad filmmakers or untalented then that’s totally fine too.
But please don’t accuse the professionals who ran this competition of creative interference when they worked themselves to the bone to ensure that all the directors were made to feel like superstars and visionaries for every single moment of this production. If you’ve never worked in the film industry then you may not be aware of the kind of dedication people like these have towards realizing a director’s vision, but believe me it’s phenomenal and almost never acknowledged.
If you hate the films and then blame the filmmakers.
Please go easy on the crew. They were just doing their jobs and doing better than most.
PS – TIM has shot a FEATURE FILM under his own financial power that won awards in international film festivals and also got local distribution. I suggest you guys check it out. Andres has also shot a feature film under his own steam and is developing more stuff back home.
I think this definitely fits Dave’s notion of “people who are out there, making stuff, and not catching a break and not getting enough of their stuff seen.”
So believe me – the effectiveness of the finalist films rest on the filmmakers shoulders who – for the most part – had the experience to know exactly what they were filming.
If the film sucked for you, blame us totally. We had total control and it IS our visions realized on-screen.
Don’t blame the crew.
After looking on the films a few times I still find well done under the circumstances – but I must say I am quite disappointed with the production team.
Interestingly enough it now says “Executive Producer = Barry Osborne” in the after texts of the films – when the competition was announced, it said that the films would be produced by Barry Osborne: in fact, that is what it still says in the Your-big-break-logo up to the left.
There is a world of a difference between a producer and an executive producer. I understand now why the quite experienced director Rajneel Singh was the most successful in finishing his film: the others could definitely have used some advice and direction from a good producer, as well as some tips from a dramatic adviser and a creative director of photography. I had thought that that was a part of the competition-idea, but obviously I was wrong.
Once again, I really appreciate the work of all of the directors, and I know myself how difficult the job is. You all did very, very well! There are some mistakes here and there, but hey – we are all learning =) Keep up the good work!
I of course mean the your-big-break-logo up to the RIGHT =D
I would just like to add to Rajneel’s post …
I played a small part in one of these films (not saying .. do your detective work if it’s that important) and i have to say that my director was totally at the helm of the production.
As with any good director (Manager, CEO, etc), advice was taken from the professionals hired to produce these films as far as the technical side of things, but the vision was completely theirs. i saw ZERO hand holding, babysitting, steering, prodding or anything else that would detract from what this particular director had in mind.
I am very proud of the work we did, the casts, crews and last but not least my director.
these 5 finalists were not picked up off the street and handed a camera.. these 5 people have earned their stripes in many related fields and deserve 100% (geddit?) to be here
the film I had a part in is up against some very stiff competition and, for once in my life I’m GLAD I’m not Peter Jackson
good luck to everyone, and no matter the outcome.. please don’t give up.. we all want to see more of your work in the future.
Enjoyed all 5. Nice work. Sweet as…is just sweet!
I think it’s important that people don’t speculate on the filmmaking process when we have no idea or insight into it. Just give positive feedback or constructive criticism on your views on the films..