http://reviews.v48hours.co.nz/reviews/2011/wellington/16/ruby-red
Ruby Red
by Traces of Nut feat. EPC
Region: Wellington > 16
Genre: Musical/Dance Movie
Average:
4.2
Number of reviews: 5
samwitwicky
Musical is always a tough one and being a fan of other Traces of Nut films I give the team credit for bravely going with a more serious tone, although I will admit I was waiting for an opportunity to laugh.
Some nice individual songs, good sound, very high production values, solid performances and I liked the attention to detail with the old car. Was that the Empire in Island Bay set dressed as a different named picture house? The poignant ending was nicely done.
Robbie Ellis
Damn near perfect. They did a serious musical - hard choice, but they pulled it off. Set in a cabaret bar, the costumes, make-up and demeanour were all fantastic. DOP deserves a medal too.
Richard Falkner's music was convincing. Nice intercutting of the couple on show to the public and couple in private in their dressing room - made that rhyme and was quite impressive. Style-wise the music complemented the visual décor but went further as well - the percussive sequence in the car I thought captured his character's emotion very well. Gemma Boyle's voice and acting were spine-chilling. Picture and audio synced perfectly, as far as I could tell.
What initially felt like disconnected plot elements resolved itself in a very very powerful way. I was going to give this a 4 for confusion until a lightbulb went off and I got it. 5 stars, no question.
I was a dick and only gave them my 2 points in Heat 16. Four reasons:
- This film was head, shoulders, chest and stomach above every other film in the heat, so they didn't need my 3 to win.
- Their whole cast & crew, and the cast & crew's fan club turned up. They didn't need my 3 to add to it.
- I quite liked Typhoid Films' one and I wanted to see it get representation in the audience vote.
- This team wiped the floor with my team in the Musical stakes. Yeah, we had the catchy tune but they had everything else. So I was jealous enough to be a dick and give them only 2.
steelpotato
Ruby curtains give the backdrop for a burlesque-ish singer who sings about love; you can't take it if the other person won't give it to you.
We then go back in time to a jazzy tavern/pub where our lead actor when asked to dance by his gal advises that whilst she will always be his, he's not the sort to meet the parents. Their flirtatious behaviour is too much for the manager of the establishment though, who doesn't want any bloody babies running around.
However that issue does rear its head in short time, but with a bit of wire that issue could be resolved, right? Our lead laments his options; you can't take a child on the road...but it would also mean being a dad.
Quite a serious effort from Traces of Nut/EPC, the set design was phenomenal.
stringbean
Another impressive effort from Traces of Nut, Ruby Red was a serious Cabaret style musical that had some brilliant acting and singing. This was the best in a competitive heat.
The set design was amazing, I couldn't believe the attention to detail, such as the posters and the car. Gemma gave this film a powerful opening, the juxtaposition of the couple was very clever, and their song was great.
The story was solid and I loved how all the strands came together. The cinematography was brilliant - the shots were beautiful and varied.
It was a shame that the group before them had used the same coat-hanger gag as it did detract and take away some of the tension.
I also felt that a small section of the film was weaker than the rest, the section with the Father song up till when we go back into the dressing room, but this is minor considering how good the film was.
Traces of Nut FT EPC have continued to show us why the are one of the most feared teams in 48hours because it's pretty hard to compete with that.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Heats are on
I'm gonna hit some heats tonight and write some reviews... you can read reviews here... of course I'll post up our reviews here after our heat on the 30th.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Our Heat at Readings Cinema
HEAT SIXTEEN "Reading Cinemas 30 May 2011, 8:45pm"
After our heat, we can put our film online for you all to see! oops no that's a mistake (thanks Matt) - We have wait til the finalists are announced or even later if we are finalists...
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Ruth says...
She is burning off the Test Export now.... Me, Joelle and Adrianne are going down to the finishing line for the first hand in! Pretty soon.
Down time
Becs here, on the final day having a spot of lunch care of Grisham, another amazing meal! A few finer details being bantered by Sam & Dean. It's such a contrast to see such calm and quiet after so much madness and mayhem!
And now as I write, the girls are playing dress up with all the fun props, wigs and party fun stuff... yay. Playtime to the soundtrack of Richard & Jess singing their duet.
Now for unit to pack up... x
Blog Ness!
I slept in this morning til 10am! Which is fine because my job is mostly done and had a beautiful sleep in the tent in the backyard- which is the quietest place in the house. The post crew are editing - Sam has been going most of the night, Matty got up and is at computer too. Richard and Jess are recording vocal tracks, and I am sitting in Kates office blogging, its pretty trashed in here ripped apart to create a set in another room.
Ness
It's That Magic Late Time Bubble
I am Richard, and I have been given the helm of the blog for a short while. You may have noticed a recent blog entry which describes us doing our last set-up at 8.40. This is untrue. It is 12.27 am on Sunday, and we are actually filming our third/fourth-to-last set-up. I'm not even sure. I do the music, for the most part, with the colossal assistance of Davie Hoskins, and his mercury voiced partner Gemma, who I left with a vague reference for time/key and a bunch of lyrics (mostly by Sam and Dean). All her takes are like frozen, sharpened polar bears that strike through your very core, thaw inside you and eat your innner penguins. It is possible at this juncture that I am betraying a little of my sleep dep. It has been pretty damn full on. TBH this morning, at about 8am (no sleep), I held grave fears for our film. Seeing the edit come together and hearing the music come to life today has breathed some heavy damn vigour into our shit. I really hope it all comes together with the promise we are seeing at this point. Loving 48 Hours again (thank god) for now (god there's still tomorrow to survive).
Signing off.
Dickos Fortuna
Signing off.
Dickos Fortuna
Big thanks to our locations!
Times theatre in Kilbirnie- Thanks John. The most charming cinema in Wellington.
Manon Restaurant was also a great location, full of character and atmosphere! Thanks David.
Manon Restaurant was also a great location, full of character and atmosphere! Thanks David.
8:40pm on Saturday and we are setting up our last shots for the shoot this year...fingers crossed! Manon shoot was a particular highlight - what a beautiful location!
Now the actors have some downtime, there are some pretty interesting topics of conversation being covered thanks to a certain Kent Lambert...
Adrianne xx
Now the actors have some downtime, there are some pretty interesting topics of conversation being covered thanks to a certain Kent Lambert...
Adrianne xx
Friday, May 20, 2011
1940 props or Cossies
It looks like the time period i s 1940's, if anyone has any suitable props or cossie options.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Competition starts tomorrow at 7pm
We have got some amazing props and locations lined up, some great actors and the crew is ready. We are going to spend tomorrow setting up the post production equipment at Kates. Then it all starts at 7pm. I will let you know what genre we got and the other elements we should include. Exciting!!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Thank you to our sponsors!
We have some awesome sponsors which help make this competition possible for our team.
Thank you to:
The Learning Connexion School of Art and Creativity
Starnow
Opportunity for Animals
Steve's Wholesale
Parade Cafe (yummy coffee!)
Thank you to:
The Learning Connexion School of Art and Creativity
Starnow
Opportunity for Animals
Steve's Wholesale
Parade Cafe (yummy coffee!)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)