Field Theory by Hadyn Green

Just to expand on my humor trumps all comment if I may. The funnier the film is the more fun I can usually expect to have making it which, for me, is the ultimate goal of the weekend.

The film I worked on last year was one of the 3 dramas that filled out the top 3 in Wellington last year, and I have to say I was surprised. I think it was the judges trying to send a message that they were looking for something 'deeper'.

I'd rather see the lulz though. We just got drama as a genre. Hard to make that super-funny without contravening the rules...

Yeah, and props to the teams that try to do something serious and succeed. There was a really good one last night at Heat 1 of the Auckland screenings to do with dreams and the like. Really quite good.

I think it was the judges trying to send a message that they were looking for something 'deeper'.

As a Wellington judge I don't think we are ever trying to send a message as such - we are looking for films that succeed on their own terms. If you're trying to be funny, then be funny. If story is most important to you, make it a great story.

Last year our top three were simply the films we were most impressed with (and could watch multiple times and still be impressed with) - and then Peter Jackson trumped us with F*Dance (which was great) and it went on to win the entire comp. So what do we know...

Well done for picking out my, er, deliberate mistake there, Hadyn. Oh, the irony. I think I may have been a bit harsh on the character names and lines given out every year. Whilst there are occasionally silly names (e.g. Alex Puddle, Bodil de Rezney), mostly the character names and the lines are conducive for the whole spectrum of gag to serious. I think I was just a bit worked up about getting "Educational" again.

(Actually, I'm probably more worked up about the previous "Educational or Religious" genre being changed to a straight "Educational" genre for this year. I think, given our constraints, actor and location, we would have enjoyed "Religious" a lot more.)

And José's first comment is interesting: for me I would probably enjoy making a serious or scary short more than a comedic one.