Review of 'Witches Brew' which can be found here on Vimeo.
Length: 03:00
Written & directed by David Lilley
Genre: Comedy
Date: 2013
Rating: ★★★★☆
Rating: ★★★★☆
Logline: Two witches plotting to take over the world have their plans thwarted by a third witch who's preoccupied with finding love instead.
Produced as a submission to the 2013 Reed film competition, this will have been written to fit their remit which this year focuses around the concept of 'Ambition'. This is a fun piece which blends tongue and cheek comedy with a fantasy setting to create a well rounded sketch.
Acting by all is nicely over the top, almost pantomime-ish, but totally in-keeping with the tone and humour. Anna Gilthorpe takes the lead role of wayward romantic Selena and does a great job of making her character differentiate from the other two typical witches. There's a couple of good laughs in there and the dialogue makes good use of the rule of three structure. I like the writing a lot although suspect it may have looked better on paper as it sounds on screen.
Location and set design is fab and handheld camera shots and adequate edit do well to cope with the limited space. The soft lighting creates a warm look without being too dark and also helps mask some of the harsh make-up used on the witches. Special effects too are used sparingly and are competent enough to work. This is a dialogue heavy short so music is a less important feature and is kept mainly to emphasise the end punchline which it does well.
Produced as a submission to the 2013 Reed film competition, this will have been written to fit their remit which this year focuses around the concept of 'Ambition'. This is a fun piece which blends tongue and cheek comedy with a fantasy setting to create a well rounded sketch.
Acting by all is nicely over the top, almost pantomime-ish, but totally in-keeping with the tone and humour. Anna Gilthorpe takes the lead role of wayward romantic Selena and does a great job of making her character differentiate from the other two typical witches. There's a couple of good laughs in there and the dialogue makes good use of the rule of three structure. I like the writing a lot although suspect it may have looked better on paper as it sounds on screen.
Location and set design is fab and handheld camera shots and adequate edit do well to cope with the limited space. The soft lighting creates a warm look without being too dark and also helps mask some of the harsh make-up used on the witches. Special effects too are used sparingly and are competent enough to work. This is a dialogue heavy short so music is a less important feature and is kept mainly to emphasise the end punchline which it does well.
Best Bit: Well done to the art department.
Worst Bit: Whining voices may grate a little.
Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.
Hi Lee
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed the film.
David