First off, I was wondering why they called this a short film when it was 50 minutes. I realize a feature is normally 90 minutes, and a short is normally 5 - 20 minutes. This one falls into a different category though. Anyways that has nothing to do with the film.
First off if you read my reviews you will no I'm not one of the people that write a 10/10 for one title and that's it. I watch and review a lot of movies. - OK now that all thats' out of the way.
Last year a movie called "ink" came out. This was probably one of the best low budget films I have seen in years. Impulse Black is probably going to be my favorite for this year (Under 100k). I actually saw it on their Vimeo; I was watching the trailer and the next movie up on their Vimeo page was the movie. This movie doesn't follow a typical heroes journey, and there is not an inciting incident, or at least there wasn't one that I could point out. It basically throws you right into the action. At times it's day dream / to reality gets confusing. The acting is very average, the lead "Riley Cole" does a decent job, but 80% of the cast need to be switched out if there is a remake (Also I would switch Riley out if there is more money put behind it). The Voice Over gets very annoying, and I would almost suggest that they trim it out; as most people in Film Schools learn Voice Overs are only used to tell what you can't with visuals - or to lead you into a flash back. I think the Director watched to much Dexter, as I can see it rubbing off greatly in the style and writing.
The camera work at times was very progressive. While it's not anywhere near the Caliber of Lars Von Trier, it is a big step away from the Classical technique we have all become so accustomed to. The best thing about this film is the Concept, The Director, The Execution of the Idea. The Things that are holding this film back - Money, Good Acting, Back Story (Rewrite of the script), and the Director needs to better understand the Principles of classic film making (I've never seen so many breaking of the 180 Rule in my life). He has a great eye for a good shots, but I feel like he's lacking in the principles.
This film was also over color corrected. My best guess is that it was shot on a 5D Mark ii, and a lot of people over color correct with DSLR's, which is a shame because with light color correction you get really beautiful shots. This entire film needs to be re-shot and the director needs to take a step down and AD under a person with a bit more experience. I would say if he had been able to pull better performances out of his cast, this movie might actually win some awards.
All and all, it's worth checking out. I doubt most will make it past the first 10 minutes, and with a bit of money, some better acting and directing this movie could have been on shelves and in theaters. "Great concept, and you can tell they poured their heart into this film, just not enough money to make this a contender"
