I'm extremely happy to announce that both the documentary, Caiden's Hope, and animation, Reminiscence, are heading to the UIL State Championship on February 28, 2024.
Judges' comments:
Caiden's Hope - Documentary
What a cool foundation! I had no idea! Very well done! Loved the VO over the credits at the end. Thank you for making this touching film that shines a light on an important organization that I knew nothing about (and I bet others would say that too). Good topic choice. The subject matter is dramatic due to its very nature. The pictures of the NICU babies really drew your audience in. Wrapping the story around Mr. Martinez and his family also drew us in. This was not a generic tale - we saw and heard the impact of having premature babies (and twins at that!) on a specific family. Powerful. Starting with his testimony really worked to open the film in an impactful way. We could tell that all the speakers cared about these babies and the suppressed emotion in some of their voices added poignancy to the film. The subtle musical underscoring worked. I really liked the variety of settings, framing, camera angles, etc. for the various speakers. It added variety and interest to the film, but there was not so much variance that it was distracting. I also thought you did a good job editing with the right amount of time on each interview and then a quicker editing pace towards the end to wrap up the film. Nice work!
Reminiscence - Animation
The color and design of the film is strikingly unique. The score enhances the tone of the film nicely. This is a dark story, but its mature themes are handled well. I love the bright bold red skyline juxtaposing against the grayscale. I love the hints of red in the fishing poles, the light, and the person's hand very nice detail. I like the juxtaposition of the hot dogs with the drawn elements in the dinner scene. I like the children in the class and hallway being these black faceless blobs. It allowed me to assign my own emotion and intent to their presence in the story. I like the transparent image of the soles from the pond, giving the definite feel of them being incomplete. Good storyline .......very timely. I really enjoy this style of animation. There's something about water and the supernatural that go so well together. The dimension you created with the souls needs to be further explored, maybe in a later series. Overall I enjoyed the film and wish it could be explored some more.
Wish the Skull Studios kids luck!