Score: 8
"Tight Visuals"
date: October 6, 2009
I would hardly call this preachy. I see here an old preacher who's lost his family, so he walked away from his faith, and took his life. Yet in the afterlife (very nice depiction! Gondolas, Elevators, Ferries), he still went Up.
I've witnessed something similar in my life already (and I suppose this is my interpretation); I don't see why people believe that suicide is an instant ticket to hell. I'm thinking it's a scare tactic used by the Far Right-Wing influences; however justifiable the motive may be, I think it's an incredibly misleading (rather, completely off-base) concept. I don't think God's some sort of prick who wallows over technicalities; I mean, Christ is supposed to mediate that sort of thing, no? Anyway, I come from a religious background, if it wasn't obvious, so that's where I'm coming from with the interpretation. :p
Anyway... the film: it looked nice! Again, I loved how you differentiated between Earth and Purgatory. The sfx were spot-on, and the glow/blur effects were used nicely. However, when the preacher gets on the ferry, the chain-link barrier is severely rasterized, while the man's silhouette is vectored (very smooth). I'm not sure if that's a contrast you were trying to make, but it seemed to take away from the quality of the scene. Overall, it was an excellent short! =]