I agree. Set bumps are evil.
The characters reaction is perfectly reasonable and appropriate for such a tragedy.

I like the contest idea; conveying story without dialog. As for your adapting to it, that was top-notch. The story was perfectly clear, and it was easy to tell the tone and feelings of the characters. The ending was a fun twist on the

idea. Having that mirror the story was just pure genius.

The scale shot at 0:36 was also a great way to give us a close-up of the, erm, ummm... tragedy. However, from that movement, until about about a minute into the film felt off. I understand you were trying to go for the slow-mo feel, but I feel that a single slow-mo shot followed by a rapidly cut series of high-movement scenes (somewhat like the shots at 1:00-1:10) would have kept the short from dragging, as well as added more impact to the emotion. (The pacing and cutting feel more natural in the second go around at the end.)  I did really like the last 30 second or so following the twist.

It could have benefited from more sound effects. Perhaps more ambient noises, as the world simply didn't sound full and alive, but again, even without all that, the story was clear, the emotion resonated well, and you did a good job.

It was a fun look at the tragedy of brickfilming accidents, with a clear story, and a great twist. You excelled through the limitations of the contest, and made a fun and meta film. I like it!