There’s not going to be a lot of lead-up to this short. First, I must thank one of my frequent readers for suggesting it to me, as it is a short I truly enjoy. As for the film itself, this is what happens when Salvador Dali meets Walt Disney, literally.
Destino
This is a short film that was created for a contest Quentin Tarantino ran as part of a promotion for his upcoming Django Unchained. Below you will find the winning entry by Brazilian student filmmaker Edson Oda. Oda, per reports, is heading to USC for his masters.
Here is Oda’s Vimeo blurb:
This is a short film a created for the Quentin Tarantino’s Emerging Artist Contest to promote the film Django Unchained.
“The Writer” tells the story of Pedro, a young cowboy who defies the writer of the short film (me). I used the footage of the film “Day of Anger” and changed the dialogues in order to create this comic book world ruled by the sacred script.
It is a really fun, insightful and creative short. I hope this film is allowed an Academy Award qualifying festival because it’s certainly deserving. I do recommend you watch fullscreen to not miss any of the text.
Enjoy!
The Writer from Edson Oda on Vimeo.
Here’s a film that very quickly proves that shorts can have layers to them and also have pretty interesting structures. There’s flashback in here but it’s not in your face about it, there’s a precise trigger but that comes later and there’s a bit of psychology at play too as the subject of this piece is re-examining his life because of a rather mundane, yet significant moment he’s going through.
I also enjoy that this short was created based on a monologue and produced by a theatre program for young people. All in all it serves everyone who comes in contact with it, artists and viewers alike.
A classical animation style rendition of Red Riding Hood wherein the Big Bad Wolf has the nursery rhyme equivalent of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome? That’s what Disney’s Oscar nominated Red Riding Redux offers. It’s a hilarious tale with workplace teasing, the wolf married to a sheep, a celebrity voice cast, modern twists, pop culture allusions and much more. It’s a wonderful marriage of Disney fairy tale-telling and Looney Tunes style zaniness.
NOTE: Please forgive the inconsistent quality as it appears to be a dub of a VHS screener that has seen some degradation over time (Ah, the wonders of VHS).
Typically, these shorts come to my attention on Twitter either randomly or directly from feeds I follow. As I was watching many a short one day to make these posts I noticed many of them cam from Short of the Week. They really do have great stuff and post great blurbs. I really adore this short and the blurb that accompanies it by David Masters, so I have quoted it below. Enjoy!
Living in an average British suburb, Barney drives an average car to an average office where he works an average job. He’s an average bloke, with one important exception: he lives life upside down.
On a technical level, Reverso gets everything right—quality 3D animation, realistic lighting, and complex yet easy-on-the-eye rendering. Yet in today’s democracy of filmmaking, technical ability isn’t enough to stand out from the crowd. What makes this film special is its bold visual storytelling.
Reverso is a masterclass in how to tell a story without dialogue. Strong characters and visual cues are used to establish viewer expectations, build the conflict, and draw the story to an inevitable conclusion that despite its sadness, is also uplifting (both literally and figuratively).
The filmmakers devoted careful thought to establishing characters through visuals. Barney, the lovable protagonist who navigates his upside-down world with a cheeky smile, and moves his too-long limps with lolloping grace, is based on a chimpanzee. Barney’s Dad, a soft, kind, maternal man has the rounded belly of a greedy gorilla, and spends his whole life wearing pink slippers. The office bully, Humphrey, is petty and mean, with the ugly face and sharp features of a rodent.
In its visual-only storytelling, its choice of office setting, and its thematic focus on difference, Reverso is reminiscent of the Jaime Maestro animation FriendSheep.
Reverso is a playful story with a serious message. Launched as part of the ArtFx school’s 2012 promotion, this is the first animation featured on Short of the Week from the Montpelier-based school of special effects and 3D animation. If it’s a sign of what’s to come from ArtFx, I’m excited to see more.
A film actually bereft of dialogue that beautifully captures not only a ghost town but communicates a longing that is beyond words. Through the old man’s attempt a past that is forever lost is communicated and an impact is created in three minutes that many features cannot accomplish.
With The Dark Knight Rises coming out next weekend I thought it appropriate to finally check out and post this short. In just three minutes you get a pre-cursor a glimpse of the brilliance of Chris Nolan. Its seemingly minimalist in story and set, but as per usual, his story is much bigger than its trappings. That’s about as much as I care to say, lest I come too close to giving something away.
Enjoy!
This past Sunday I detailed some films both that I had seen and not yet seen based on what their location was in honor of Canada Day. In that post I also detailed my difficulty in locating films for certain localities, most notably the Yukon. Well, sure enough one of my wonderful contributors @poced thought one up and linked me to a video shortly after the post went up.
City of Gold is not only an Oscar nominee for Best Documentary, Short Subject it has also been cited as an influence on the works of Ken Burns. How this is so should be fairly evident early on as this film is date 1957 and Burns was trying to convince people his techniques would work on a film about the Brooklyn Bridge in the late 70s and Early 80s.
Aside from the importance the film claims in the progression of documentary aesthetics, it is a great story about Dawson City, Yukon that is wonderfully executed. The script, which has to be strong for a film like this to work, is captivating; and the conjoining of archival photography and contemporary motion picture footage is compelling, and some of the images are magical.
OK, I will readily admit that this one is a cheat as it is not a short film per se but rather a trailer. However, oh what a trailer it is and on the heels of yesterday’s post regarding the general terribleness of the form I felt this was an appropriate antidote.
For below you will witness in about two-and-a-half minutes much of the tone, the concept behind Marcell Jankovics’ The Tragedy of Man and a lot of the story. However, what you don’t get in its entirety is the epic sweep of the 2 hour and 40 minute tale, the precise allusions and comparisons only intimations of what they are.
Here’s the article on Cartoon Brew that made me aware of it:
One of the most unique voices in animation, Marcell Jankovics, the Hungarian director of features like Fehérlófia and shorts like Sisyphus, has completed a new feature. And this is not any film, but a two-hour, forty-minute epic that was in production for nearly 25 years!
The film, Az ember tragédiája (The Tragedy of Man) was released in Hungary last December. It’s adapted from a famous Hungarian play of the same name written by Imre Madách. A film review by Vassilis Kroustallis suggests that it’s relentlessly bleak and somewhat repetitive, yet worth seeing:
Lucifer, the co-creator of the world (according to his statement) tests Adam and puts him to sleep to see his destiny through the ages. The trip is interesting, visually stimulating (but never pretty), and relentlessly repeating. Not a single note of happiness or laughter enters The Tragedy of Man, which proceeds from the Garden of Eden to Egypt and then to classical Greece, Rome, Christianity and beyond…The choice of the stories to tell is varied and remarkable. Along with the usual historical suspects (Danton and the French Revolution, Hitler and Stalin), the Miltiades story from Greece (a general who becomes a traitor), and the Tancred and Crusades segment—along with the battles on the Filioque—are a treat to watch in this context.
Jankovics’ work is always a unique visual experience, and one expects this to be no different. Aeon Flux creator Peter Chung described Jankovics’ style best when he wrote that Jankovics can “make the movement a primary aspect of the design. Every element—character & setting, foreground & background, color & shape, is integrated into a total composition in motion. It approaches the idea of animation as a visual equivalent to music, with analogs to melody, rhythm and harmony working in a non-literal evocation of ideas and feelings.
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At last the trailer:
I know after having seen this I am going crazy with anticipation to get a chance to see this film. That’s just based on the trailer alone. You combine that with the fact that this is film is based on a play that spawned one of my favorite films, The Annunciation, and it’s a must-see in my book anyway.
Now, to make up for the above cheat, here’s an actual short of his entitled Sisyphus.
Wes Anderson’s film Moonrise Kingdom, which will be reviewed here shortly (Hint: I liked it), features six fictitious books that are Suzy’s (Kara Hayward) favorites and she reads from constantly. Aside from having a heroine who is an avid reader, thus encouraging reading in general, the film is also very creative in making these tales. Not only does Suzy read aloud from these imagined tomes but different artists were commissioned to create the covers and also animate this short film, which is not only entertaining, but gives you a glimpse into the world of this film without spoiling it.
Enjoy!
The Movie Rat 