Short films; while they don’t have the same broad appeal of your king-size film, there’s definately some out there which are worth a few minutes of your time. Okay, so they won’t have the same character development, special effects or action packed sequences as what’s in your box office at the moment, a simple few minutes sat down in front of Youtube or flicking through a DVD compilation is a bize sized introducion into the director’s imagination, and while there may be the usual cannon fodder of student portfolio pieces with dodgy dialogue, both professional and up-and-coming filmmakers showcase their talent through the media. Without further ado…
5) POUND
Director: Evan Bernard
Released in 2007, this video is incredibly complex in it’s simplicity – the basic premise is two people meet, who then for about a minute engage in a truly sterling example of how to do a handshake. After which, they look at each other for a brief moment, before doing a goodbye handshake – again, humorously complex. After this, a brief “see ya”, before one of the men walks around the corner and does it all over again with another person (obscured by credits). Conceptialized as a viral video designed specifically for YouTube, Evan Bernard streches from his usual expertise of music videos (having directed for the likes of Slayer, Beastie Boys, Basement Jaxx, and Moby) and produces a simple yet very effective piece – most of it is in one shot, which makes you admire just how long it took them to perfect the handshake.
4) RUBBER JOHNNY
Director: Chris Cunningham
Another short film directed by an acclaimed music video director (directing for Bjork, Squarepusher, Portishead, and more), this one is a slightly unsettling story of a mutant boy with a vastly oversized head, strapped into a wheelchair in a dark room, and how he amuses himself and his pet, a rather terrified pet Chihuahua. Oh, and he streches and morphs and appears to fire lasers. Oh, and the soundtrack is provided by none other than IDM god Aphex Twin. To be honest, you need to watch it to really make sense of it, as for those of you oof there who have seen other Cunningham videos (most notably All is Full of Love, Come To Daddy, and Come On My Selector), then you know how… imaginative he can be. Parts disturbing, parts amusing, all incredible.
3) STILL LIFE
Director: Jon Knautz
Ever seen The Twilight Zone before? This creepy, unsettling film is a stylish throwback to the same scenarios faced in the hit TV show, condensing a typical episode down into a story that will shiver your spine. Especially the second time you watch it, which you undoubtably will. The plot follows Nathan Evans, who finds himself sleep deprived, out of fuel in a strange, unfamilar town – and whose journey takes a turn for the worse when after hitting what appears to be a mannequin with his car, the entire town also appears to be a lifeless habitat of mannequins. One catch – Super-Mario-Boo style, they move when he is not looking, which sends him spiralling to the tragic, shocking ending… watch it in the dark.
2) FOR THE BIRDS
Director: Pixar
Remember when a CGI animation film at the cinema was a rare occurance? Remember how great they used to be? Forget Over The Hedge, Ice Age etc etc, For The Birds was first released alongside Monsters Inc. in 2001, as a kind of B-Movie to the main attraction – this was when CGI wasn’t a tired formula incorporating stock characters and plot around a tired framework. And I can, and will, argue it looks more fantastic than some of the stuff coming out recently. This particular short is one of those rare animated pieces that manage to reach a wider audience than just children, or just adults – it’s a story of a big, clumsy bird being rediculed by the smaller birds, before the big bird gets the last laugh. While it is a simple storyline, it is executed perfectly, no doubt helped by the expert animation that Pixar used to stand for – feathers fly, characters move perfectly… this is a perfect animated short.
1) SAY, MARIMO
Director: Atsushi Sanada
SPOILER BELOW: You might want to watch the film before reading
Appearing on the Japanese short film compilation, All About My Dog, this is probably one of the most poignant tear-jerkers you will watch all year – a daul narrative following firstly that of a Japanese girl then that of her beloved puppy, Say, Marimo explores the emotions and reasoning behind death; stay with me now, this is not a depressive story of a dog dying. Instead, through a style not dissimilar to 1930s silent films, the narrative of the piece is shown through a switching of the characters moving throughout the world, interjected with cards showing their throughts – one of the most memorable moments of the piece is where the schoolgirl, Mika, is running through the streets back to the home, having obviously heard the news that all is not good for her dog, Marimo, which is interuppted every few seconds with one repeated phrase written down: “Why?“. However, the second half of the film provides the dog’s narrative, and the unrelenting love he feels for it’s “elder sister”, all the way to the end, in which it provides a resolution in the form of an apology. The soundtrack similarly is reminicent of the silent films, and add a whole dimenson to the piece, fitting perfectly. While it is ultimately a sad tale, the resolution and the happiness in life are comforting, and create one of the most moving pieces of film I personally have seen in a long, long time.
Who needs a “regular” film when a short film can pack so much emotion into it, ranging from the sublime to the frankly bizarre (which, admittedly, is what a lot of them are)? Don’t disregard the short film as a medium of artistic integrity – in the age of bite size films in the form of YouTube and similar online video platforms, it just may, one day, become the choice size for mainstream film.
