Cool News
Fasten your seatbelts, SATURDAY SHORTS are cleared for take off.
Hello ladies and gentlemen, Muldoon here with an array of awesome in the form of this week's shorts. This week we've got a mix of drama, scifi, dark comedy, and maybe a music video or two. If you've got an hour or so of time today, it's in my humblest opinion that you give these guys a shot. We've been able to screen so many wonderful shorts so far and this week is no exception. Special thanks to those still shooting their shorts at me and fear not, just becuase you don't see you're short pop up on the next SS column, it could absolutely pop up a few weeks later, you never know. Anyways, go grab yourself some popcorn, lock your kids in a closet, kill the lights, relax and check out this little weekly film fest we've got ourselves here.
Let's do this:
NUMB
(Sports Drama)
Up first is Erwann Marshall's drama: "While preparing for the biggest fight of his life, a mixed martial arts fighter comes to terms with what it means to be a father and a son." It's an incredibly high quality look inside the world of mixed martial arts.
numb from Erwann Marshall on Vimeo.
IMMERSIVE COCOON "2011"
(Science Fiction)
And next we have Oliver Zeller's love letter to 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY.
Immersive Cocoon "2011" from adNAU on Vimeo.
Write of Passage from Brad Jones on Vimeo.
The Skeletones Four - Empty Eyes from Joseph Pauls on Vimeo.
THE MUSHROOM SESSIONS
(Hallucinogenic Romance)
While we're on the subject of heartbreak, Adam Cosco's got a great film to come in and today's program with his incredibly well acted drama, THE MUSHROOM SESSIONS. "The Mushroom Sessions is a slice of life drama that centers around two people sorting through the sordid pieces of their once happy relationship."
THE MUSHROOM SESSIONS from Adam Cosco on Vimeo.
And there we go with our last short of the day, but what's that? You want to keep this shorts watching fiesta going? Awesome! Here's list of previous columns:
If you have a short and think it belongs here or are on the fence about whether to send it in, please do send it in - I'd love to see what you've put together. I've already seen hundreds of fresh new filmmakers' shorts and like any good addict, I need more!
Shoot me an email at "Mike@aintitcool.com"
In the subject line include:
“SHORTS” + “Your film’s name” + “The film’s genre”
Then, in the body of the email, please include a synopsis of the film and any contact information you might think I need or would want published.
Please don’t feel the need to submit multiple times. I swear to each of you I truly check every email I get, and sending the same short a few times just makes it a bit messier.
Remember, the filmmakers might still be in the audience, so feel free to share your thoughts in Talkbacks below. (Just don't be a dick) I picked them, so you know I think highly of all of these, but how about you fine folks? What are your thoughts?
- Mike McCutchen
"Muldoon"
Mike@aintitcool.com
Readers Talkback
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Now Im a complete tool....
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March 31, 2012, 2:12 p.m. CST
Immersive Cocoon "2011" is impressive purely for the recreation of that set, and the cocoon, too
by Bobo_Vision
I have no idea how someone gets resources like that for a short film. Trust fund?
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March 31, 2012, 2:19 p.m. CST
Id like to submitt my own stuff that I`ve submitted for competitions but I think I`ll make one for aint it cool in mind, heres my youtube channel anyway...
by SachMan
http://www.youtube.com/user/SachMan4?feature=mhee Hope you guys like!
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http://vimeo.com/36776593 Hope you like it
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I liked all of them! The end of "Write of Passage" was hilarious. "Briefcase" was weirdly disturbing. The set of "Immersive Cocoon" was impressive, to be sure, although some sort of story or context would've made it ever better. But that's just a nitpick. Definitely fun to watch. Thanks, Muldoon. Keep 'em coming!
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Was really good that Jacob guy looked like Chirs Barrie, loved how the pub looked like the old Phillomath ones back in the 90`s gave me nostogier off how my local looked in the 90`s, I liked the qurikyness of Jacob! Where was it shot mate!
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March 31, 2012, 3:24 p.m. CST
As for the actuall shorts up here Wrie of passage was awsome :-)
by SachMan
I also liked the art direction for IMMERSIVE COCOON "2011" all I can say is that guy put a LOT of effort into it :-) good to see the raw talant on here get a audience, Brefcase was also really good work!
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"Immersive Cocoon" deserves this title as few "teasers" have before :)
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a nice example how much in a film depends on the actors ... I didn't need to know anything about the story but I cared for them after about 30 seconds - superb acting, well directed. (It's from 2010 and not really a short but wtf - congrats to the team)
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I wonder what the budget on a 20 minute film like this is normal... I would guess a modest five figures? It looks like a lot of hard work went into it... fine acting all around. The final meeting, with the fighter's father and all, had some awkward dialogue but was fulfilling nonetheless.
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Ha, really beautiful short. I'm glad I didn't read the write-up until after I watched the short a good two times. Love the imagery of the still room with two paintings, almost symmetrical and perfect.
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the analog sound is great... very catchy main hook. the video is alright... lots of hipsters, but nothing pretentious or douchey. the clean white background and crisp videography makes it really easy on the eyes
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Ahh, the title of his finished work made me chuckle. Writer's block is the worst.
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Now that's pretty tight for a short suspense film
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would have been a great title for the Director's Cut of New Super Mario Bros. Honestly though... love is trippy and mystical on its own, without adding drugs to the mix. This short was really well played out; I like that they didn't rely on cheap camera effects to simulate hallucinations.
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NUMB Interesting this was made before WARRIOR and hits a number of its beats regarding the moral, beset upon, yet-to-be MMA contender. The expected training and pre-fight montages are here. Somewhat listless with attempts to hit melodramatic notes, like the absentee father on the downside who becomes immediately expository and *meta*. Single boom mic coverage also leaves a live stage feel to the interiors, and hollow dialog with exteriors. Could have benefited from ADR in post to have the actors' delivery smack harder. Still holds one's attention. IMMERSIVE COCOON *2011* Feels more like a teaser than a *commercial* or *concept study*. GC interiors, match moving and sound are excellent. I can't imagine people having a large cocoon in their home to interface with when computer technology has a proven track record of miniaturization and portability. Should be pleasing to the eye of Kubrick fans. WRITE OF PASSAGE BARTON FINK. NAKED LUNCH/BRUNCH. MISERY. THE SHINING. Lively editorial tempo. Noir slat lighting: check. Split diopter: check. Seems to have been storyboarded or shot-planned as the confident camera movement, POVs and composition are consistently A+. I would expect the first thing the writer would have done is to read what the possessed typewriter was writing, instead of being irritated by its noise. Typing/telling the writer to quit drinking, smoking, to get to work while profanely insulting him with #!#@*!! might have made each repetition of typewriter destruction funnier. BRIEFCASE HITCH MCGUFFIN. KISS ME DEADLY. ONE MISSED CALL. RINGU/THE RING. Well cast. Stylish camera angles. Edited to just the right length, but didn't need the coda. THE SKELETONES FOUR - *EMPTY EYES* Too literal and in need of variation. Up the ante by starting a fight with cartoon hearts, then folding valentines cards into paper planes, then heart-shaped water balloons, then tossing Valentines boxes spraying candy everywhere, and finish with the anatomically accurate hearts which leave everyone bloodied. Always replace or erase the seamless when it becomes stained — its called *seamless* for a reason. Song is okay. THE MUSHROOM SESSIONS People who prioritize recreation over commitment, and the codependent relationships which result. Good improv. Natural acting until it veers into actors studio *emotional rollercoster* lessons. Filling the widescreen frame with the human face is always a plus, making a big production feel private. Solid. This week = overall okey-dokey. I'll try to catch the TBers' videos tomorrow.
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captivated me and left me wondering about the contents, even well after the short had ended. Very well done.
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March 31, 2012, 8:10 p.m. CST
Great selection. Well done filmmakers, Muldoon, and JustMyLuck...
by 88mph
Seriously, justmyluck, your mini-reviews are great and I'm sure well-appreciated by the filmmakers. Thanks for taking the time.
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Again, another excellent breakdown of your thoughts!
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Is it just me, or are the load times always incredibly slow. YouTube streaming is vastly superior, at least to my route on the 'net.
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Thanks! I shot in my hometown of Oxford. Kings arms pub...a typical oxford student pub. ;-) I used the same location as seen in Xmen-first class...We literally saw first class the day after we shot the scene.
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April 1, 2012, 10:26 a.m. CST
Don't like the music of the "Immersive Cocoon" promo...
by ufoclub1977
It seems good (technically perfect!) at miming the Kubrick scene, but then the music is ALL WRONG and sounds like a contemporary Hollywood excitement stock music cue. Why not go with something more in line with Kubrick's tastes or go way into something completely opposite and extreme for humor's sake?
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Hooray for HD-slick but ultimately empty film projects.
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Thanks for screening my short film "Write of Passage" it really means the world to me. In regards to Justmyluck's review of my film, funny you mention it would have been better to see that the typewriter was writing nasty things about the writer as that's what was originally intended. We discovered on the day of the shoot that the prop we had rented did not type correctly, it only output indecipherable smeared text so I had to leave it ambiguous because of the technical difficulty. That's the low budget shuffle, sometimes you have improvise on set when best laid plans fall apart. Thanks for take the time to review all the films it means a lot.
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April 1, 2012, 9:26 p.m. CST
@cenobiteme: It's probably something you could add with inserts.
by justmyluck
At 02:54 and 03:50, before the writer rip the paper out, insert close ups of what the typewriter had written in there. Otherwise, no biggie.
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SACH-LAND PLAYLIST Too many and too brief for individual reactions, though each are well paced with editorial and music. MMMM is the highlight. Keep at it. WITE Even though one figures out where this is going early on, you don't know how it's going to get there — which is all important. The dialog being mostly looped in a soft spoken manner works to its favor, and B&W enhances the peculiar charm. Scaled-down symbolism of a cigarette and a coin works better than grand visuals, also expressed in the Terry Gilliam approach to the animation. Good work.
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Thanks so much for the nice mini review and great you realised from this Im a Gilliam fan ;-) I had no budget at all (unlike some of the shorts that make the rounds here on aicn) but made the most with what abilities I had and tried to do something with a message.
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Cheers dude, stay tuned for the next flick
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