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10 Short Films You MUST See!
Tuesday 20th August 2013 | Ayse
In many ways, the short film can arguably be more appealing than a full-length feature film. In the first place they’re shorter, condensing all that is aesthetically irresistible about a film into a few choice minutes meaning that every second is precious. The moral of the story is conveyed sharply with a plot and narrative that rarely suffers due to the boredom of the audience. Secondly, they’re more often than not, independently made, benefitting from the vitality and original perspective of amateur film makers and without the prescriptive gospels of failsafe Hollywood marketing ploys or motion pictures that are exclusively academy award bait. Though more recently, big names have also gotten on board with the short film revolution and started producing short and beautiful featurettes as prefaces to full movies. Lastly, and for many, best of all, short films are often free of charge, put out online for the sole purpose of gaining the filmmaker exposure and fans (because really, it's £7 for a cinema ticket?! Are we in Stalinist Russia?!). In this way, anyone connected to the Internet is in a privileged position of having access to quality and inspiring material, helping young filmmakers and at minimal cost to you!
The following is a list of 10 unmissable short films that represent a mere grain of sand in the vast landscape of, a largely unexplored sub strand of the film industry. It contains featurettes that play before motion pictures, music videos, and competition entries from film school gradates that will hopefully serve as proof that the film watching experience by no means ends at the cinema or under the logo of a popular studio.
1) Paperman
Paperman is a black and white animated short film produced by Walt Disney Studios and directed by John Kahrs. The film is a striking combination of hand drawn and computer animation that contains no spoken words- only minimal sound effects that draw attention to the emotive and almost narrative score by Christophe Beck. With a running time of only 7 minutes, the film, set in 1940’s New York, tells the story of a chance meeting between a man and a woman (whose smiling rouged lips provide the only blossom of colour) on a train platform and how the smallest of gestures really can say more than a thousand words. For this man and woman, their lives are suddenly and irrevocably entwined when fate comes, light and swift in the form of a paper aeroplane. The film received so much critical acclaim that it won both an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 85th Academy Awards, and the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject at the 40th Annie Awards. It is the first short film Disney have produced since ‘It’s Tough to be a Bird’ in 1969.
2) La Luna
La Luna offers a fantastical explanation for how the moon progresses through its phases. It is a story told with a child-like wonder that fittingly allows audiences to follow the journey of the protagonist, little boy Bambino. During the film we see his first night learning the family trade with his grandfather and father of sweeping the fallen stars from the surface of the moon. The plot was inspired by Casarosa's childhood and tales by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The ambient colours evoke a soft and magical world as lyrical as a lullaby and glimmering as a star. Directed and written by Enrico Casarosa, the short premiered on June 6, 2011 at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France, and was played before Pixar's Brave. It was released on June 22, 2012.
3) Jack-Jack Attack
Taking a more humorous turn ‘Jack Jack Attack’ is a spin off short movie companion to the 2005 animated motion picture The Incredibles. It focuses on the youngest member of the Parr family Jack- Jack whom we only discover at the end of the film, has a variety of super powers when it was previously believed that he was ‘the only normal one’. The film recounts the experience of Kari, his baby sitter and how she fares with the troublesome baby whilst his parents and siblings are saving the world. The concept for the short originally came from an idea that was supposed to be put in the movie but did not make it to the final cut. As if child care wasn’t difficult enough already, the short is a hysterical accompaniment to this Pixar favourite and gives a realistic insight into the trials and tribulations of a superhero that has not yet learned how to control their powers!
4) Destino
Destino is the product of two artistic forces uniting: Disney and Salvador Dali. The film tells the tale of Chronos, the living embodiment of time, and his futile and fated love of a mortal woman, as the kaleidoscopic film progresses, the audience is led from one surreal painting to the other. The film took 8 months to create from 1945-46. For many months the project remained a secret. Dalí said: "Entertainment highlights the art, its possibilities are endless." The plot of the film was described by. Dalí as "A magical display of the problem of life in the labyrinth of time."
Walt Disney said it was "A simple story about a young girl in search of true love."
5) Head Over Heels
Head Over Heels is a stop-motion animated short film written and directed by Timothy Reckart at the National Film and Television School. A team of eleven students made the film over the course of 15 months. After many years of marriage, Walter and Madge have grown apart: he lives on the floor and she lives on the ceiling. Head Over Heels won a 2013 Annie Award, the most prestigious animation award in the world, and could very well be on its way to an Oscar. The story about a most unusual old married couple is decidedly original and twisted good fun. It is a major achievement for its director, Timothy Reckart.
6) Still Life
‘Still Life’ from brookstreetpictures.com is a thrilling independent short film with a shocking twist. Directed by Jon Knautz the film takes the boundary between fantasy and reality and warps it dramatically for a disturbing final product. The film stars Trevor Matthews as Nathan Evans, who, upon driving into a new town, realises that the entire community is made up of shop mannequins.
7) Cargo
“Cargo” was a finalist entry in the 2013 Tropfest Australia short film competition. Rather than dealing with the stereotypical underground resistance movements or migrations to ‘safe havens’ that zombie films usually deal with, ‘Cargo’ is a heart-breaking tale of a father’s love in the most desperate of circumstances and how he will do anything to ensure that his daughter is saved and looked after even when he can no longer be the one to protect her. It’s the short film at its finest that without doubt brings painful humanity to the living dead.
8) To This Day
Shane Koyczan recites his poem ‘To This Day’ along with an accompanying animated film that incorporates a number of styles and a haunting soundtrack. I would say more, but I think it would do the video a far greater justice to simply allow the power of the words to take their hold…
9) Her Morning Elegance
Whilst some may argue that this doesn’t qualify as a short film, that has done nothing to halt the success and fascination with the music video for ‘Her Morning Elegance’ by Oren Lavie. The video, which has over 25 million views on YouTube is a stop motion film featuring a woman who, asleep in bed, begins to recreate her dreams as her bed sheets, pillows and even clothes begin to move around her. Stills from the video have since been individually printed, been put on exhibition and are also for sale.
10) The Mountain
This final video proves that a short film does not need to delve into the fantastical or fictional, as the natural world is a marvel in itself. Showcasing the night sky from the idyllic peaks of El Teide in Spain, The Mountain was filmed between 4th and 11th April 2011. The film captures on a stop motion camera, a Saharan Sandstorm, the Milky Way through the night as well as many natural marvels on the surrounding terrain. The breath-taking footage is accompanied by “Nuvole Bianche” by Ludovico Einaudi.
BY AYSE HUSEYIN
