Welcome to film studies. To start things off, we're going to look at a few short films. All of the shorts below are currently playing at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
From Wikipedia: "The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the Sundance Institute, is an American film festival that takes place annually in Utah. With 46,731 attendees in 2012, it is one of the largest independent film festivals in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers."
Your task is to watch at least two of the following films and post a response in the "comment section" below. Be sure to include your name to get credit for your contribution. What are we looking for in our online discussions? Observations, questions, opinions, interpretations, etc. The more specific, the better. This means you should respond to SPECIFIC moments of the films as well as to the films overall. Feel free to respond to your peers. Remember, our goal here is to have robust, thoughtful, challenging discussions. Also keep in mind that this online component is part of the CLASS EXPECTATIONS. That means that everything you enter on this blog needs to be CLASS APPROPRIATE. The more you contribute, the better your grade. The more thoughtful and curious your contributions, the better your grade.
We're probably not going to have as much formal homework as some of your other classes, so your online participation will certainly impact your grade. Plus, it's fun and interesting and it's about movies. And that's why we're all in the class, right?
Okay. Have at it...
I wonder why the guy doesn't keep his stuff in a backpack. I guess that's the logical side of me responding. The romantic side of me agrees that pockets are sweeter and cooler than a backpack.
ReplyDeleteI don't know....the guy from the pockets video seemed a bit pretentious at times, and he did his art style to seem "super-artistic" and to hide the bad points of the video. Also, sideburns. Eww...
ReplyDeleteZombie video on the other hand, I'd just stay at the gas station, block door and windows with shelves and live on a supply of beef jerky and Arizona Iced Tea and if the zombies break in I'll go to the nearest water tower and hide there with my beef jerky
DeleteI agree that he seemed pretentious. Right down to the stammering through his lines. But what are the "bad points" of the video to which you refer? The animation or the story? The story, I thought, was okay.
DeleteI liked the pockets video and didn't think there was really a bad part to it. It wasn't anything special, but I wouldn't say any part of it was bad. I'm actually going to keep more things in my pockets after watching this video.
DeleteI could not tell if the zombie guy was serious or if he was just trying to be funny.
ReplyDeleteI vote for serious. That's why, I think, he rambles. If he was going to funny, I think his script would be less ad-libbed and better written.
DeleteI wonder how their boss feels about all of this zombie planning during work. I found it very funny how much he hates helping his customers.
ReplyDeleteNow that you mention it, this can't be the most helpful Ace Hardware staff. The one at my Ace is pretty good. The Gurnee Home Depot, however...yeesh.
DeleteDoes anyone have any links to other (appropriate) short films you think are worth watching?
ReplyDeleteI honestly think the zombie short film was a way to show that the guy who was planning it all, didn't like dealing with customers. He basically wishes that all of the customers who came in were zombies so he would have a reason to shoot them all.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the pocket video was trying to say that it's better to be prepared than not. You never know what you will encounter throughout the day. In the beginning of the short film, people would make fun of this guy because of all the unnecessary things he had in his pocket. In the end, he found a pretty girl who needed a stamp and a cough drop. The dude who everyone laughed at, now has a girlfriend because of how prepared he was.
DeleteI feel the pocket video showed how the smallest thing could change your whole life
ReplyDeleteThe zombie video was hilarious. My favorite part was definitely when he talks about the old people
ReplyDeleteThe cowboy seems to really know what he is doing, I hope he makes it to that championship in Vegas.
ReplyDeleteThe pocket film was a perfectly poetic and a pretty profound short film. On a side note, I know where I'll be going in the event of a zombie apocalypse!
ReplyDeleteI liked the filming techniques used in Broken Night. It made me feel like I was trapped in the car with the characters. Still a very sad story.
ReplyDeleteThe Zombie video was hilarious but it doesn't seem like it fits in one of the largest independent film festivals in the United States. I don't think judges at a film festival would want to listen to someone talk about how they are preparing to be attacked by zombies for 10 minutes
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the romper in how it was simple and to the point. He merely told his story while showing his passion and talent. I also liked the music played, it added a nice tone.
ReplyDeleteThe pocket video was also simple and cute. I enjoyed the animated aspect with narration. I liked how it tried to show that life is filled with a lot of unexpected moments and we should take the time to appreciate and fill our lives making even the smallest, simplest moments meaningful.
ReplyDeleteThe Dark Night video I didn't really like as much. The whole thing seemed kind of weak. What kind of person just sits, upside down, in a car for hours helpless next to their daughter? It just doesn't make sense. It seems that she might have been paralyzed from the crash but she managed to crawl out anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe Pocket video was WAY too corny for my liking. I didn't enjoy that one as much either because of the cheesy-ness of it
ReplyDeleteI really liked the cowboy video because it was inspirational and original. There are not many cowboy or western movies that have black guys in them. The only one I can think of that has a black guy as a cowboy is Blazing Saddles.
ReplyDeleteI thought Broken Night was pretty good for the most part. Except I thought it was kind of stupid at parts. I think the mom should have tried to get out of the car before her daughter was taken away. If she was able to do it all along why didn't she do it in the first place?
ReplyDeleteI was in love with the short film "What Do We Have in Our Pockets?". Partly because the narrator wasn't some hot shot actor, but a normal average citizen if that makes sense. I think it just made the film a little more raw. That and partly because of the fact that it seemed animated, making it more unique and eye catching. The main reason I loved this film though, was because the actor was really well spoken and I guess just the way he carried himself made me really like his character. (I also like cute romance/comedic films so I think that's why I really liked it as well. :3
ReplyDeleteI really liked the short film "When the Zombies Come". I thought that the main actor was extremely funny. I wasn't entirely I deemed the movie as a sort of comedy and laughed the whole time. That and the fact that the plan was so detailed and bullet proof made it really interesting and cool as well. The little interviews from the coworkers were cute and nice too. Overall this film was one of my favorites and I just thought it was a really awesome documentary/comedic type of film. :)
ReplyDelete