A Night of Short Films

Welcome to the SPA Film Club’s Night of Short Films! Tonight we present a variety of brief works, some animated, some live-action, some traditional narrative, some avant garde, but all great examples of the kind of film-making we don’t usually see. Really, working in the short form is harder than making full-length films, the same way that writing a short story can be harder than a full novel. There’s no room for wasted frames; every shot has to work toward a sense of completeness whether the film is 15 minutes long or five. So enjoy these, and if you’re considering making a film for the SPA Student Movie contest, don’t be afraid to grab a few good ideas.

1. “King of the Rocket Men” – serial chapter (12:00) – Not really a short film, but a great example of how to put together a narrative on a low budget. What is that helmet made of?

2. “Mr. Resistor” – Mark Gustafson (8:00)
In this stop-action animation, a little guy made of spare parts, wires, and some wild hair looks for an elusive boon – a pair of golden arms.

3. “The Morning Guy” – Mark W. Gray (4:50)
Do you have a clock/radio that wakes you in the morning? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be married to one? Sometimes a cool film idea comes from a very wacky premise.

4. “Eramos Pocos” (“One Too Many”) – Borja Corbeaga (15:15)
When a man’s wife leaves him, he turns to his mother-in-law to help care for him and his son’s domestic needs. A lot of short films use the ironic “punch line” approach to narrative structure; this one does that really well.

5. “More” – Mark Osborne (5:50)
We tend to take animation more lightly then live-action film, but “More” reminds us that even claymation can have a lot to say about the forces that control our lives: hope, capitalism, sacrifice.

6. “Eye Like a Strange Balloon” – Guy Maddin (5:11)
Not every film you make has to be a traditional narrative. Maddin’s is unabashedly surreal (think Luis Bunuel), with elements of German expressionism and that avant garde thing where you mess around with the physical celluloid itself. Follow the plot. If you can. (Yeah, yeah; plot is irrelevant here.)

7. “Our Time is Up” – Rob Pearlstein (12:00)
This is a straight up character study arranged around a simple structure: establish a character, throw a huge complication in his life, and watch what happens.

8. “The Ninja Pays Half My Rent” – Steven Tsuchida (5:00)
Guy needs a new room-mate. It’s a Ninja! ‘Nuff said.

9. “West Bank Story” – Ari Sandel (18:30)
Modern media is all about the mash-up. This film takes Romeo and Juliet adaptation West Side Story, turns its tragedy into parody, and resets it in the middle of the middle-eastern conflict. Full of wonderful visual puns: check out the allusion to a famous musical film about a third of the way into the film.

10. “Bride of Resistor” – Mark Gustafson (6:04)
Mr. Resistor is back! And this time he’s looking for love. It’s fitting that in this stop-motion animation sequel made up of found objects, our hero learns that love is often found in unusual places.

R. Findlay
Film Club Adviser