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Short Cinema Journal 7
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The DVD:
This, the latest Short Cinema Journal, is the first one that I've taken a look at. A similar format (and made by the same folks) as Circuit Music Magazine, this series takes a number of short films that are different in style and storytelling and combines them into one low-priced magazine format. It also is similar in the way it offers various layers behind many of the segements, such as an interview or other footage, or even storyboards.
Shorts have become more and more popular in Hollywood and I can now see why - the work that is being done is absolutely remarkable. The first short I looked at was Mark Osborne's "More", a six-minute feature that combines different forms of animation to tell the tale of an inventor that seeks to invent bliss for the inhabitants of his city. Not only does the director simply do a fantastic job with the animation, but he's able to tell the story perfectly without dialogue. If you want to learn more about the film, the DVD provides an interview with the director at Sundance and also, allows you to look at the film's storyboards.
The next feature is "Zoltar From Zoron", an interesting , if not too memorable 15 minute feature about a boy who claims to be from another planet. The disc offers a commentary from the director that further explains the intentions behind the story and characters, and helped me a little to understand the reasons behind the film. The other addition for this film is a "roughcut alternate ending."
I didn't care for the last short in the "Narrative" section as much. "The Bar Channel" stars Richard Belzer from "Homicide" as a guy trying to pick up a girl in a bar through his interactive television set. Good idea, but it's too short at 3 minutes to stick. Also included is a bonus short from the same director called "The Remote".
The "Experimental" section offers 2 films - the first one is "The Lion and The Lamb", an award winning short film that has little dialogue, only images of the chaos of life on the city streets, becoming more and more intense. The film has an intense visual style and that's fascinating to watch. The alternate track also offers a commentary from the filmmaker.
Also included in the "experimental" section is "Images Of Korea", a claymation 2-minute short that tells the story of life in the country. This film also offers a commentary from the director.
In The "Interview" section, we are treated to an interview with director Lars Von Trier, who directed "Breaking The Waves". Von Trier talks about the rules that he has made for filmmaking - the 10 rules that he follows for his movies, and the ideas and concepts behind how those rules came into being. On 2 alternate tracks, the director and producer of the interview explain the rules further, and talk about the filmmaker in general. An additional segement of the "interview section" is an interview with AFI dean Sam Grogg on the portrayal of "utopia" in films.
In the "Documentary" section, a number of subjects (including Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh) share their views on where the future of man is going, and what will happen to society. An alternate segement shows Robot artist Christian Ristow at work. The final section is "New Music", and the segement is an 8 minute short called "Supersition".
The video quality and audio quality for all of these short films were really quite good. Although the picture was soft at times on a couple of the shorts, the majority of the features looked really good. Although some of these are very small productions, the disc offers all of the shorts in 5.1 sound, and although they're not intense in terms of audio, they sound fairly good for short films of this size.
The menus are smooth and easily navigated, but still include clips between the selection from the main menu to the sub-menu, which I didn't care for with the Circuit series. The trailers section includes an ad for Warner Brothers movies and a trailer for "Eyes Wide Shut" from Warner(in 5.1). Also included are DVD credits and the always weird Junk Drawer, which is also a feature of the Circuit series.
As for the films themselves, I was really suprised at how good they were. Although there was one or two ("The Bar Channel") that were merely okay, there were also a few that were really excellent ("More", "The Lion and The Lamb".) As with the Circuit series, Short provides a ton of extras in addition for the low $14.95 price tag. I'm recommending this edition, and if you're a fan of short features, you'll probably love this DVD.
This, the latest Short Cinema Journal, is the first one that I've taken a look at. A similar format (and made by the same folks) as Circuit Music Magazine, this series takes a number of short films that are different in style and storytelling and combines them into one low-priced magazine format. It also is similar in the way it offers various layers behind many of the segements, such as an interview or other footage, or even storyboards.
Shorts have become more and more popular in Hollywood and I can now see why - the work that is being done is absolutely remarkable. The first short I looked at was Mark Osborne's "More", a six-minute feature that combines different forms of animation to tell the tale of an inventor that seeks to invent bliss for the inhabitants of his city. Not only does the director simply do a fantastic job with the animation, but he's able to tell the story perfectly without dialogue. If you want to learn more about the film, the DVD provides an interview with the director at Sundance and also, allows you to look at the film's storyboards.
The next feature is "Zoltar From Zoron", an interesting , if not too memorable 15 minute feature about a boy who claims to be from another planet. The disc offers a commentary from the director that further explains the intentions behind the story and characters, and helped me a little to understand the reasons behind the film. The other addition for this film is a "roughcut alternate ending."
I didn't care for the last short in the "Narrative" section as much. "The Bar Channel" stars Richard Belzer from "Homicide" as a guy trying to pick up a girl in a bar through his interactive television set. Good idea, but it's too short at 3 minutes to stick. Also included is a bonus short from the same director called "The Remote".
The "Experimental" section offers 2 films - the first one is "The Lion and The Lamb", an award winning short film that has little dialogue, only images of the chaos of life on the city streets, becoming more and more intense. The film has an intense visual style and that's fascinating to watch. The alternate track also offers a commentary from the filmmaker.
Also included in the "experimental" section is "Images Of Korea", a claymation 2-minute short that tells the story of life in the country. This film also offers a commentary from the director.
In The "Interview" section, we are treated to an interview with director Lars Von Trier, who directed "Breaking The Waves". Von Trier talks about the rules that he has made for filmmaking - the 10 rules that he follows for his movies, and the ideas and concepts behind how those rules came into being. On 2 alternate tracks, the director and producer of the interview explain the rules further, and talk about the filmmaker in general. An additional segement of the "interview section" is an interview with AFI dean Sam Grogg on the portrayal of "utopia" in films.
In the "Documentary" section, a number of subjects (including Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh) share their views on where the future of man is going, and what will happen to society. An alternate segement shows Robot artist Christian Ristow at work. The final section is "New Music", and the segement is an 8 minute short called "Supersition".
The video quality and audio quality for all of these short films were really quite good. Although the picture was soft at times on a couple of the shorts, the majority of the features looked really good. Although some of these are very small productions, the disc offers all of the shorts in 5.1 sound, and although they're not intense in terms of audio, they sound fairly good for short films of this size.
The menus are smooth and easily navigated, but still include clips between the selection from the main menu to the sub-menu, which I didn't care for with the Circuit series. The trailers section includes an ad for Warner Brothers movies and a trailer for "Eyes Wide Shut" from Warner(in 5.1). Also included are DVD credits and the always weird Junk Drawer, which is also a feature of the Circuit series.
As for the films themselves, I was really suprised at how good they were. Although there was one or two ("The Bar Channel") that were merely okay, there were also a few that were really excellent ("More", "The Lion and The Lamb".) As with the Circuit series, Short provides a ton of extras in addition for the low $14.95 price tag. I'm recommending this edition, and if you're a fan of short features, you'll probably love this DVD.
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