This week's "Eat My Shorts" selections are all just a little creepy, in one way or another. Some of the short films are about ghosts or the supernatural, one is about a very creepy demon indeed, and one is about what we might call our inner demons. It doesn't matter if you're watching these movies on a computer monitor at your desk or a laptop at a coffeehouse, and that the film you're watching is in the size of a Post-It note. The moods and tones are still palpable -- sweet, scary, or just plain fascinating.
Thanks to everyone who sent me links in past couple of weeks, either to their own short films or to films online that they saw and enjoyed. Please keep those links coming -- send links to your favorite short films to shorts AT cinematical DOT com, so I can gather and watch a new batch of films to recommend to you next time. You'll find this week's creepy-themed films after the jump.
- Portraiture -- This is one of the longer shorts I've seen, clocking in at nearly 30 minutes, but rewards you amply for your time. Starts slowly, but draws you into a fascinating look at a young man who just wants to draw portraits, to keep from remembering the tragic events of the past. You would not know that this is a student-made film unless I told you -- Evan Dumouchel has created a professional looking and sounding short. I would love to see this movie in a larger and higher-quality format someday.
- The Ghosts of Abercwmboi -- A lovely film that starts with some pre-teens taunting the village's scary old man, and takes some unexpected turns. Directed by John Shackleton, this Welsh film is part of the Shallow Shorts podcast series.
- A Lonely Sky -- Keir Dullea (pictured above) has a featured role in this short from Ireland that uses CGI to very good effect. It's a haunting period piece, set in the late 1940s, about pilots trying to break the sound barrier. Nick Ryan's 10-minute short is simply gorgeous, and the streaming Flash file on the website doesn't diminish the look of the film.
- Demon -- This 9-minute animated film from Eoin Ryan uses rotoscoping, but not in the way you might normally have seen the technique. It's minimalist -- a demon in a prison cell that is delineated in simple, clean lines. The story and the style both ensnare your attention.
- The World of Stainboy -- Finally, when we want creepy with a touch of dark humor, we can always rely on Tim Burton. Atom Films has all the shorts in Burton's Stainboy series available for your viewing pleasure. Warning: these animated shorts can get a bit gory at times. And I was wondering just this week what Glenn Shadix was doing these days ...
1. LA SHORTS FEST
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Final Deadline MAY 26, 2007
Submit Online: www.lashortsfest.com
(323) 461-4400
11th Annual LA Shorts Fest is the largest short film festival in the world, screening 700 films of every category. We are accredited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. In past years, 25 participants have earned Academy Award nominations, this years Oscar winner for best animated short film “The Danish Poet” made it’s Los Angeles premiere at LA Shorts Fest in 2006 continuing our streak of the last 8 Oscar winning short films having screened at LA Shorts Fest the previous year. Last year’s award winners received prizes totaling over $100,000. The festival annually attracts more than 10,000 moviegoers, filmmakers and entertainment executives looking for the hottest new talent We have honored some of Hollywood’s legends of the past: Charles Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Robert Wise; along with actors Martin Landau, James Woods, Gary Oldman and directors Tim Burton, Bryan Singer, Jan de Bont and Paul Haggis. www.lashortsfest.com 323.461.4400
CALL FOR ENTRIES
Final Deadline MAY 26, 2007
Submit Online: www.lashortsfest.com
(323) 461-4400
11th Annual LA Shorts Fest is the largest short film festival in the world, screening 700 films of every category. We are accredited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. In past years, 25 participants have earned Academy Award nominations, this years Oscar winner for best animated short film “The Danish Poet” made it’s Los Angeles premiere at LA Shorts Fest in 2006 continuing our streak of the last 8 Oscar winning short films having screened at LA Shorts Fest the previous year. Last year’s award winners received prizes totaling over $100,000. The festival annually attracts more than 10,000 moviegoers, filmmakers and entertainment executives looking for the hottest new talent We have honored some of Hollywood’s legends of the past: Charles Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, and Robert Wise; along with actors Martin Landau, James Woods, Gary Oldman and directors Tim Burton, Bryan Singer, Jan de Bont and Paul Haggis. www.lashortsfest.com 323.461.4400
Posted at 1:02PM on May 10th 2007 by LA SHORTS FEST