Favorites:
Actor Performance: “Table”: I believe the actors in this short film had the most chemistry. There performance was very natural and realistic. I didn’t feel as if I was watching a short film, I felt as though I were a part of the conversation, maybe even sitting in the room.
Visual Representation: tie “Powerhouse Books – THE MUSICAL” & “Spinal Tap”: I like the choices he made in how to represent the story. The storyline in the two films were mediocre and ordinary, however how he conveyed the story made it much more enjoyable.
Concept/Theme: — I guess if I had to choose one it’d be “Blow Up” or “Circles.” However, in each of these the actors or story line uses or references religion and Christianity too loosely for me. In “Circles” I enjoy the art work in the background but again, there’s a picture of what I see to look like an image of Jesus that looks to have pipes running through Him. Now artists are entitled to represent whatever they chose however they chose but as the viewer, I have the right to not choose or choose to agree or simply not comment. I don’t particularly like how they associate different types of spirits and colliding worlds and the image of what I take to be “a spirit” in the background of the girl. I think it misrepresents the connotation of Biblical spirits and the Holy Spirit with man-referenced and worldly connotations of spirits. This is just my opinion. In “Blow Up” again I like the story plot, until he loosely references God or makes a subtle joke about religion. It’s as if each of the films touch on Christianity as a good thing, then they come back with a negative remark as to negate the thought to make sure they don’t lose an audience to make the film more versatile. However, I’m a fan of staying true and not compromising especially if it’s my faith.
Audio: “American Spirit”: I’ve always loved the sound of feet shuffling against pavement, I’m not sure why. I think the audio in the background actually helps the storyline more than the actors performance or visual representation.
Least Favorites:
Actor Performance: “Embrace”: Artistically, I’m sure there was a strong reason why the storyline was represented with the chosen performance and the chosen script, however, I’m not sure if it goes. The performance had too much of a sexual connotation for me to even pay attention to what they were saying and to pick up that they were referencing a traumatic experience. I think the topic of embrace or the storyline could have been depicted in another format. The actor’s heavy breathing and “over-acting” if you will also took away from the cinematic approach.
Visual Representation: “Bridge”: I’m sure there was a reason for the first scene to be shaky and out of focus and the latter scenes to be very much in focus and crisp, however, I’m not sure if it fits the story line.
Concept/Theme: “Soldiers”: This was very cliche to me. I’ve seen scenes like this before where there is a inside world/outside world counterpart and one doesn’t know what’s going on. There was an entire film like this, “Source Code” I believe it was with Jake Gyllenhaal which was an okay film, I saw it at the $1 theater. What I’m saying is, I’ve seen better representations, I understand that it’s a short film but I think it’s all the more reason to come up with a concrete concept and theme and to convey it best in a short amount of time.
Audio: “Roof”: I look at the audio in “American Spirit” and “Spinal Tap” both with noisy backgrounds but with better quality, so it can be done. I think overall, the performance was screaming “I’m acting my heart out, give me an Oscar but this is only about 5 minutes.” I think the actors performance took away from the audio and visual quality of this short film.
Overall, I enjoyed the feature films and I don’t believe I’d ever heard of Hillman Curtis prior to this course. I have enjoyed everything we’ve viewed by him thus far and I appreciate his work and the quality.