So the point of the Hillman Curtis films was to not understand what was going on right? Just some cruel joke in order for my face to naturally transform into a question mark which have been secretly photographed and we are going to critique our emotional composition tomorrow in class right? Real funny.
I do have some questions/comments from my initial reactions.
From Soldier: Thanks a lot Hillman Curtis for ruining one of my favorite songs because now all I am going to think about is the sad soldier story and nice, organized, white tombstones whenever I hear the slow guitar strums crescendoing in my ears.
From American Spirit: Do people share cigarettes anymore these days? Don’t those boxes run over $15 a pop? I’m surprised a brawl didn’t break out with the Italian’s large nose getting smashed for a light. (I’m siding with leather jacket).
From Embrace: I don’t know how I would react to a catastrophe about to hit that could end my life and I don’t want to. But I hope I’m laughing in the end. That’s how I want my last moment to be.
From Circles: This is a modern day poltergeist, right? Just no Craig Nelson or a little crazy witch-lady or a little blonde haired girl.
Now let’s get down to brass tax.
Clearly, Curtis does not want you to have the story, nor does ever intend to get it because the man probably only wanted to write a four minute short instead of a two hour motion picture. He does this so we as the audience do not have the background story or fully understand what’s going on and what will happen after. It seems, instead, he captures a moment.
When I watch Curtis I think of time and our actions. Have you ever wonder what would have happened if you left your home Monday morning for work just 1 minute after your intended time that day because you realized you forgot to turn the coffee pot off? What if you did remember and left at the usual time? Or, let’s say you were hit by a car. What would have happened if you left the office 5 minutes earlier or later? Perhaps you still would have been hit, but much worse that a fender bender. Or some other car full of young children was completely impaled instead or you said fender bender?
I feel it is these moments that Curtis captures and we as an audience examine the “what ifs” and “what could have beens” from them. There are consequences of the actions by characters that are seen and/or unseen in these shorts and we watch as they affect some the character (usually this Michael) in the film. But Michael isn’t always the same Michael. He’s Michael C the solider, Michael B the boyfriend, Michael Z the artist and so on.
Thus, Curtis has to find different approaches for the physical filming of the short. Many close-up shots are taken, a lot of the time focused on an object (cigarette) or small body part (hand) to rather see emotion for the perspective of an unknowing object rather than the usual and obvious of a human’s eyes or facial expression. This allows the audience to question more of what is happening, to debate the true meaning of the story because it is not simply stated or read off of the main characters.
I think these shorts are fantastic disregarding my earlier rant (as we know by now I rant). I feel I relate in a sense because I am an obnoxiously overly observant individual who also over thinks things and over examines the smallest action. I should just be called O from now on. But I also think its a great learning tool for audiences to use. We are a society of selfish bastards. These shorts allow us to see viewpoints in very profound moments that happen in life (we have all discussed ghosts, don’t lie to yourself). But, I also think Curtis is screwing with us just a wee bit because he’s talented and he can.