I am a huge fan of Hillman Curtis’ work. The artistry in his videos is quite beautiful. When I first viewed his short videos featuring graphic artist, I fell in love with the aesthetics of his camera work, and post production techniques. So naturally, when watching a few short films of his, such as Embrace and Soldiers, I was still impressed. The videos even taught me a little about video and storytelling.
Embrace is undeniably my favorite. The manner in which the story builds up is an attention-grabber because the viewer is not immediately aware of the situation. All we see is a male and a female, breathing heavy, and hugging each other. My first thoughts were, are they breaking up or did they just finish having a make-out session? I had to stay tuned to find out what was going on. The camera moves slowly around the characters, which adds to a more serious atmosphere. Next we see a series of shots, close up’s of each character, and shots of their hands as they embrace one another. These shots, coupled with the heavy breathing and short choppy sentences, paint a vivid picture of the two panicking. All the while the suspense is building up. Eventually we find out the two are attempting to comfort each other presumably because something bad is about to happen. This becomes even more apparent when we hear emergency sirens begin the play in the background. The two characters seem to calm each other down as the breathing becomes a little less heavy and intense. The video cuts of at that point, which I wasn’t please with, only because I wanted more.
Soldiers was another one of my favorites. Something so short and simple evoked a lot of emotion in me. Again Curtis successfully keeps the suspense going because the plot is not immediately apparent. We see two soldiers and an older lady kneeling by a tombstone. As one of the soldiers (the son) begins to walk toward her, I remembered thinking he was alive and he was going to reunite with his mother. In the long run it appears he is in fact dead, and it also appears as though he isn’t fully aware of this until the moment in which he is trying to speak to her. The scene seems so real, and the music adds to the solemn feeling. In noticed one camera shot in which there is a slight blur of the character and then a quick focusing of the lens. This simple technique made me feel as though the character was temporarily dazed by the situation, but quickly came back to the moment.
It seems as though Hillman Curtis has mastered the art of suspenseful short story telling and awesome camera techniques. Every time I watch his videos, I am surprised by the quality of his work. I have definitely learned a few techniques about storytelling by watching his videos.