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Ten Shorts from This Year's Sundance Film Festival Now Available to Watch Online

Ryan Koo — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:50:14 +0000

Sundance has announced this year’s Jury-prize winning shorts, and one of the winners is already available to watch online free. In total there are ten shorts online, and you don’t have to be in Park City to see them. Here’s one short that’s embeddable — note that it is not for the faint of heart (bad pun intended… there is a fair amount of surgery shown): (more…)

'Pull Back,' My RED SCARLET Test Short

Ryan Koo — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:59:46 +0000

I mentioned previously that I’d shot a micro-short to test out the RED SCARLET, and here it is. To put the camera through its paces, we wanted to use it in a real-world setting instead of shooting charts in a studio — but we also didn’t have the time or budget to put together a “real” short. What we set out to make (and what we ended up with) is something more than a series of test shots, and something less than a proper short. This was a no-budget, quick production on which everyone donated their time. Let me know what you think! (more…)

'Take This Lollipop' is a Short Film that Stalks You, Literally

Ryan Koo — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:28:09 +0000

Do you ever worry that all your freely available online information makes you a potential target for stalkers who may be psychotic/dirty/violent/evil? If so, don’t watch “Take This Lollipop,” a short film that uses Facebook to make you a central character of its story.
Click through to the site itself and connect to Facebook for the full experience, but if you truly are paranoid about online privacy and want to watch what happens without putting yourself at fictional risk, here’s an example of what viewers get: (more…)

Short of the Week Presents™ Launches with 'A Family Portrait,' Brings Greater Exposure to Short Films

Ryan Koo — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 23:27:21 +0000

The terrific crew over at Short of the Week has launched Short of the Week Presents™, a curated series of shorts premiering online. SotW helps with with online launch planning and by bringing media and industry connections to the table. It’s open for anyone to submit; here’s “A Family Portrait,” their ~~first~~ third curated launch (other than their own Thomas Beale Cipher), a deservedly award-winning rotoscoped film by Joseph Pierce: (more…)

Chris Milk's Mind-Blowing 3D Music Video '3 Dreams of Black' Redefines Web Browsing

Ryan Koo — Mon, 16 May 2011 16:31:12 +0000

Director Chris Milk, whose work I’ve covered here before, has released in conjunction with some Google Chrome developers his latest music video, “3 Days of Black,” for the supergroup Rome (which, for this song, consists of Danger Mouse, Daniel Luppi, and Norah Jones). The first full 3D scene is literally eyebrow-raising and the video highlights a number of important web-based storytelling tools, like the 3D browsing technology WebGL. Requires Google Chrome. (more…)

Ten Examples of Stunning DSLR Creativity

Ryan Koo — Fri, 13 May 2011 16:15:58 +0000

In my last roundup of DSLR-shot videos, I focused on the stunning cinematography that large-chip DSLRs enabled. One year later, no one’s doubting the visual capabilities of these cameras. But the DSLR revolution isn’t just about pretty pictures; it’s about who can make those pictures. Indeed, the widespread availability and low price point of the cameras has been democratizing. So for this roundup I tried to find ten examples of the other “C”: creativity. Without DSLRs, most of these productions wouldn’t have happened, or they would’ve been very different: (more…)

Christopher Nolan's Early Short 'Doodlebug'

Ryan Koo — Wed, 11 May 2011 20:29:12 +0000

I always find it comforting to watch the early work of big-time directors. Not because it’s terrific or terrible — it’s usually somewhere in between, which just goes to show that you never know where your filmmaking career is headed. The important thing is to get started. Christopher Nolan shot his surreal three-minute short “Doodlebug” with actor Jeremy Theobald, who would star in Nolan’s $6,000 first feature Following a year later. Nolan then followed up with the brilliant Memento and the rest is history. Here’s “Doodlebug:” (more…)

Congratulations to the 2011 Film/Video Webby Award Winners!

Ryan Koo — Thu, 05 May 2011 14:35:36 +0000

Every year I make it a point to watch all of the Webby Award film/video winners (self promotion alert: since winning one myself, that is… ), as it’s a good way to catch up on the online video projects that you might’ve missed over the past year. The “Oscars of the Internet” were announced the other day, so if you’re looking for the best projects that premiered online recently, check ‘em out: (more…)

DANIELS' Awesome 'Simple Math' Music Video for Manchester Orchestra

Ryan Koo — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:01:24 +0000

I like music videos that tell stories, as opposed to ones in which the band plays their instruments and lip-synchs in front of the camera (as if to explain they are a band and they play music). DANIELS (so named because both co-directors are named Daniel) tell a wonderfully dreamlike, mixed-up story of a car crash with their video for the title track off Manchester Orchestra’s forthcoming album Simple Math: (more…)

Joanna Lurie's Atmospheric 'The Silence Beneath the Bark' Mixes 2D Photo Textures with 3D Characters

Ryan Koo — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 16:35:12 +0000

With so much ongoing coverage of NAB, it’s easy to get lost in the technical side of filmmaking. I don’t want to give the storytelling side short shrift, however, so here’s the evocative and beautiful dialogue-free animated short “The Silence Beneath the Bark,” which was shortlisted for an Oscar this year. Joanna Lurie filtered and modified photos in Adobe Photoshop to create abstract, textured backgrounds, and then brought to life animated 3D characters. It’s easy to forget about the technical details and get lost in the fictional setting, however — as it should be: (more…)

Eddie O’KEEFE's DIY Short 'The GHOSTS' Does Retro Right

Ryan Koo — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 20:13:39 +0000

Eddie O’KEEFE’s no-budget short “The GHOSTS” was shot in a small town west of Chicago this year, but manages to effectively evoke a bygone American era. One kid takes a baseball bat to a mailbox in the film, which I’m pointing out only to launch into a personal anecdote: growing up in North Carolina, some neighborhood ruffians were busting up mailboxes with bats, and so our neighbor filled his mailbox with bricks. A kid hit the box, broke his hand, sued the neighbor, and won. True story. I think. Anyway, check out Eddie’s skillful, atmospheric, playful short: (more…)

Short of the Week's 'The Thomas Beale Cipher' and Festival vs. Online Distribution

Ryan Koo — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 16:23:13 +0000

I meant to post this months ago, but like so many stories on this under-staffed (single-staffed) site, it slipped through the cracks. Then the NewTeeVee article Forget Festivals, Go Online Instead re-brought it to my attention, and so here it is: if you haven’t already seen The Thomas Beale Cipher, the animated short directed by Andrew S. Allen and produced by Jason Sondhi (both from Short of the Week), here’s the 10-minute texture-tastic mystery in full: (more…)

TMB's Inspirational True Short 'Panyee FC' is Only Technically Branded Entertainment

Ryan Koo — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 14:50:57 +0000

Watching the inspirational true story of Panyee FC, a youth soccer team formed on an island in South Thailand, you wouldn’t know the film was paid for in full by Thai Military Bank. There are no logos in the film itself (until the end), no scenes in banks, and in fact the film has nothing to do with banking at all. It is, however, reportedly a true story, and a touching one at that: (more…)

Ruairi Robinson's Live Action/CGI Short 'Blinky™' Makes You Rethink the Roomba

Ryan Koo — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 20:58:49 +0000

Oscan-nominated Irish animator Ruairi Robinson directs this 13-minute short starring Where the Wild Things Are‘s Max Records, in which robotic home companionship comes with a price. Don’t be fooled by the smiling face: this isn’t G-rated. (more…)

Adam Anthony's 'The Maestro' Makes Creative Use of Time-Lapse Photography

Ryan Koo — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 22:48:36 +0000

Timelapse photography is everywhere now, but other than to show the passage of time, it’s rarely used as a storytelling device. Director Adam Anthony’s short “The Maestro” was a finalist at this year’s Tropfest, and finds a way to integrate the effect into the story: (more…)

The Extreme Cinematography of Brain Farm's Snowboarding Epic 'The Art of FLIGHT'

Ryan Koo — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 20:32:19 +0000

Surf, ski, and snowboard films frequently make use of slow motion to emphasize the effects of gravity (or lack thereof). One could easily think “it’s all been done” when it comes to snowboarders catching air in slow motion. But Brain Farm Cinema’s forthcoming feature The Art of FLIGHT, filmed at snow-dusted locations the world around, should cause even jaded jaws to drop: (more…)

Watch the DIY Feature 'Children of Invention' Free on Hulu (For a Limited Time)

Ryan Koo — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:21:34 +0000

Tze Chun’s feature Children of Invention was the subject of a NoFilmSchool interview, and the film’s much-talked-about D.I.Y. distribution has now landed it on Hulu for the next two months. Hit the full-screen button and kick back to the indie film Variety deemed “austerely poetic”: (more…)

And Now for No Bokeh: Cordell Barker's Animated 'Runaway'

Ryan Koo — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 19:20:15 +0000

One of the best aspects of shooting on a big-sensor DSLR is the way it can turn something that’s pretty ugly (to the naked eye) into something that looks halfway decent on screen, thanks to aesthetically-pleasing bokeh. One genre of film that doesn’t take advantage of this aesthetic, however, is 2D animation. Sure, many modern computer-assisted animations introduce some background blur, but sometimes I find the crisp flatness of old-fashioned, two-dimensional animation refreshing. This animated short is also relevant to our times: (more…)

Imagination Trumps Merchandising: Fifteen Years of Pixar

Ryan Koo — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:23:32 +0000

In a genre that’s since come to be dominated by the often crass commercialism of, say, Dreamworks Animation, the originator of the 3D animated feature — Pixar — remains a cut above the rest. Watching this compendium of their 15-year history, it strikes me that these movies feel like real events, with real people, begetting real memories — but amazingly, they’re just 1s and 0s. And despite the billions of dollars made and every manner of commercialism pursued, Pixar films still feel driven by imagination, not merchandising. Here’s a look back, expertly edited by Leandro Copperfield: (more…)

Gen Ip's 'Filmography 2010' Transcends the Trailer Mashup Genre

Ryan Koo — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 14:21:58 +0000

This came out a couple of weeks ago, but this clip is a great recap of the past year in (major) movies. It’s edited extremely well (by college student Gen Ip) and includes so many recognizable sequences and shots (from 270 films in all) that it reminded me of several films that I’ve been meaning to see, despite already making my own list. If you haven’t already seen this mashup, check it out: (more…)