Dinner Parties and Horse Racing Collide in the Pestle and Mortar Short Film 'Champagne Capitalist'
Mixing animation and live action in one film in a way that moves the story forward is never an easy task. Pestle and Mortar's Champagne Capitalist, however, does exactly that. In the short film (at just over 3 minutes it's the very definition of a short), a young girl is tired of her parents' dinner parties and "comes up with a surprising scheme to make this one work for her." Obviously you may not watch or even want to watch many of the short films posted on this site, but if you've got a few minutes to spare, it's worth checking out.
Pestle and Mortar is actually a pseudonym for the creative partnership between Faye Planer and Tristan Martin. They've worked on a number of projects together, from documentaries to animation, and it's clear they have a solid grasp on the short film format. I often talk about shorts with their "punchlines," but this is another perfect example. If I have a smile on my face by the end of a film, there's a good chance the filmmakers did their job. Good ideas, when executed well, can really work regardless of length.
I particularly liked some of the nods to Wes Anderson's style of filmmaking. Intentional or not, having seen most of Anderson's films, I was instantly prepared for the kind of short I was about to see, and in a lot of ways, that made it even more effective.
What do you guys think about the short? What worked for you?
