Before Whiplash was a Best Picture nominee and Oscar winner in three categories, it was an 18 minute short. Directed by Damien Chazelle and still starring that furious (and now Oscar winning) performance from J.K. Simmons, the short is basically a sequence from the full film, but without Miles Teller. If you can't afford a ticket to the real thing, or your not sure if the film is quite your tempo, then give the short a watch and see where it all began.
Showing posts with label short film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label short film. Show all posts
Monday, 2 March 2015
Tuesday, 27 August 2013
FrightFest 2013
FrightFest is an annual horror movie festival held in Leicester Square in London. On Sunday 25th August 2013, I got to attend the festival for the day and help out James from Tastic Film by conducting on camera interviews with the stars and directors in attendance. I also managed to sneak in a quick screening of a film called Dark Tourist but I was so knackered that I could barely stay awake for most of it I'm afraid.
First the stars and director of In Fear showed up. I'd heard a bit about this film and that it might be one of the best in the Fest so I read a bit about it before coming up with some questions for director Jeremy Lovering and stars Alice Englert and Allen Leech. Lovering has done all sorts of stuff in TV, most notably a recent episode of Sherlock and Alice Englert is from the recent Beautiful Creatures, while Leech is from Downton Abbey. Check out the video below this picture for the full interview:
After that Anthony Di Blasi, the director of Missionary came and chatted for a while. Though I haven't seen his film, it sounds very interesting and Di Blasi was great fun to talk to.
Next up I got to question Dark Tourist director Suri Krishnamma and lead actor Michael Cudlitz (from TV's Southland). This was the film I managed to sneak in to see and though it had a very intriguing premise about grief tourism and a guy who wants to visits locations where serial killers did their deeds, it didn't really grab me.
Finally it was time to interview the judges and winner of the 666 Short Cuts to Hell competition. Entrants were given a whole list of restrictions in which to make their own horror short film and I also managed to get to watch the six finalists on the big screen at Empire Leicester Square. All the finalists I saw were incredible; brilliantly crafted and often packing some hilarious punchlines. The judges included Tom Six, the director of the Human Centipede trilogy and Rosie Fletcher, the associate editor of Total Film magazine. Tom Six was too busy editing HC3 to be there so he sent star of HC2 Laurence R. Harvey. So the highlights of my day were asking Harvey about HC3 and also bugging Rosie Fletcher with loads of questions about how I get myself into Total Film one day!
Here is a video I shot of Laurence R. Harvey talking about HC3 in front of the packed FrightFest audience. All the interviews will be up on Tastic Film soon and I will post links to them as soon as they are up.
Anyone else attend FrightFest 2013? What were your picks of the Fest?
More on past FrightFests from I Love That Film:
First the stars and director of In Fear showed up. I'd heard a bit about this film and that it might be one of the best in the Fest so I read a bit about it before coming up with some questions for director Jeremy Lovering and stars Alice Englert and Allen Leech. Lovering has done all sorts of stuff in TV, most notably a recent episode of Sherlock and Alice Englert is from the recent Beautiful Creatures, while Leech is from Downton Abbey. Check out the video below this picture for the full interview:
 |
| Very poor pic of Alice Englert and Allen Leech |
After that Anthony Di Blasi, the director of Missionary came and chatted for a while. Though I haven't seen his film, it sounds very interesting and Di Blasi was great fun to talk to.
 |
| Anthony Di Blasi (R) and his producer (L) |
Next up I got to question Dark Tourist director Suri Krishnamma and lead actor Michael Cudlitz (from TV's Southland). This was the film I managed to sneak in to see and though it had a very intriguing premise about grief tourism and a guy who wants to visits locations where serial killers did their deeds, it didn't really grab me.
 |
| Suri Krishnamma and Michael Cudlitz |
Finally it was time to interview the judges and winner of the 666 Short Cuts to Hell competition. Entrants were given a whole list of restrictions in which to make their own horror short film and I also managed to get to watch the six finalists on the big screen at Empire Leicester Square. All the finalists I saw were incredible; brilliantly crafted and often packing some hilarious punchlines. The judges included Tom Six, the director of the Human Centipede trilogy and Rosie Fletcher, the associate editor of Total Film magazine. Tom Six was too busy editing HC3 to be there so he sent star of HC2 Laurence R. Harvey. So the highlights of my day were asking Harvey about HC3 and also bugging Rosie Fletcher with loads of questions about how I get myself into Total Film one day!
 |
| Competition winner and judges |
Here is a video I shot of Laurence R. Harvey talking about HC3 in front of the packed FrightFest audience. All the interviews will be up on Tastic Film soon and I will post links to them as soon as they are up.
Anyone else attend FrightFest 2013? What were your picks of the Fest?
More on past FrightFests from I Love That Film:
Tower Block Trailer Shoots to Kill
Where are the Dead?
Zombies Attack London!
Saturday, 12 May 2012
I love That Debut: Nolan's Doodlebug
As The Dark Knight Rises draws nearer, I'm having a bit of a mini-Nolan-fest at home this week. Lovefilm sent me Nolan's feature debut Following this week. It's an interesting, twisty, non-linear, black and white low budget gem but not a bona-fide masterpiece. However you can see many of Nolan's signatures germinating in his tale of a morally questionable anti-hero getting lured and manipulated into a criminal underworld beyond his control. 
It's interesting to note there is a character named Cobb as in Inception. Like Memento the narrative is a bit of a puzzle that needs piecing together by the viewer. And both Following and Inception have morally dubious protagonists and characters that delve into the minds of others.The Dark Knight Rises will only be Nolan's eighth feature but his filmography is packed with brilliant films from Memento and Insomnia right up to his Batman trilogy. I urge you to check out any you may have missed!
Watching Following this week and then um... following that with Inception today has reminded me of Nolan's early short film Doodlebug. So the real reason I write today is to share it with you. If you haven't seen it before or you just can't wait for The Dark Knight Rises to be released, then give Christopher Nolan's short film a go to tide you over. It's got a killer ending!
What do you think of Mr Nolan? Legendary or over-rated? Be careful what you say, Bane's watching.
Friday, 21 October 2011
Big Society
Sitting at the LFF yesterday listening to the discussion about Fact VS Fiction, I was desperate to ask the panel how they felt about the current horror mock-doc trend in cinema. But I felt it might be a little far out of the topic as mostly the discussion had been about documentaries and fiction films based on real events/characters. No mention of mock-docs or horror.
Luckily the guy next to me raised the question. Wary of the term mockumentary, he asked what the panel thought about films that fake authenticity. He mentioned that he had just completed his own short film and that it was similar to the form of Man Bites Dog.
As this is one of the focus films of my PhD thesis, I thought I'd catch him at the end of the discussion and get his name and the name of his film. I'm glad I did.
The guy sitting next to me was Jonathan Rhodes and his film which he starred in, produced and co-wrote is Big Society. Directed and co-written by Nick Scott, it is a great little short. Similar in form to films like Man Bites Dog, The Magician and The Last Horror Movie, it looks at one man's controversial approach to tackling social issues. It has a vital, interesting message with an engaging central performance and lead character. See it below and let me know what you think:
Luckily the guy next to me raised the question. Wary of the term mockumentary, he asked what the panel thought about films that fake authenticity. He mentioned that he had just completed his own short film and that it was similar to the form of Man Bites Dog.
As this is one of the focus films of my PhD thesis, I thought I'd catch him at the end of the discussion and get his name and the name of his film. I'm glad I did.
The guy sitting next to me was Jonathan Rhodes and his film which he starred in, produced and co-wrote is Big Society. Directed and co-written by Nick Scott, it is a great little short. Similar in form to films like Man Bites Dog, The Magician and The Last Horror Movie, it looks at one man's controversial approach to tackling social issues. It has a vital, interesting message with an engaging central performance and lead character. See it below and let me know what you think:
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