An eagle will turn me into a horse if I do not make a good short film

Despite the title of this post and the last post, I must reiterate that I do not smoke. This title will make sense eventually. Let's do some more film research, shall we? 

I decided that this post will be dedicated to comedies, because I would like to think of myself as effortlessly hilarious, and I'm sure I would make the greatest comedy of all time if I wanted to. If I wanted to.

One Minute Time Machine

One minute time machine keeps the trend of having a very simple story. The entire story takes place on a park bench. It shows this man trying to pick up a girl, but he isn't very good at it. Luckily, he has a one-minute time machine, so whenever he messes up, he sends himself back in time a minute and tries again. Damn, I want one of those. 

I think one of the highlights of this film is the writing. It is heavily dialogue driven, (which seems to be kind of rare in short films), and the writing is actually pretty good. The conversation feels very natural, and combined with the editing, the final film ended up being really really funny. It also has a very distinct beginning, middle, and end, which is impressive for something that takes place in one single location (and one minute technically), as well as some cool twists. 

This film also gives a lot of cool information in its description about the process of making the film. Something that really stood out to me is how long this film took to produce. The actual filming process was only eight hours, and the initial edit only took a few days. However, the creator felt the film was missing something, and he kept changing small things, trying to make something that would truly make it special. I have no clue what the original cuts included, but the creator said he cut out one of his favorite bits. 

"Eventually, in December 2013, editing on my laptop on a flight to New York, I tried removing a really funny reaction from Brian. It was probably my favourite joke in the whole film, but once it was removed, everything worked better. All of the comedy beats had a more natural rhythm. It just worked."

I think this is something I will really have to keep in mind when creating my short film. I may have to be willing to delete scenes or lines or shots that I really care about, but in the end it will better the final product.  

The Gunfighter

This is titled on Youtube as "The Gunfighter (Best Short Film Ever). That gives you some pretty high expectations. I'm going to be honest, it isn't. The true best short film ever will be unveiled later in this post. It's pretty damn good however, and really funny, so I'll let it slide. For now.

I've noticed that a lot of short films have what I guess I would call a "gimmick". The gimmick in One Minute Time Machine is the characters constantly setting the time back one minute. The gimmick in this one is that there is a narrator. That all the characters can hear. This obviously drives them crazy, especially when the narrator starts revealing their inner thoughts. The best part is that the voice actor for the narrator is the guy who plays Ron Swanson. 

This short film is genuinely hilarious. It is so unhinged that it just keeps getting better and better. Like look at the line: 

 "The gunfighter noticed for the first time that the bartender was black. This was still unusual in the West, but the Gunfighter decided he was okay with it"

The Bartender then goes "Ummmm, thanks?"

It's actual comedy gold. This short film also takes place in only one location, but still manages to have a good beginning, middle, and end.  I think the "gimmick" concept is something that could be a great tool to apply for my own short film, if I can come up with a good idea for one. However, it is very much not necessary, as you will see with a future example. (omg more foreshadowing)

Alternative Math

I hate math. Luckily for me, I just finished my very last math lesson in all of high school. And no, I do not understand how to take the integral of power series at the moment, but that's a later problem. Luckily for me as well, it seems the creators of this film hate math just as much. 

Basically, this film is about a kindergartener who thinks 2+2=22. However, when the teacher corrects him, he storms out, and his parents demand to know why she's pushing her extremist views on their children. Yes, it escalates that quickly. It's a pretty enjoyable watch, and definitely has a point it's trying to make. 

My absolute favorite part about the film is the comments and how people interpret it. There are people on both sides of the political spectrum saying this film is about the other side, and it's hysterical that neither side can see it's about both of them. 

I think that any parody that can insult everyone and make that many people angry is truly genius. 

This film is very technically sound, and while the cinematography isn't stunning, all the shots are well framed and look good. I feel like a majority of short films that fit into the comedy genre don't focus as much on the visuals as much as the story and dialogue. It makes me wonder why this might be. Is it because the makers of these comedy films would rather dedicate time to perfecting the humor? Or, would more unique and artistic cinematography distract from the main focus of the film? It's definitely something to keep in mind. 

Although doing research of these very high quality films is important, as I should be understanding what makes some of the better short films on Youtube so good, I also think I need to be cautious while taking inspiration from these. These are professionally made projects, ones that have VERY high budgets. The budget for The Gunfighter was 25,000 dollars. Which is a teeny bit outside the range of my price range. When these films are made, everyone who is working on it is hired to do a specialized job. The actors are professional actors. There are dedicated people just for coloring or sound. Many of them have sets designed specifically for the film. What I'm saying is that watching these films that are practically the same quality that you would see in a theater isn't the best for inspiration. So I think it's time to look at an amateur film that proves money isn't necessary to make something truly great. 

Okay, let's talk about the greatest short film that has ever been created in the history of the world. In fact, it's straight up the greatest piece of visual media ever. Masterminds such as Kubrick and Hitchcock and Spielberg and Nolan and Tarantino WISH they could have conceived the masterpiece that you are about to lay your eyes upon. Let's talk about...

Eagles are Turning People into Horses: The Movie

I'm being completely serious. Out of all the short films I watched for research, this is by far my favorite. Maybe that says something about me... anyway. 

This was the NYU Tisch thesis film for students Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher. They went on to create the Youtube channel BriTANick, which used to be a fairly popular skit channel. The description reads that this film garnered no support or money, and nearly got him kicked out of class. If that isn't proof that this is a work of genius, I don't know what is. The description also tells us that this was filmed over 48 hours with a budget of roughly $11, which is what I like to hear. 

So, what do I love so much about this film? I think the main thing is that it's just so creative. How the hell does one conjure up the sentence "eagles are turning people into horses"??? Either the creators are really creative people, or, they were extremely high. The story that they made out of this is actually so absurd, but it somehow works. I think it's a pretty impressive art to make something that verges on the line of too insane and absolutely hilarious. 

I also just want to point out that the cinematography and editing are both unironically really good.

I showed the film to my sister and her reactions went from:
-"I don't like this what"

-"Oh what the hell"

-"Zach how did you find this???"

-uncontrollable laugher and confusion

-lack of oxygen due to laughing

I believe that should be the reaction to any good comedy. 

What I think I should take from this is that creativity is everything. I hate short films that the I can guess what the plot twist is super easily. So many films are so predictable and I could tell you what is going to happen next, but not with this film. That really stands out, as someone who's been watching dozens of sub ten minute films for this project. 

That's also probably the hardest part about this project. Being creative is really hard. Being original is even harder. Coming up with a solid original idea is going to be my biggest challenge here, but it clearly pays off so well, as can be seen in both this short film, and most of the examples. 

I have a few different ideas for comedies, and I'm definitely considering making one. I have a few different possible plots in mind, and directions I know I could go, so there's a good chance I'll go with that route.