Howdy, Clam Bakers. Grab a seat around the campfire and settle into your chairs. We’re trying something a little different tonight. Part of the reason for this variance is that I spent too much time today doing things I shouldn’t have (XBOX may have been involved, I’m not signing anything) and I didn’t properly prep an original post. But really, and mostly, I wanted to share a few short films with you that are really striking in their originality and conception.
All of tonight’s selections have been “borrowed” from the Slippery Edge blog, a site dedicated to, in their own words, “the exploration of beauty and creativity”. This might sound a little obscure and fancy, but trust, they really know what they’re doing. I have yet to read a post on their site that I didn’t find intriguing on at least some level. If you are interested in emerging arts and artists, you might want to click the link and poke around a bit.
So, make sure you have a satisfying beverage handy, keep an eye on your roasting weenies so we don’t have an unfortunate culinary incident, and take a gander at what some folks are doing with short-form storytelling. It’s fair to say that five or ten minutes of quality can be much more satisfying than two hours of explosions and supermodels taking an explicit shower for no apparent reason.
Enjoy.
Job, Joris and Marieke – “A Single Life”
Natasha Chernysheva – “Le Retour”
Francois Ferracci – “Lost Memories”
Jim Archer – “My Sister’s Dollhouse”
Vladimir Leschiov – “Wings and Oars”
Final Note: I realize that some of these bits are not for all tastes, and that many of you will not even watch them, because really, who has that kind of time? Still, at least one of you will click, and that’s good enough for me…
Categories: Intermission
Bonnywood Manor 
Thank you for this, I look forward to taking a look later tonight 🙂
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These are wonderful!!
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This makes me happy. I’m a firm believer that if you see something interesting, you should share it as much as possible…
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I agree! 🙂
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Sadly I can’t watch them because the cussed internet suppliers here have conspired to make a labyrinth for the helluv watching me struggle and ultimately break down in tears of exasperation as I pass the same spot over and over. Resultantly I am reliant on my phone and 4G allowance and sadly video is too greedy. But soon. Or there may be blood. Will be actually. 😠
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Well, if you would just invite me over for an extended stay at… wherever it is that you are now gracing with your presence, I could act out all of the scenes in each video with overwhelming skill and flair. Which means, of course, that I will fail miserably… 😉
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Such an international woman of mystery, me …. or is the word mistake? 😁
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Curse you Brian! I’ve seen some of these before, but I STILL clicked on every last one. Now I’m hopelessly behind on everything I have to do today and it’s your fault. And of course, I’m just so grateful, especially for “Le Retour”.
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Now, now, cursing is not necessary unless you’re auditioning for the next Harry Potter movie. (Okay, there are some other situations that might apply.) And really, isn’t it fun to take the time to explore, even if it means you’re a bit tardy with your presumed agenda? I think yes… 😉
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Loved “A Single Life”!
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That one is just so inventive, you can’t help but admire it…
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Love the second one.
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“Le Retour” is so striking in its deceptively simple depiction of what once was and how we miss it now…
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I have avant garde “arteest” pieces on Vimeo. Watching things you’ve never seen is mandatory, or you become another victim of Stepfordesque entertainment programming. another Neilson household. Another statistic. I vote with Peggy, although the credit roll for a piece so short and poignant read like the grant process for a digital humanties project which took a lot of the “art for art’s sake” out of it. Thank you for exposing yourself, though.
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I’m always happy to expose myself. But let’s focus back on you: What’s this with Vimeo? How is it that you constantly amaze me? I’m getting a little bit pissed of about it. Said with respect, of course. Sort of.
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I hate toload up your site with links, but here’s one. https://vimeo.com/224147578 We won awards for this sort of art school madness. Worse? We used to do this live, for half an hour or more in downtown OKC in 1975 for the brown baggers music and art for lunch crowd. My mom kept the clippings! Headphones are a pre-req
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I liked the first one, but gotta say, My Sister’s Dollhouse made me laugh out loud. Does that make me twisted?
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Not twisted at all. I had to struggle with not making “Dollhouse” the first video, because I really like it, but I thought it best to gently ease folks into my selections. You scare them off with the first pass, they will not continue scrolling… 😉
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This is one of my favorite short films. It is science fiction, and it will punch you right in the feels.
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This is really quite moving. How could you not love the concept behind it? Thanks for sharing…
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🙂
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Short films are wonderful and these are all great, but My Sister’s Dollhouse!!! LOVED IT!
Okay, you knew I’d pick that one, right? Yeaahhh!
Favorite bits were his collection of “notes from friends” and meeting his father. 😀
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I did hope that you would pick “Dollhouse”, seriously, although I thought you might be tempted by a few of the others, and understandably so. The overriding theme with all of these selections is emotion, however inconsequential it might seem, laid bare. “Dollhouse” greatly appeals to my fundamental nature and is the closest to my psyche, but I do have to admit that I included “Wings and Oars” knowing full well that it would be the least favored of the bunch, yet the melancholy but honest tone stirred something in me that I can’t quite define. So, you think I should do more of these?
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If you enjoy doing these, then by all means, do so! The more exposure they get the better. (It always frustrates me during the Oscars when they show clips of short films, and they look soooo interesting, but how in the heck do you find them?)
By the by, have you ever seen The Red Balloon? There’s such a gentle simplicity to it. Even though it’s just a half hour long, I think I’d put it in my top ten.
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Yes, I have seen The Red Balloon, as a tyke many decades ago, when Kukla, Fran and Ollie “hosted” CBS Children’s Film Festival. I don’t remember what eventually happened to the balloon, but I can still recall some of the visuals from the “journey”. I believe this film is now available from Criterion, so I really need to check out that version…
Addendum: About 30 emails after the notification that you had made this comment, I got an email from Criterion announcing the latest movies that are getting the “Criterion” treatment. “Red Balloon” wasn’t listed, naturally, because that would have been almost creepy. But I did check their backlog, they HAVE done “Balloon”, and it’s currently on sale for 12 bucks (a great price for Criterion). Destiny, yes?
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I loved them all except the last one. What the literal EFF was that about?!? I’m pretty sure that video game me diabetes. I seriously LOL’d at the dollhouse where he’s like, “And 145 years later, I burned down my sisters dollhouse” like, WHAT?! HA!!
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The “Dollhouse” video cracked me up, seriously. And there are so many little things going on in that one, it actually gets funnier with repeat views. (And yes, the last video is a little cryptic, but I really liked how it could be taken in so many different ways…)
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Ok, fess up that I only watched 1 and 2 – but I loved, loved, love them both (the boobs in 1 jut got me, so perky and round and bobbly). Started doll house, but it lost me in about 3 seconds, so scrolled on past. Running behind on some many things at the moment, so gave the rest a miss. Enjoyed the concept, more would be acceptable. 🙂
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The perkiness of the boobs was quite endearing, indeed. Too bad we lost you with “Dollhouse”, as I was curious about your take, but I definitely understand the running-behind angle, as I am with this comment. We’ll see how the next batch goes…
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I will go back and try the Dollhouse, as I admit the comments intrigued me. Just got to be int he right “frame” to watch movies 🙂
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