Short Film Slop

Recently, I received news that The Super Seven had not been selected for a local film festival. And while I was disappointed, I can’t at all say I was surprised. (Though I was deeply wounded, and perhaps this blog post is just me being butthurt about the results.)

In my opinion, every single short film I watch today blurs into one. It seems that every single middle-class white kid (just a pattern, people of all races can make crappy short films) who went to film school is so deeply misunderstood and tortured that they must tell the world through a series of overly colour-graded shots looking out windows or lying in a bathtub. Then, all of a sudden, our tortured protagonist will scream something along the lines of having a terminal illness or dealing internally with some complex personal issue. With the remaining two minutes, we are left with some landscape shots, and we, as the audience, are supposed to use that as some sort of conclusion to their issue??

Just because you mention a serious subject matter does not mean the audience is obliged to like it. (It’s as if we say we don’t enjoy the media about the subject matter, and suddenly we are against it.) I think what people have to understand is that, like a film, a short film is more entertaining when the plot actually involves something happening. Don’t just give us something nice to look at; give us a plot that we find interesting. (I want to clarify that I do enjoy short films that deal with serious subject matters, as long as they are done right.)

Another thing I want to mention is the blindness general audiences have to this issue. It’s as if every single short film maker, viewer, or creator is so pretentious that they cannot accept a short film that shies away from the Shinji (the most tortured character of all)-like protagonist.

I recall a time in my high school film class when a talented classmate of mine made a short film involving gangs and outlandish music. All of us were amazed, and it was genuinely one of the best short films I had ever seen. However, my teacher proceeded to give the film a D, and instead awarded the highest grade to a student who had done his film on the struggles of living with ADHD (I am not trying to make light of this problem). While my classmate had gone to great lengths to come up with a clever plot, create plot twists, and build a tight story to fit within a 10-minute time frame, he was beaten by a film that consisted of a person being agitated in the same room for 10 minutes.

Perhaps what I am trying to say with this post is a general cry for creativity within short films. I think, as an audience, we are sick of unoriginal victim-complex movies. Instead, if serious subject matter is dealt with, it should be dealt with more sincerity. Give us a real plot and some original ideas.

On the other hand, it should be alright to have more short films that are just light-hearted and silly — things that are not so deeply profound, but are still identifiable to the audience.

So, in this case, the best of both worlds.