I had a lot of fun over the past couple days watching this via
Vimeo, and then checking out the extra goodies on the DVD. Overall a solid team effort. The stand-out edits for me were "
Top 5 Break Ups" by @"Neglify" and "
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring" by @"That One Guy". Both shorts gave me just what I was looking for with a project like this. Kudos to all involved, and extra high-fives to @"Rogue-theX" for some fantastic original artwork to represent the team effort. My reviews of the individual contributions:
Dream by Adabisi
This is a nice truncated version of
Requiem for a Dream. It's been a while since I've seen the original movie - while it is a beautiful and brilliant film, it's also a bit depressing and too disturbing for me to revisit often. With that in mind, I couldn't tell exactly what was edited together by the original filmmakers or by Adabisi. On the plus side: the re-editing was rather seamless, so kudos! The down-side is that I'm not exactly sure which of the brilliant sequences I can attribute to Adabisi, as I know he had a hand in at least some of them. There was some really cool editing on display here. I also watched this streaming on Vimeo and had the
same experience as TMBTM (the video is choppy). Not enough to be completely distracting, but it's noticeable. Whether that is the fault of the editor or the re-encode for Vimeo, I can't say, but I docked a few points from the category. Otherwise, the A/V quality is good. Narratively, I have some mixed feelings. The editor does a great job of telling this story in just 15 minutes, but there are some major tonal shifts, especially in the first half of the edit that feel odd to me. One moment the short is sappy, the next energetic and happy, then tense, followed by sullen. That can work spread out over a feature film, but it creates an identity problem in such a short sequence. Overall a nice contribution to a cool project.
Getaway by thecuddlyninja
Getaway is essentially the Cliff's Notes version of
Drive, focusing on the relationship between the Driver and Irene. For the most part, it's a successful short, with some
really well done editing. Newly added music draped over fanedited sequences pull a lot of emotion. However, like the source film, this re-edit feels just a tad forced at times. Oscar Isaac's character, Standard, feels more like an afterthought rather than a vehicle for moving the plot forward.
Getaway probably could have benefited from just a few more minutes where it might have introduced the relationship between the three adult characters a little better. Alas, the consecution series always presents a challenge with the short runtime constraints, and I should emphasize that thecuddlyninja has done a great job with this edit. I watched via Vimeo and the a/v quality was excellent. Getaway is a great contribution to the consecution collection.
Matcha To Bon Odori (Green Tea and the Spirit Dance) by TM2YC
What a lovely short edit! The conversion to B&W along with the reframing really compliment this beautiful short film focusing on love (romantic, and family). TM2YC has a done a great job here, and it was nice to see something a little different done with the material instead of just truncating the source to ~15 minutes. I watched streaming in HD on Vimeo, and there was some macroblocking to the picture (actually quite a bit). Whether that is a result of the editor or Vimeo's re-encoding I can't say, but I docked a couple points. Also, the B&W image was a bit too dark in some scenes, but overall the conversion was convincing. The technical editing for both audio and video was top notch. Like That-One-Guy noted in
his review, the end edit felt abrupt, but I agree it was a stylistic choice. Thanks TM2YC, this one pulled on the heartstrings a bit!
Self Help by thecuddlyninja
Great little short! The post-"dream" transition was a bit abrupt, but I think that was a stylistic choice by the editor. Otherwise, everything is edited together seamlessly. Well done cuddly. I really enjoyed this o
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind: The Arthouse Cut by Ken Poirier
Conceptually and as far as the narrative goes, I enjoyed this edit quite a bit - it's a nice short story, and it's edited together quite well. Unfortunately I found the edit's film damage effects unconvincing and fairly distracting. The footage looks less like a low-budget cut of a student film and more like a feature film with really poor out-of-the-box effects looped over (and over) the footage. The concept was a cool idea though.
Love Kills by matrixgrindhouse
I literally LOL'd while watching this short. The editing of the episode clips does seem a bit like a montage in the middle of this short, but overall it makes for a fun story and a great contribution to the series.
Top 5 Break Ups by Neglify
And
that boys and girls is what this series is all about! What a great short! The edit jumps the shark in break-up #4 and then the shark jumps the edit in the bonus features!! Great mash-up, totally ridiculous ending, and all the French-Californian bonus points for commentary fun. Thanks Neg! This was my favorite of the lot.
The Most Interesting Man in the World by Adabisi
This story
almost worked. Overall,
The Most Interesting Man in the World is a nice, if not saccharine, story about an intriguing fellow who falls in love. However, Phil's grumpy behavior at the beginning of the short kind of throws the entire thing off . The transformation through repetition is important for
Groundhog Day, but not needed for this short. A small detail that ended up changing the overall effect. Still, it is edited together quite well and makes for an enjoyable short. I actually hope Adabisi revisits this for a tiny re-cut. I think the experience would be greatly improved with just a bit more work.
Birthday Presents by TM2YC
Birthday Presents is a nice short that is quite the transformation from the source material. The editing is very well done. Narratively, Mark still comes off like a bit of a psycho in the beginning. There is a slight implication that he might be watching porn or snuff. Having him view something a bit tamer might have better sold that he was just a lonely, but harmless guy. A minor point though, and there is a lot of great editing on display!
Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring by That One Guy
This was just what I was looking for with this consecution. A beautiful edit that really got me in the feels. The font on the title cards felt off (paging @"blueyoda") but they are easily overlooked in the bigger picture of this edit. Thanks That One Guy!
.
