I know we’ve already featured a Betty Boop cartoon in this space (Betty Boop in Snow White), but this one was so good, we had to share. In this episode Bimbo falls into a manhole, and finds himself in a hideout for a group of people in black face with melted candle hats. Determined not to join their group, Bimbo puts himself in a lot of danger.
This cartoon contains a wonderfully outdated music score along with some sound effects that are very unique by today’s standards. There is a short peek at what looks like a famous Disney character at the beginning, and, as you may expect, some very surreal imagery throughout.
OOIOO is an all-female avant-garde music group from Japan. Their style is very hard to describe, because it varies so much. Many of their songs have a soothing, majestic feel to them, while this song is strongly tribal based. One thing is for certain, they can move a crowd. Their strong rhythm section compels their listeners to dance.
Directed by Shoji Goto, this psychedelic video focuses on the concept of communication with nature. If drum circles in the forest are your thing, you should most definitely watch this video. If they’re not… well, it doesn’t hurt to give it a try.
“Sultana Meadows” is a fine example of the delightful, under appreciated shorts by Spike McKenzie. The unsettling images throughout this video are quite reminiscent of David Lynch, and paint a very weird and wonderful picture.
Relationships tend to slowly draw away our good side, and expose the bad. Mayhap you’ll have much in common with this journey into the bizarre.
For more of Spike visit his YouTube account. I strongly recommend his mock kids show, “Wonderbang Island”.
Another Saturday brings another short film for our readers.
This week was exceptionally difficult, but with some help I selected another short film, “Henri” directed by Will Braden. Henri is a feline who is going to show us a different view on the seemingly carefree life of a house cat. Although this clip is not very weird, it is quite amusing, and certainly worth viewing. Give it a shot. Henri enjoys the attention.
Today’s Saturday Short is a music video made by Chad Vangaalen. Chad is a musician and artist from Canada who rarely leaves his basement, where he is constantly working. Besides his passion for music and the visual arts, Chad also has a passion for skateboarding.
In the video you’ll see that Chad’s music style is a combination of indie, folk, pop, and experimental. He has created a few stop motion videos to advertise his latest album, “Soft Airplane,” but in his other videos he uses computer animation.
Originally, I wanted to use the music video to “Molten Light.” I find the animation as well as the music to be much better, but this video is a little too graphic for our site. There are sequences of strong comic violence and nudity throughout. If that content doesn’t bother you click here.
If you enjoy the music be sure to look up Chad’s alias, “Black Mold,” as well. He just released an album under the name.
This week’s short, Nachtmahr: Geistergang, (Nightmare: Ghost Trail) was written by another fan of ours, Kacper Radecki. This is visually and aurally one of the stranger shorts I’ve come across. Each scene is quite unique. There’s a creature (which took an entire week to make the costume for) dancing in the forest, a series of ruins, a pipe scene, and a bug trying to escape a jar. All of which, along with the whispers and screams in the background, make it true to it’s title; a nightmare.
Kacper is a self-taught photographer and director who plans to study film in the United States in 2010. Our best wishes go out to him in furthering his passion for film.
For a look at Kacper’s photography visit this link.
Firstly, I’d like to thank Ayla (of Twisted Celluloid) for the idea of this week’s short, “Betty Boop in Snow-White”. The change over the past seventy-five years has been a big one, and it is very evident in this cartoon. In this short you will find some very out of the ordinary dancing and singing (featuring Cab Calloway), a brief mention of alcohol, and no morals to end on. Enjoy!
Our second Saturday Short installment is from a fan of our site, Sean McHenry, director and editor of Deep Blue Edit. Unlike my last post, “One Pill” is much more what you’d expect a short film to be; quiet, yet profound. I believe Sean’s caption says it best:
“If One Pill could repair a broken memory…
No matter how tragic and painful…
Would you take it?”
Much more from Sean is available at his site Deep Blue Edit (look for the blue navigation box to the left.) One brief tour was all it took, and I was completely ensnared. If you like what you see, be sure to message him. He’ll be glad to know his work is well appreciated.
Filmmakers: if you have a short you’d like to see featured in this space, please contact us using the contact form.
“Saturday Short” (suggestions on a better title are welcome) is a new feature where we’ll be featuring a new (to us), full-length, weird short every Saturday. Shorts are selected by our new “shorts editor” Cameron Jorgensen.
This stop-motion animation by David Firth is just over a year old. David found a lot of the props he uses in this animation in his own backyard. Beware, most of his shorts are very creepy, and “Crooked (Orcus) Rot” is no exception. A lot of his work can be defined as dark humor while this would better fit under experimental. Musical score written by Marcus Fjellstrom.
