Magic (2008)

[WanderingKnight]

Description: Short film fully produced in 4 hours (planning, filming and editing). Filmed on July 19th 2008 in Buenos Aires.

Technical team: Facundo Jacinto, Luciano Salerno, Iván Gómez Villafañe.

Artistic team: Facundo Jacinto, Leandro Barutta Sosa, Lucas Cardoso (me! ).

Utility Assistant: Marcos Gómez Villafañe.

Running time: 1:28

English subtitles through YouTube annotations.

Video here.

This is the result of an idea that came up on Saturday night while we were hanging out with some friends (who study film). It took around 40 minutes of filming, including the time it took us to come up with the idea, and around 3 horus of editing. I have to say, for our nonexistent budget (and my complete lack of acting ability), it came out quite nicely.

[monir]

Can we get a translation in English for the dialogues? It might help to understand the particular title, Magic, behind your film.

Good night.

[WanderingKnight]

EDIT: Fixed, I forgot to publish the annotations.

[Seditary]

I'll have a look when I get home, always enjoy spontaneous film.

[james0246]

So, by Utility Assistant, you mean Camera Owner, correct ?

Here is probably a more extensive review than you were looking for...

Good: Sound. This is the main feature that stood out most in the short film. The incessant squeaking of Leandro's box-pendulum (was it a hanging candle holder? if it is, it's lack of flame is poignant; and of course, the reference to time is quite poignant) that was deliberately synchronized to Facundo's "Abstract" car crashes (a deliberate symbolic representation of the crashing of waves? the crashing of a life?) and of course the low key vocals, implying an end with no struggle (a lifetime of constant lack of struggle? or merely giving up?). (Sadly enough, I could not get the subtitles to properly work, so I was unsure of the exact dialogue.) For such a low key production, the sound was the most beneficial to conveying story.

The use of the corkscrew is also interesting. It is an out of place item, much the same as the others, but it can also have similar symbolic means of time and death, similar to the pendulum and the crashing cars. Specifically, the winding path of the corkscrews central piece could imply an eventual end (in the respect that the item comes to a "point"). Additionally, the fact that it is a personified item that looks like a person (with arms, head, and a torso) can also be symbolic of murder, or more specifically, that these other people caused Lucas' death (the fact that when the corkscrew is fully open (blade barred) it look like a little person raising their arms in the air could imply that these "friends" set out to "kill" Lucas (their actions after death also imply this)).

Bad: Transitional structure of the short. The film keeps a relatively understandable 3rd person perspective, but moves from different angles of the 3rd person abruptly and at the end has a strange POV shot that is quite interesting. Specifically, a shift from the beginning close-ups to a static mid-range shot was partially jarring (around :30). This can be improved with sound: specifically, Lucas' voice can be introduced, as he fondles the wine-opener (in close-up) he will begin to speak and at the end of the sentence an abrupt scene change can occur (i.e. a transition from close-up to mid-range shot after Lucas's dialogue (additionally, the dialogue does not have to be extensive, simply an introductory sigh)), or during Lucas' new dialogue the camera can begin to zoom out, naturally transitioning from close-up to mid-range (this works a bit better by constantly keeping the sound a focal point of the feature).

Additionally, the fade out during the "death" is a little strange. Specifically, the fade out is unneeded. I understand the editorial reasoning of not showing the "death", but focus on the cars stopping (a commonly used device in action films to express the enormity of a situation), or better yet, show the pendulum slowing down (whatever you do, keep the sound of the squeaking tapering off, it is a great symbolic aural effect). Focusing on these objects, can then lead to an abrupt cut to the third item, and its current location in Lucas' spine.

I do like the POV shot from the corkscrew's perspective. As I mentioned earlier, the fact that it looks like a little person helps to personify the object. So, to have it standing with its arms raised high after Lucas' death is a very interesting choice. Did these friends kill Lucas, was the Corkscrew cleverly arranged to facilitate death, and many other questions are raised.

In the end, this was an interesting little 2 minute short film. Nicely done for a few hours of work and it reminded me of many of the films I had to do back in Film School, admittedly I was studying Film Theory, not Film construction/design, so my comments are only so "deep".

[WanderingKnight]

(Sadly enough, I could not get the subtitles to properly work, so I was unsure of the exact dialogue.)

Subtitles should work now... if not, I'll post them on request.

The use of the corkscrew is also interesting. It is an out of place item, much the same as the others, but it can also have similar symbolic means of time and death, similar to the pendulum and the crashing cars. Specifically, the winding path of the corkscrews central piece could imply an eventual end (in the respect that the item comes to a "point"). Additionally, the fact that it is a personified item that looks like a person (with arms, head, and a torso) can also be symbolic of murder, or more specifically, that these other people caused Lucas' death (the fact that when the corkscrew is fully open (blade barred) it look like a little person raising their arms in the air could imply that these "friends" set out to "kill" Lucas (their actions after death also imply this)).

You won't find any hidden symbolism even if you ferviently dig through the depths of Hel itself. We used whatever we had at hand--we actually made use of the corkscrew because I was toying around with it after opening a beer bottle and it had a pointy end. The thing ended up pointing upwards since it was the only way the fact that I had been killed with the corkscrew could be made evident.

The incessant squeaking of Leandro's box-pendulum (was it a hanging candle holder? if it is, it's lack of flame is poignant; and of course, the reference to time is quite poignant)

Well, the main focus of the film was the constant, annoying sound of the "pendulum" (it was actually a candlebox with a magnet attached to it... Leandro made it move by repelling it with another magnet in his hand. Which is another proof of how improvised all of this was--he was actually doing it to amuse himself before we got the idea to make the film). That's the only thing that we actually sat down and said "We want to do this". The rest is merely coincidental, and definitely undeserving of any deeper analysis, though technical suggestions are obviously welcome.

With subtitles, who killed who should be evident enough (I hope).

[james0246]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Well, the main focus of the film was the constant, annoying sound of the "pendulum" (it was actually a candlebox with a magnet attached to it... Leandro made it move by repelling it with another magnet in his hand. Which is another proof of how improvised all of this was--he was actually doing it to amuse himself before we got the idea to make the film). That's the only thing that we actually sat down and said "We want to do this". The rest is merely coincidental, and definitely undeserving of any deeper analysis, though technical suggestions are obviously welcome.

LOL, Rain on my parade, why don't you . If nothing else, the little car with the word "Abstract" lsited on the hood, was very cute.

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

With subtitles, who killed who should be evident enough (I hope).

The fact that I was able to draw the conclusion of "murder" without understanding the language is actually a huge plus for your work. Addmittedly, it was not that hard to guess (and of course the actual means of murder were hidden behind the langauge barrier), but still, the best foreign films are the films that can make sense no matter the language (Film is "moving art", so dialogue is ultimately less important than the actual images being shown).

[Aoie_Emesai]

WanderingKnight - You did not look like how I would have expected you to look, hahaha ^^

I'm still trying to figure out what it is entirely about.

[WanderingKnight]

One last thing:

So, by Utility Assistant, you mean Camera Owner, correct ?

Actually, he's Ivan's little brother. We included him simply because he stood by while we filmed the whole thing

[Seditary]

That was nice of you

[james0246]

Next time give him the title of Best Boy Grip .

[Daniel E.]

Originally Posted by Aoie_Emesai

WanderingKnight - You did not look like how I would have expected you to look, hahaha ^^

For me it was the other way around. Wandering looks just as I though he would look.