Tag Archives: short film

Short film: Kid Cudi in ‘Maniac’ (NSFW violence)

Music, Video, , , , , , ,

Last November Kid Cudi hinted that a short film based on one of his songs was coming and yesterday on Halloween he released it on the ‘Net. The short film, directed by Transfomers star Shia LaBeouf, is titled Maniac and it is “inspired by” the song with the same name featured on Cudder’s sophomore album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. The extremely dark, gritty, and violent clip does not play the “Maniac” track behind it, nor does it refer to the lyrics in the song as it plays out like a short film and not a music video. The score that plays in the background is original music produced by Cudi and Wizard collaborator Dot Da Genius. In the nearly ten-minute short, a film crew follows two serial killers (played by Cudi and Chris Palko) documenting their exploits. As made explicit in the post title, this video is NSFW due to graphic violence and gore and in fact it is rated NC-17.

You have been warned. Mash play at your own risk. Happy Halloween!

Update: Cudder sat down with Complex and shared some insight into the making of the Maniac video. In it he talks about working with Shia LaBeouf, the character he played in the video, funding the film, and he explains why the characters speak in French. Read the choice quotes over at Complex.

2011 Nike Mag auction begins, Christopher Lloyd returns in “Back For The Future” (video)

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That last post detailing the launch of the 2011 Nike Mag Back to the Future sneaker is filling to the brim, so I’ve decided to make a new landing for all the latest on the greatest shoe never made (until now, that is).

The auction kicked off September 8 at 8:30PM PST and it will last for ten days. Every day 150 pairs of the sneaker will be made available at eBay. Here’s a link to the Nike Mag-eBay portal. There you’ll be able to view and bid on the shoes, ranging in size from 7 to 13. After a quick glance, most of the shoes currently hover around the $2,500 price point. But don’t let those early tallies fool you; British rapper Tinie Tempah won the first Mag on-site at the Nike launch event with a winning bid of $37,500, and bids on eBay have reportedly reached the $75,000 mark. So unless you’re willing to drop thousands for the shoe from the future, pass your time by drifting your eyes to the next paragraph.

Last night Michael J. Fox appeared on the David Letterman to detail the shoe and it’s release. After showing it off, he announced that Google founder Sergey Brin and his wife Anne Wojcicki have offered to match all donations to the Michael J. Fox Foundation up to $50 million through the end of 2012. So even though you sit there in frustration knowing that owning the Mag is a pipe dream, you can rest assured that all of the money exchanged over the course of the 10-day auction is going to a great cause. If you’re itching to donate to Parkinson’s research in other ways, visit www.michaeljfox.org. Watch Fox’s Letterman appearance after the break.

And finally, the last topic that must be discussed is the marketing campaign behind the Mag release. Check it:

When the original Back to the Future creative team learned of Nike’s desire to support Fox’s foundation with the release of the 2011 NIKE MAG shoes, Executive Producer Frank Marshall joined the effort. A concept was hatched to develop a ‘Lost Scene’ to honor the original Back to the Future films and characters, capturing Doc Brown’s efforts to make Marty ‘fit in’ during his visit to 2015. [via Nike]

And so Back For The Future was born. BTTF executive producer Frank Marshall directed the short film and Robert Zemeckis (helmer of the trilogy) came back to EP. Also returning is the mad scientist himself–Christopher Lloyd as Doc Emmett Brown and Donald Fullilove as salesman Goldie Wilson III. SNL castmember Bill Hader and basketball star Kevin Durant also star in the video embedded after the break. Below, find even more stills of the glorious Mag.


Continue reading 2011 Nike Mag auction begins, Christopher Lloyd returns in “Back For The Future” (video) →

Animated short: ‘Follow the Sun’ intermission reel takes a turn for the highly disturbing

Design, Video, , , , ,

From design and filmmaking collective MK12 comes this disturbingly bizarre short film that serves as “an homage and/or affront to a great American tradition: the Intermission Reel.” MK12 further explains the inspiration behind this odd masterpiece:

Those who weren’t making out in the back of the family Buick between films at the drive-in will remember them: poorly-spliced, underexposed & overplayedgrindhouse reels of sickly green hot dogs,unprovoked pizza-groping, ice cream sundaeswith a vomit of pale, lifeless toppings, and perversesight gags featuring animated snacks in PG-13scenarios. MK12 interested themselves in this format, and envisioned its slightly darker, but perhaps more-to-the-point, R-rated cousin.

MK12 teamed with cel-frame animator TJ Fuller to give birth to the cast of live-action and stop-frame characters featured in the short Follow the Sun. It was made to serve as an opening act to FITC’s tenth anniversary conference in Toronto. They were also commissioned to brand the design and technology-based festival.

Glean what you will from this disturbing tale of dancing snack foods. A making-of video lingers after the break.

[Via FollowTheSun] Continue reading Animated short: ‘Follow the Sun’ intermission reel takes a turn for the highly disturbing →

Animated short: ‘Mac ‘n’ Cheese’ is a psychedelic chase

Design, Video, , ,

A group of students at the Utrecht School of Arts in the Netherlands spent five months creating this visually stunning animated short titled Mac ‘n’ Cheese. They say the visuals were inspired by Valve’s Team Fortress 2 and the short film Meet Buck. The synopsis goes like this:

When you find yourself running scared and running out of energy, there’s only a few options left to outrun your opponent through the southern desert. Stopping at nothing, watch these two guys wear each other out and rip through boundaries hitherto unbroken. Enjoy the ride!

It’s trippy, man.

Short film: ‘Portal: No Escape’

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Whether or not you’ve played the innovative video game from Valve known as Portal doesn’t matter here. This short from LA-based filmmaker Dan Trachtenberg fuses top notch cinematography with a gritty, pulsating score that will blow you away. If you’ve played the game and know your Portal lore, there’s no question that you’ll fully embrace the Chell-like female protagonist and her quest to escape from the shackles of Aperture. The CGI work is fantastic and actress Danielle Rayne will pull you in and never let go for the five-and-half-minute duration. It’s guaranteed that by the end of the film you’ll be foaming at the mouth for more. In less than one day the video has gone viral–it’s nearing 700,000 views. With such a large fanbase formed already, it’d surprise me if Trachtenberg never returned for a second installment.

Portal the movie would be hard to manufacture for mass audiences due to lack of dialogue (GLaDOS is noticeably absent here), but as Trachtenberg has proven it can work wonders in the short film space. Has Valve got wind of this? Do I smell a Portal web series in the works? I’ll keep you posted.

Now flick on HD, turn up the volume, and mash play!

Drew Barrymore directs Best Coast music video starring Chloë Moretz

Music, Video, , , ,

Actress Drew Barrymore was tapped to direct this short film music video for Best Coast and it would be just plain wrong for you not to watch it. First of all, it stars the young but extremely talented actress Chloë Moretz (Hit Girl from Kick Ass). Second it features a bevy of other young, rising stars like Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf), Donald Glover (Community), Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly), and who could forget Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development‘s Maeby Fünke). And third, it tells an emotional, stylistically gritty, and heartbreaking tale of warring gangs in the mean streets of LA. It’s described as “a timeless convergence of inspiration from West Side Story, Romeo & Juliet, and Style Wars.”

In an interview with Pitchfork, Barrymore talked about the visual inspirations behind the clip. “One thing that got me started on it was the jean jacket. It’s an item that could make you believe you’re in the 50s or punk-rock 70s or grunge 90s. I was really focused on timelessness, and I think music is very timeless; Best Coast has elements of a girl group from the 50s or a rock band from the 70s, and they’ve got this modern, west coast beach-y sound that ties it all together and doesn’t make it feel anachronistic or retro. I always like worlds where you could be in several different time periods. I tried to pull a lot of images from, like,The Outsiders— jean jackets galore, best film ever, and totally stands up today. That was made in the 80s to be emblematic of the 50s, it’s a perfect example of transcending eras.”

Somehow, someway Barrymore was able to pack the story she wanted to tell in the four minute video embedded above. But she couldn’t leave it at that. After watching the widespread music video above, jump after the break to find the nearly 11 minute long “extended version” that plays out even more like a short film. Continue reading Drew Barrymore directs Best Coast music video starring Chloë Moretz →

Single: Beastie Boys – “Make Some Noise”

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The Boys are back. Their oft-delayed eighth studio album called Hot Sauce Committee Part Two finally has a release date–May 3–and this week they dropped the lead single off it. “Make Some Noise” somehow manages to instill the same amount of funk they brought to the table in the 2004 classic “Ch-Check It Out.” Rock to the beat below. And after the break you’ll find the star-studded trailer for The Beastie Boys’ upcoming new short film Fight For Your Right Revisited. Danny McBride, Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Jack Black, Rainn Wilson, Rashida Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Chloë Sevigny, and Will Arnett all make appearances. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and it will be made available for all to view this May.

Continue reading Single: Beastie Boys — “Make Some Noise” →

“Tron: The Next Day” forms a bridge between the two films

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Miss Tron? Me too. The DVD & Blu-ray sets are coming soon and this week one of the three short films included in the upcoming home releases has found its way onto the Internet. The ten-and-a-half minute clip conveniently forms a bridge between the original 1982 film and the recent box office hit Tron: Legacy. This is something Disney should have released before the 3D flick came out because it provides Tron fans with key character background information that would’ve proved helpful before diving into the modern-day Grid. “Tron: The Next Day” tells the history of Encom after Kevin Flynn mysteriously disappears and the guerilla campaign “Flynn Lives” that follows shortly thereafter. It stars the film’s protagonist Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) and reunites the Grid’s creators Tron (Bruce Boxleitner) and RAM (Dan Shor) in human form. For DVD bonus content the short boasts high production value (and not to mention a fantastic soundtrack provided by the ingenious duo Daft Punk). Whet your appetite now by watching “The Next Day” right now, and continue to anticipate the April 5 home release.

[Via DigitalTrends]

Short film: Kobe Bryant is “The Black Mamba”

EXPERIENCE, Video, , , ,

Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin City, Machete) has teamed up with Nike and its spokesperson Kobe Bryant to direct a fantastic little short called The Black Mamba. Danny Trejo stars as The Crippler, Bruce Willis is Mister Suave, and The Boss is played by none other than Kanye West. “Some take souls, some take scalps…the Boss takes shoes.” For a promotional bit this is so extraordinarily over-the-top in the good kind of way. Can Kobe defeat the sinister West and keep his kicks? Watch and enjoy.

‘Lost’ fan? Watch this fan-made short film.

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The Man Who Brought Us Here is a fan-made short film inspired by the events of Lost.  It’s true, the acting is mediocre but the production value is high.  The short plays out in the same mysterious fashion as the show did, and the classic Michael Giacchino soundtrack adds to that effect.  And yes, the short was filmed on the actual set of Lost, if somehow you didn’t notice.

[Thanks, Rob M.]

Short film: ‘3 Minutes’

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3 Minutes, directed by Ross Ching, was inspired by the short story “The Most Dangerous Game.”  Glee’s Harry Shum Jr. stars in this action-packed independent short film that features through the roof production value. Lightsabers play a part, so just watch it and don’t ask questions.  Shum Jr. promises a prequel and sequel are in the works.

Click here to go behind the scenes and learn more about the production process.

This short film will inspire you to clean up your room, get your groove on

EXPERIENCE, Video, , , ,

Filmmaker and dancer Daniel Cloud Campos choreographed, shot, and directed this fantastic video all by himself.  I don’t want to give away too much since that would diminish the effect of the video.  Let’s just say this is how I wish cleaning would get done at my apartment.

[Via @kevinpereira; steveyeuntumblr]