I was recently informed that the organizers of the PXL-THIS festival (which premiered my short, "Lawn Statues") would be putting together a DVD compilation of this past year's shorts . . . and was heartbroken to learn that "Lawn Statues" did not make the cut. (Nineteen minutes is too long, I was told.) I ordered a copy of the disc anyway, and I have to say overall I was really impressed.
I've scoured the web for any review of this year's festival, to no avail; so maybe mine is the first . . .
Kukulele Cubed (Denny Moynahan, 3 min.) features three personas of the artist (one live onstage, and two prerecorded in Pixelvision form) interacting with one another. The timing is pretty impressive, and the piece ends up fun, in a goofy sort of way.
Creepy Looking Little Thing (Paul Bacca, 1 min.) and PXL This Title (Paul Bacca & Eli Elliot, 8 sec.) present a short introduction to the DVD.
The Stepfather (Joe Gibbons, 8 min.) introduces a favorite Pixelvision technique: using dolls instead of actors. After all, they're easier to work with, and they don't ask silly questions like "Why are we filming this with a toy instead of a real camera?" (Four of the other shorts on this DVD--"Souvenir," "Special Report," "Asscroft," and "Pee Wee Goes to Prison"--also feature dolls, in assorted roles.) Imagine Meet the Parents with Barbie dolls, and you've pretty much got this one pegged.
30th Street (Jason Bickford, 2 min.) is essentially a music video for a Badly Drawn Boy song, featuring some nice skateboarding footage. There are a lot of tracking shots, showcasing the PXL-2000's excellent mobility.
About Flowers (Juniper Woodbury, 4 min.) is a real stumper. In it, an eight-year-old girl (presumably the filmmaker) discusses the various flowers in her garden, using extreme close-ups of the plants as illustration. Sounds harmless enough, right? Well, about two minutes into it, the unassuming premise starts to unravel. The movement of the camera becomes increasingly frantic and arbitrary, until it's completely detached itself from the narration, which has come to resemble the emphatic yet monotonous ramblings of an insane gardener: "The pollen of that flower carried to that flower will make that flower's seeds grow! They're all flowers, but if they are the same kind of flowers, then that flower's pollen will make the same kind of flower be pollenated!" It all adds up to a trippy commentary on the education process . . . but we're supposed to believe it's just some third-grader goofing off. I have my suspicions about this "Juniper Woodbury" (if that is her real name).
PXL Manifesto (Ross Craig, 3 min.) satirizes Dogme '95 and the other filmmaking edicts that have gained momentum in recent years. Ross Craig and his brother Steve's laid-back sense of humor mostly hits its mark, and is easily forgiven when it misses. (Steve's short, "Neo-con Hybrids," appears later on the disc.) Interestingly, only one of the manifesto's principles qualifies as being impossibly ridiculous, and that is principle #9: "PXL films should only be shown at festivals where the promoters are in full agreement with the PXL Manifesto, and the audience should sit quietly and reverently through the three to four hours that it takes to view the film, and reserve their comments for when they are alone and nobody will hear them." All of the other principles (e.g. editing should only be done in camera, all shots must be handheld) are actually pretty reasonable; I can't wait for the first PXL Manifesto-compliant short to be released. (As might well be imagined, this short violates most or all of its own proposed principles.)
Special Report (Michael Possert, 2 min.) features some really intriguing animation. Skulls, hearts, babies, and 9/11 references abound. Normally, this is the sort of thing I can really get behind; unfortunately, the bold images are undermined by the familiar doom-and-gloom rhetoric that scrolls by the bottom of the screen, informing the audience that "500 million people currently do not have enough clean water to drink." Yawn.
Souvenir (Stephen Rose, 5 min.) makes me jealous. It's a charming fable about a little man who lives in a snow globe, beautifully realized with marionettes, an elaborate set, and top-notch cinematography. My favorite film on the disc, hands down.
Asscroft (Eli Elliot, 6 min.) is the second film I've seen by the filmmaker, and the second one to feature the word "ass" in the title. ("Zap Yer Ass," a critique of the modern cellphone culture, appears on the Art of Pixelvision DVD.) Elliot is a model PXL-head in that he loves dolls and hates George Bush Jr., and these ideals saturate the short. "Asscroft" succeeds in demonstrating John Ashcroft's (lack of) character, albeit in an unfortunately crass and abrasive manner. The narration repeats the formula, "Attorney General John Asscroft did <insert heinous deed here>. What an ass! A-a-a-a-asscroft!" Viewers who can stomache the stuttering refrain are treated to hilarious footage of Ashcroft singing a patriotic ballad of his own creation, entitled "Let the Eagle Soar."
Horse (Tedi Tate & Eliot Fans, 5 min.) offers many, many extreme close-ups of horses. Some nice imagery, but otherwise not really my thing.
Marker (Juniper Woodbury, 2 min.) confounds and infuriates. This time around, Ms. Woodbury toys with the relationship between filmmaker and audience. "Hello, this is a marker," the narrator informs us, and indeed it is. "Please recite after me. Let's say 'marker.' Can you say that?" The remainder of the film is spent persuading the viewer to say the word "marker." Woodbury would appear to lampoon the distant authority figure--God specifically, perhaps--making absurd demands and expecting complete obedience . . . except that eight-year-olds can't grasp such concepts. Right?
Victim! The Amy Fisher Story (Dwight Swanson, 7 min.) is a slow-motion drive through suburban America, accompanied by a recitation of excerpts from Fisher's autobiography (with the occasional operatic aria thrown in for good measure). I didn't know anyone still cared about Amy Fisher.
Pee Wee Goes to Prison (John Humphrey, 9 min.) sounds like an excuse to take cheap shots at Paul Reubens' legal troubles, but it turns out to be something else entirely: an imaginary episode of Pee Wee's Playhouse--reproduced as faithfully as possible using action figures--where Pee Wee is falsely accused of dealing drugs and is subsequently incarcerated. Like "Victim!," the pop-culture reference is strangely dated, but regardless, the remarkably accurate recreation of the popular Saturday morning television show is commendable. The voices of Pee Wee, Miss Yvonne, Chairry, Randy, and Pterri the Pterrodactyl are all spot on. The story is engaging and the camera work is solid. All-in-all, an impressive debut for Humphrey.
Neo-con Hybrids (Steve Craig, 3 min.) presents the theory that the neo-conservatives currently running the country are secretly half-alien/half-human. This description does not do the short justice, though. I've got a real soft spot for the Craig brothers. The ideas behind both their shorts could so easily be taken over the top, with garish results; but the slightly reserved, gentle wit the Craigs bring makes for a charming viewing experience.
Hippies Use Side Door (Dahvi Bolog, 6 min.) shows PXL-This organizer Gerry Fialka getting a haircut in discrete stages, while his hairdresser (the filmmaker) rants about Bush, the economy, consumerism, etc. As a propaganda film, it's too unfocused to be effective, but it works as a character study of its creator. Eli Elliot (the hardest-working man in Pixelvision) puts in a compelling turn as editor.
Downtown Odyssey (Joe Golling, 4 min.) chronicles some guy walking around the city. Poor picture quality, otherwise totally innocuous.
Double-duty Interrobang (Gerry Fialka, 10 min.) is the latest from PXL-This's founding father. Fialka's unique style can perhaps best be described as cinematic gibberish . . . a shepherd's pie of random trivia, personal stories, and nonsense dialog. (The title, for those curious, refers to an obscure and practically abandoned punctuation mark: a combination question-mark/exclamation-point.) An appropriately bizarre end to a weird and wonderful DVD.
This disc is a must-see for any Pixelvision fan. Check out PXL-THIS for more information.