Online Now

One of the news headlines in the UK this week was that more people are now likely to text someone rather than phone them or meet up face to face. With that in mind, Online Now by Pocket Jakes (the creative partnership of directors Jake Dolgy & Jake Ross) seems prescient to say the least.

It explores the way that people conduct their relationships online through social media and the impact that living lives in this manner has on those involved.  You might expect it to be all bad news – but it isn’t – even though this very entertaining video shows a number of methods of harassment and bullying that some think they can get away with online.

It certainly gives food for thought.  This video would be an excellent starting point for a class discussion around online habits for a group of older teenagers, for example.  Can you see yourself anywhere in this video?

Plot Device

When you make movies there are certain plot devices which can be employed to pull an audience in to the story.  Sometimes, however, it is difficult to come up with something, especially a plot device which has not been used a million times before.

Here, a young filmmaker acquires a mystifying device that lets loose the full power of cinema on his front lawn. You get spaceships, zombies, film noir and more as our hero gets to live through these plot devices for real.  It's all very funny.

This wonderfully inventive nine minute short film is directed by Seth Worley, and it gives the tired and worn plot devices a cunning new twist.

Executive produced by Red Giant’s Aharon Rabinowitz, the movie was co-written by Aharon and Worly, working collectively in close collaboration throughout the venture.  

Plot Device was created to demonstrate firsthand the high quality of work that can be created when using Magic Bullet Suite 11, even with very restricted resources.

I think they made their point.