Short Content

I've been wondering why I'm not posting more short dramatic or comedic pieces with actors and lighting and a story and a narrative - the kinds of films I'm trying to get my students to make and the kind of films I've been trying to make.

Because when I watch things on the internet, they tend to be linked from other people, and what people like to send each other are one joke wonders or bloopers or oddities that bring incredible joy like this video of dancers in the Antwerp train station:



h/t to Shakesville

So much of what we are watching online is not necessarily great art (though the video above made me cry a little to see something so joyful mixed with music I have such strong memories of from childhood*) or scripted material, it's pieces of nostalgia, sometimes remixed and sometimes not, or something out of the ordinary that translates in the 3-5 minutes we feel like we can get away from work without getting in trouble. It makes me wonder what we who are trying to make "film art" or short narrative work need to do to tap into the "OMG, you have to see this" audience.

*Thinking about this more, the part that's making me cry a little is watching the crowd react to the dancers - the way people's faces light up involuntarily and they can't stop smiling. Proving that the reaction shot/closeup is still the carrier of emotion in a cinematic experience.

Edited to Add: OMG! You have to see this! Michael Jackson Tribute from Stockholm. I want to be somewhere that people start dancing in the streets, en masse!