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I have just watched a short film, "The Shock Doctrine," on my computer. The film was about seven minutes long, free of charge, and had nothing to do with teenage hijinks, presidential campaign snafus or the typical fare available at YouTube. Pretty much everyone knows about online video, but much of the viewing, let's face it, veers between the inane and the forget table. It's amateur, it's quite possibly blurry, and it is often nothing more than a glorified, trendy way to procrastinate. Though the clips at YouTube and elsewhere have their rewards ("Shock," as it happens, is available on YouTube), they're not usually the sort of thing you would find in the short film categories for the Oscars -- or even as the winner of a local film festival. But the Web's short film offerings include far more than competition for reality TV series and America's dumbest videos. As on line videos grow in popularity, talented filmmakers are turning to the Web to distribute top-notch short films, often for free. Some of these are created for contests, or as a way to show off the filmmaker's talents, while others are essentially promotional vehicles for books, clothing or other movies. Even the latter category includes plenty of movies worth watching. That's the case with the "The Shock Doctrine" (available at www.naomiklein.org), a film with a political bent that's connected to a book of the same name. The author, Naomi Klein, sent her book to Alfonso Cuarón, director of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azka ban," hoping for a blurb for the book. Instead, she got a film out of it. Though the clip is a promotional tool, it is also a thought-provoking take on Klein's controversial ideas about "the secret history of the free market." Other leading filmmakers have also recognized the allure of the Web as a way to experiment with short-form filmmaking. Wes Ander son, the director of "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums," created "Hotel Chevalier," a 13-minute short film, and released it online; the film, co-starring Natalie Port man and Jason Schwartzman, serves as a sort of prequel to "The Darjeeling Limited," Anderson's re cent feature-length commercial re lease. "Hotel Chevalier" had its premiere at Apple retail stores in New York and elsewhere, followed by its availability as a free download at Apple's online iTunes store. Now, the film is only available in theaters, as a preview to "Darjeeling." Today's short-film boom continues a trend from the early days of the Internet, when indie filmmak ers realized they could have a worldwide venue for shorts at spots like AtomFilms. Things have gained momentum in recent years, especially with more and more people viewing video clips online and downloading movies to their iPods and other mobile devices. The five films nominated for the live action short Academy Award were made available for $1.99 each at iTunes in 2006; now, iTunes stocks both the 2007 live action and animated short Oscar nominees, as well as a variety of earlier nominees. Other forums, like the Sundance Film Festival, are also making selections of short film en tries available at iTunes. All of this adds up to a freewheeling scene for short films, especially as companies see the po tential to back short films as a way to gain street cred. Airlines, clothing retailers, car makers -- all see short films as a way to gain a cer tain cachet and reach customers. Case in point: Delta is currently holding a film competition, the Fly- In Movies contest, with five short films available for viewing online (at www.delta.com/flyinmovies). And where do you find these flicks? That's the hard part. If you visit the YouTube home page, you won't necessarily spot them, but if you take a close look at magazine ads, or even author Web sites, you may find yourself watching a short film that's a lot more substantial and interesting than the day's You Tube hits. Allan Hoffman may be reached |
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