IS BEN CRAIG THE NEXT HOT FILMMAKER?

Holy sh*t.

Whatever this guy wants, give it to 'im.

Ugh. Pet peeve, but I hate the "Apple Future" aesthetic. Nothing looks real because nothing looks lived in. As for the short film, it portrays an ability to make things look nice and shiny but portrays no real film-making abilities at all. Just what we need, another Joseph Kosinski.

I appreciate the Modern Times reference, but other than that... it's like someone watched 2001, Moon, and some cell phone commercials and put them all into a blender.

I'd like to know the budget of the piece, personally.

Craig claims there wasn't really a budget, that it was all favors and buying people sandwiches and pints. 

Really well done from a technical standpoint, but between this, 'Panic Attack' and 'The Raven' (both of which, I absolutely hated), it seems like Hollywood will jump on ANYONE who can throw together a slick 5 minute short with some CGI.

Nice looking short, don't see what it has to do with filmmaking, as there's literally no story.  He's being courted by the studios, which on the one hand is irritating because he doesn't display any storytelling talent, which is what you need to be a good filmmaker.  On the other hand, it's perfectly in line with hollywood's obsession with snuffing out anyone who can move a camera and make things shiny.  They want yes men, hired hands, graphic designers, they don't want born storytellers who are stubborn in defending their vision.  People today are easily impressed by anything smooth and shiny, bright and colorful with a good soundtrack...all that makes for is forgettable pop art.

What happened to the short films that displayed actual talent?  I think these wannabe filmmakers are better of studying the early shorts of Speilberg, Zemeckis and the other 80s brats, whos innate ability to tell a compelling story with a camera was astonishing.  Watch Modern Times, and then watch Amblin and see if you're still hot for this new guy.  Obviously not everyone can be Spielberg, but I've seen shorts made by teenagers that were more impressive.  Good for him, but I can't say I'm excited to see this guy's next movie.

That looks EXACTLY the way I'd expect a film by an art-director to look ie. all flash and no story. I honestly find it sad that these are people Hollywood is excited about.

And he can crow on about not having ever made a film before as much as he wants, but it's obvious he had some of the best in the biz working on it.

Spot ON about it feeling like he's more suited to direct ads the intro to some TMC or AMC intro, Joshua.  Like the term "special effect," the word "visionary" has been applied so broadly to directors that it's lost nearly all its meaning.  These days, whenever someone praises a film for looking amazing, I say, "Yeah, well lots of films look amazing these days.  That doesn't amaze me."

Give me a film that moves me, dammit!  This short took something that should feel moving (celebrating classic films) and made it feel like a big boatload of nothing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcnooj82 

  These days, whenever someone praises a film for looking amazing, I say, "Yeah, well lots of films look amazing these days.  That doesn't amaze me."

That's how I feel when people say that an animated film has "beautiful animation". Really? In 2011? Beautiful animation? You don't say.

That he is now sought after says more about Hollywood right now than it does about him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll 

That's how I feel when people say that an animated film has "beautiful animation". Really? In 2011? Beautiful animation? You don't say.

 

That he is now sought after says more about Hollywood right now than it does about him.

That's why I generally only praise a film's character animation. That can still suck. Dreamworks had the most bizarrely crappy character animation for years - pretty much all the way up until KUNG FU PANDA.

The tricky part about hearing people praise "animation" is that I'm pretty sure most people are simply admiring the photoreal rendering of the scenery that most CG animated movies with a robust budget can pump out.  Yeah, THAT's nothing.  But if someone is actually praising the character animation/motion/performance, I think that's often worth pointing out.  Tangled may have been a so-so film (that I heartily enjoyed), but I can confidently say that the animation in that film was eye-poppingly appealing.