CLOSE-UP Culture’s James Prestridge picks out three short films from Vimeo for the tenth instalment of Short Film Watch.
Waffles
A bizarre news story from this week involving Alex Jones, of Infowars infamy, rings true in Foster Wilson’s short film Waffles. Sometimes a person’s outward hate can be compensation for their own hidden insecurities.
Wilson’s cleverly shot film displays this within the tight confides of a bedroom the morning after a millennial (Gina, played by Jeanine Mason) has slept with a married middle-aged woman (Wendy, played by Leslie Stevens). A slight power game plays out, as a rattled Gina scraps to get her clothes together and leave while Wendy sits confidently in bed speaking with a condescending assertiveness.
Well-written and acted, the tension builds until Gina unleashes truths that expose Wendy’s cold confidence as just a mask. Wendy is deceiving everyone – including herself.
Waffles is anything but the cosy morning-after its title suggests, this is a razor-sharp piece of short storytelling by Wilson.
Under The Barrel
IT is hard to imagine children carrying a flaming barrel on their backs would pass many of the stringent health and safety checks we see in modern-day Britain. But, as Tommy Gillard’s short film captures, there is still a place for such daring traditions in the small East Devonshire town of Ottery St. Mary.
A fine short documentary, Under The Barrel not only thrills with blazing visuals, it also gives voice to the pride and burning passion that weighs just as heavily on the participants shoulders as the barrel.
Winston And Daisy
NOT too much can be said without spoiling the perfectly executed misdirect of this thoroughly entertaining short. With cheeky tone shifts and amusing visuals, this effort from Ben Fallows and Felix Brady is an unexpected gem.