American Short Shorts Film Festival 2000

6.1 Thu

6.2 Fri

6.3 Sat

6.4 Sun

6.5 Mon

6.6 Tue

6.7 Wed

Report Top

12:25

Panel Discussion 1: Attraction of animation

Today, the festival's last day in Tokyo, Mitchell Rose (ELEVATOR WORLD) and Joan Raspo (AVENUE AMY) discussed the merits of animated filmmaking. Mitchell, who revealed that it cost him only $20 to make ELEVATOR WORLD, espoused the cost effectiveness of his animation partner--his computer mouse. Mitchell made the entire film alone on his home computer. AVENUE AMY, on the other hand, was made with a complex mixture of live action and animation. First the actors were filmed against a green background, and then the images were processed by graphic software to look like a cartoon. The leading actress who plays Amy is actually Joan's friend and a writer in New York, and the story is based on a newspaper column that Amy wrote about her real-life experiences. Mitchell and Joan explained that animation's greatest attraction is its universal appeal: when ideas are expressed through unrealistic, cartoon-like images, the story actually becomes more accessible.

13:15

Panel Discussion 2: To make love stories

Following Mitchell and Joan's discussion, there was a screening of Mirai Konishi's film BLIND and Christine Swanson's TWO SEAONS. Mirai studied film at the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television and works as a movie journalist for the magazine "Cut." "I wanted to give this film a French feel," laughed Mirai, "but it ended up like a Hollywood movie with a very Japanese story. In independent films, we usually force ourselves to limit filming trips to as few as possible in order to keep the budget low. But I stuck to shooting beautiful scenes for this one."
"The most important thing in the love story is acting," said Christine. "Especially in a short film, casting is everything. I interviewed hundreds of actors and actresses for casting in New York."

13:45

Overcoming a small budget

Director Chris Harwood and Producer Bruce Laffey discussed the budget constraints they faced in making A DOMESTIC INCIDENT. Most scenes in this film take place in a living room. Like most independent films with extremely limited budgets, Chris and Bruce couldn't afford flashy action sequences or expensive locations. But they tried not to let those constraints impact the quality of their film. "I didn't want my film to look like it was shot by some students on a limited budget," explained Chris. "I wanted to make a high quality film that I could be proud even if the budget was small." Added Bruce, "This short film replaces my business card, so it should be high-quality in spite of its low budget."

14:00

Q&A Time

"What is the most difficult part of making short films?" asked a woman who had never seen a short film before. "Making a short film is a battle with time," said Chris. "It is the fate of all short films.
We have to concentrate everything that we want to tell in such a short period of time. And then, the most difficult part would be how we express that. In a feature film, you have plenty of time to tell your story." "Short films have traditionally been considered a stepping stone toward making a feature film," said Mitchell, "but that's not really the case anymore. The short film has its own merit, and it's been established as its own art form. That is why I love the short film. It is not just a stepping stone."

The last day in Tokyo

Standing room only on the last day.

So many people want to see short films; the lines were long indeed!

Six days went by so fast. At 9 pm we were already cleaning up.

Good work and thank you!

The festival's huge banner, which welcomed the festival's huge audiences, was taken down today. We will miss it.

Executive Director Tetsuya Bessho proposed a toast. "Cheers! Good work, everyone."

A volunteer interpreter exchanged addresses with a guest director. Many student volunteers played active parts in the festival.