Plug

This 11-minute student silent short (say that three times fast) about a man who prefers virtual reality to the real thing isn't that good. In fact it's pretty boring. As an film inspired by E. M. Forster's short story "The Machine Stops", the short fails. And if you haven't read said story, I implore you to do so. Also unknowns as actors can be great IF you find ones that are reasonably good, but the two in this short just seem to go through the motions. The idea of the computer world being filmed in live action, whereas the real world is in quasi-computer graphics is cute, but that's the only thing I can think of that was ok. Read the short story or watch Tron instead.

My Grade: D-

Where I saw it: Atom Films

I found this listing while looking through the films of sound designer Randy Thom, and, reading in a comment that it was available for viewing on AtomFilms, I went and checked it out. The sound is great, is in fact the best thing about the short. The music overdoes it a bit, but in a short with no dialogue, I kind of expect that, and so was able to ignore it most of the time, at least when there was some action taking place for which sounds were created. When there's little action, and therefore little sound, the music takes over, and it's a bit much.

It's not a bad story, though a bit predictable, and the camera work does a great job of telling the story visually and putting a viewer inside the world of the character. But the look of the animation is terrible. I mean, it just looks terrible. This is not the result of a poor monitor or slow connection; I have neither. It's clearly the intent of the director to give it this degraded feel. While I am able to appreciate a picture not quite as sharp and crisp as a big animation studio like Pixar can create, it doesn't have to look like poorly processed film just for the sake of not having the most fabulous clarity. I think a better look could have been created if they hadn't put so much effort into degrading the image.

Still, it's worth a look for any film/animation student, and it's free at AtomFilms.com, so check it out.

This short is about a man who is abruptly forced from his electronic dream world and is desperate to plug back in. He realizes he is not the only one with that goal and becomes engaged in a reckless competition to reach the only available outlet that seems to draw him and his competitor like a beacon. The industrial mechanical setting gives the viewer the devastating impression that there is nothing left but the omnipresent machine. And although the action sequence is exciting, this movie is ultimately about a choice. The choice between living a true existence or giving into the temptations of the machine.

I enjoyed the visuals in this film. The real world is portrayed as animated and the fantasy world as live-action. This conveys the idea that reality feels unreal to the main character who had previously only existed in a fantasy world.

I thoroughly enjoyed this short and would recommend it. I watched this film on the Sci-Fi channel's series, Exposure, when it used to be on, (Boy, I miss those days!), but have also seen it on atomfilms. I'd also recommend checking out the original story by EM Forster. It's brilliantly written and the technological advances predicted in it are amazing!