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“Crimson Tower” (2019)
Directors: Amario Andre and Asha Sanford
Rating: 2.5/5
One of SCAD Atlanta’s most ambitious animated shorts from this year’s Atlantamation showcase, “Crimson Tower” tells the story of a young girl living in a futuristic cyber punk society who, with the help of some new friends, must try outrunning a deadly beast that preys upon people in their sleep.
With its complex cinematography, blend of 2D and 3D animation and hardcore cyberpunk aesthetic, “Crimson Tower” is certainly a promising and ambitious piece of animation for a student film. Sadly, the film drops the ball when it comes to its somewhat incoherent and jumbled storytelling that feels more complicated than it should given its premise. Many characters and plot points could have easily been trimmed out or modified that would give opportunity for the narrative to breath and more of its concepts to sink in with the desired effect. Similarly, the animation can feel inconsistent in quality and rough around the edges in many places, with the blend of 2D and 3D never quite meshing in a seamless enough manner to prove effective. Much admiration must be given to the crew for their immense efforts, which only makes it more painful that the film never truly lives up to its potential.
“A Snail Can Take Down a Starfish” (2019)
Director: McKinley Benson
Rating: 4.5/5
Returning to the Short Film Showcase is director McKinley Benson who makes yet another splash with his short, “A Snail Can Take Down a Starfish.” This sweetly nostalgic tale tells the story of a young boy and girl in the summer of 1999 as the former makes an attempt to help the latter conquer her fear of swimming.
Benson proves, once again, to be an incredibly promising talent, with this film truly allowing the director to flex his storytelling abilities in a stripped down and simplistic manner. The entirety of the film contains absolutely no dialogue, yet the heart of the story presents itself beautifully, in large part due to its simplistic narrative and pacing, tender cinematography and engrossing performances by Joseph Smart and Amanda Squires. It would have been ideal to have the 90s aesthetic feel like it had more of a point in terms of the setting, the film is so well done and genuinely heartfelt that it doesn’t matter much by the end. A little piece of sweetness that will make you reminiscence over your sweet summer days, “A Snail” is yet another winner from Benson’s work.
“Lamp” (2019)
Directors: Nick Pletcher, Dan Reinert, and David Akridge
Rating: 5/5
From the creators of “Planet Homosapien” comes another comedic tale with “Lamp.” When a hard-working lamp comes home after a long day, his life takes a turn when he makes a shocking discovery.
Within the first 10 seconds, you are simply hooked. The comedy of the film is simplistic, but thanks to its efficiently told and wittingly paced script, it hits hard and fast. The commitment to the concept is apparent in every frame, with some legitimately fantastic puppetry and editing that gives these lamps easily identifiable personalities and emotions that you understand immediately. Simply put, this film delivers exactly what it intends and does so in a genuinely felt and quirky manner that might as well come with a smiling guarantee.
“Moondance” (2019)
Director: Raymond Zhao
Rating: 3.5/5
In this simplistic and artfully told piece, a woman dances with glee after committing dirty deeds that will leave her free of her dark past.
“Moondance” stands out in its simplicity but makes the most of its bare bones premise with grace. Shot in gorgeous 16mm, the cinematography is the true star of the show here. Full of luscious shots and impressive lighting, the film looks lovely, reflecting and contrasting of the dark nature of the events that have taken place. Similarly\, the soundtrack also helps set elegant mood while subtly revealing parts of the story. The twist of the film feels slightly crammed in, however, and a little more time given to leading up to or exploring it deeper would have been ideal. Nonetheless, “Moondance” makes the most of its resources to deliver something truly lovely to behold.
‘Left Behind’ (2018)
Director: Jordan-Paige Sudduth
Rating: 3/5
A sequel to Jordan-Paige Sudduth’s previously reviewed short, “One Shot,” based on Alexandra Bracken’s “The Darkest Minds,” this film follows the team of kids sometime after their daring escape from a shady government facility as they continue to fight for survival through the unsure outside world.
Many of the same compliments and complaints made about Sudduth’s previous book adaptation can be applied here as well. Like its predecessor, even if you’re not familiar with the book, there is enough here to be able to piece together the narrative as a whole. The performances by many of the young actors are full of passion and very impressive for a film such as this. What holds it down are many of the creative choices that aren’t entirely engaging. Much of the sound design, editing and cinematography, while better in some places than the first film, still comes off as distracting in many places and prove to feel drab in their direction, making the plot a little easy to fall out of at times. “Left Behind” still makes for a solid follow up that proves as another decent introduction for this beloved book.
