The Politics of Art & Authenticity

I never really took the time out to watch short films but after watching two in class the other day, I really appreciate the work and time put into making these short films. During the films, I started to see the transition of each picture to each picture in such a short time but the film a whole was amazing. Each film was so short and each person can have a different view on each film.

The short film More by Mark Osbourne was my favorite out of the two that we watched in class. The reason I liked this short film the most was because it seemed realistic to me. The film was about this man who tries to find a way to be happy in this world. Then as he invents these glasses that bring color to his life, he is happy and becomes praised by society. The moment he is praised by society, he is the man that controls the world and in the end he is not happy because he became the person he didn’t want to become. I feel this is how the world revolves around. That a person tries to find something to change the world because what the world is now is not doing well. Then the moment that person finds a way, everyone praises him/her for their amazing idea. Since everyone praises him/her, they are given the upmost power or the control in a way. In the end, the person realizes that they aren’t truly happy with where they are and they go back to square one, unhappy. That’s why I enjoyed this film because it just brings truth to the table for people to see. This film doesn’t hide the facts but rather brings them to light for the people to see.

The other film, Madam Tutli-Putli by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, was an interesting film. The one thing that stood out to me the most was that the eyes of the character moved. In short films, eyes don’t usually move, only the body does to show movement, but in this film the character’s eyes moved. When Professor Davis told the class that the eyes were actually an actor’s eyes, I was completely blown away. It’s incredible how technology has grown and that directors and film producers are able to use real eyes for a short animated type of film. The idea of the eyes also freak me out a little because it’s real eyes just looking at you. Other than that, I didn’t really understand the point of the film since there was so much going on. Altogether, I just feel that the film was about a woman trying to run away from her past but she couldn’t and in the end she finds some sort of freedom and that’s where the butterfly plays its role. The whole guy stealing body parts and all her things were missing didn’t make any sense to me and I’m still completely lost about that. Plus, the idea of someone stealing body parts in the train doesn’t seem natural or realistic whatsoever.