Film Cuppers 2007
Thursday 8th March, Phoenix Cinema
Cuppers are inter-collegiate competitions, and serve as an introduction to many disciplines in Oxford. Most sports, clubs and societies hold some form of Cuppers annually. The University's Film Foundation (OUFF) Cuppers took place at the very end of Hilary Term, which may have contributed to the party atmosphere!
Six very different films were entered. I had been warned by friends and colleagues that I was likely to see a pretentious pile of twaddle, and I came prepared. But no pretence or twaddle were to be found - at least not amongst the films! Instead I saw a series of interesting, engaging and entertaining stories, some with a strong plot, others conjuring up a general atmosphere, made by intelligent and unpretentious people, caring passionately for the medium and well-versed in what it could portray.
1-der-Pyll plunged us into a Lynch-like slice of psychedelia based around those most studenty concerns: essay crises and drugs! The plot was really an excuse to experiment with a whole sampler of techniques. They played with colour saturation, the soundtrack run backwards, negative colours, and all using the beautiful and rather menacing illustrations of Alice in Wonderland and New College Lane. I did hope we'd finish with the tute and the hero handing in his tatty bloodstained essay recovered from someone else's bowels. Altogether a bizarre and disturbing, but very solid world.
I Just Keep Thinking of Humphrey Bogart is a very different world! Obvious Casablanca references but also some extremely original shots. The switches from moving to still images and from colour to black and white worked well, and the world seemed a lot more appealing in monochrome! The sequence where our gumshoe hero talks to, fights with and receives a hat from his own shadow was brilliantly executed and great fun. Again the plot was not the most important element but an excuse for some very smart one-liners and a polished film.
The Dream Merchant had a fairy-tale feel, set in the ultra-modern Holywell's Brasserie! The story was revealed in short snippets, starting at the end and going backwards in small chunks, a bit like Memento but an awful lot easier to understand! The technique was used beatifully, giving just enough hint of what had passed without revealing too much. Much more was asked of the actors, and I didn't feel they were sufficiently at home with the unforgivingly close-up medium. Perhaps it was just the chemistry between the two leads which wasn't credible. Was Tony pleased at making dreams come true? Or distressed by what he had had to sacrifice?
Ophelia used stop-frame animation and sweet origami animals to make a short piece worthy of Oliver Postgate. A repetitive soundtrack (which strangely did not become annoying) contrasted with the totally unpredictable action in which a Mavis-like Fairy releases a bird, plays with origami mice and is eaten by a giant plant. Beautiful, slightly nostalgic and very charming.
Terracota sent itself up, with its own Making Of documentary. At times it was obviously hard for the actors to keep a straight face, and all the crew took a turn in front of the camera. The vox pop style and naturalistic acting were well executed and contrasted with the outrageous comments and beautifully arty film, which was eventually revealed. Exploring the 7 deadly sins, in Italian, as seen through the life of a plant pot, it was even funnier for the build-up it had been given.
Ring Ring was not designed to amuse. It was intense and much more serious than anything else in the competition. It's a repetitive Groundhog Day-esque horror which drew genuine squeals from the audience. Again the story was revealed in small doses, and was ambiguous enough for my partner and I to disagree over later. A lad is phoned repeatedly, and is told to gouge his eyes out. Is it his own conscience? Or God? Is it happening at all? Will he get through to the morning or have to give in? What is it he feels guilty for? There were odd moments when the dialogue did not ring true, and made the audience laugh. But they didn't laugh for long! In parts it felt a bit slow, and the opening could have been more ruthlessly edited, but it was a genuinely unsettling drama.
Then came the only twaddle of the evening - the judges' comments! If I'd been involved in making these films I would have found comments like "It's, um, nice" immensely insulting! There seemed to be no recognition that making a film is hard, nor that making a film that is amusing is an awful lot easier than one that deals with real, serious issues and emotions. While Dream Merchant and Ring Ring might not have achieved everything they set out to do, they aimed higher in terms of their audience reaction. The comments were not worthy of the films, and I was deeply disappointed, particularly as the judges came from organisations whose purpose is to help and encourage beginning film-makers.
Having said that I wouldn't have wanted their job! How do you begin to compare these films? In case you weren't there, and are now dying to know what happened, Ophelia was the runner-up, winning an OFVM course, and the winner was I Just Keep Thinking Of Humphrey Bogart which will be distributed by Future Shorts. And put next year's film cuppers in your diary. It's a most eclectic evening's cinema!
Thursday 8th March, Phoenix Cinema
Cuppers are inter-collegiate competitions, and serve as an introduction to many disciplines in Oxford. Most sports, clubs and societies hold some form of Cuppers annually. The University's Film Foundation (OUFF) Cuppers took place at the very end of Hilary Term, which may have contributed to the party atmosphere!
Six very different films were entered. I had been warned by friends and colleagues that I was likely to see a pretentious pile of twaddle, and I came prepared. But no pretence or twaddle were to be found - at least not amongst the films! Instead I saw a series of interesting, engaging and entertaining stories, some with a strong plot, others conjuring up a general atmosphere, made by intelligent and unpretentious people, caring passionately for the medium and well-versed in what it could portray.
1-der-Pyll plunged us into a Lynch-like slice of psychedelia based around those most studenty concerns: essay crises and drugs! The plot was really an excuse to experiment with a whole sampler of techniques. They played with colour saturation, the soundtrack run backwards, negative colours, and all using the beautiful and rather menacing illustrations of Alice in Wonderland and New College Lane. I did hope we'd finish with the tute and the hero handing in his tatty bloodstained essay recovered from someone else's bowels. Altogether a bizarre and disturbing, but very solid world.
I Just Keep Thinking of Humphrey Bogart is a very different world! Obvious Casablanca references but also some extremely original shots. The switches from moving to still images and from colour to black and white worked well, and the world seemed a lot more appealing in monochrome! The sequence where our gumshoe hero talks to, fights with and receives a hat from his own shadow was brilliantly executed and great fun. Again the plot was not the most important element but an excuse for some very smart one-liners and a polished film.
The Dream Merchant had a fairy-tale feel, set in the ultra-modern Holywell's Brasserie! The story was revealed in short snippets, starting at the end and going backwards in small chunks, a bit like Memento but an awful lot easier to understand! The technique was used beatifully, giving just enough hint of what had passed without revealing too much. Much more was asked of the actors, and I didn't feel they were sufficiently at home with the unforgivingly close-up medium. Perhaps it was just the chemistry between the two leads which wasn't credible. Was Tony pleased at making dreams come true? Or distressed by what he had had to sacrifice?
Ophelia used stop-frame animation and sweet origami animals to make a short piece worthy of Oliver Postgate. A repetitive soundtrack (which strangely did not become annoying) contrasted with the totally unpredictable action in which a Mavis-like Fairy releases a bird, plays with origami mice and is eaten by a giant plant. Beautiful, slightly nostalgic and very charming.
Terracota sent itself up, with its own Making Of documentary. At times it was obviously hard for the actors to keep a straight face, and all the crew took a turn in front of the camera. The vox pop style and naturalistic acting were well executed and contrasted with the outrageous comments and beautifully arty film, which was eventually revealed. Exploring the 7 deadly sins, in Italian, as seen through the life of a plant pot, it was even funnier for the build-up it had been given.
Ring Ring was not designed to amuse. It was intense and much more serious than anything else in the competition. It's a repetitive Groundhog Day-esque horror which drew genuine squeals from the audience. Again the story was revealed in small doses, and was ambiguous enough for my partner and I to disagree over later. A lad is phoned repeatedly, and is told to gouge his eyes out. Is it his own conscience? Or God? Is it happening at all? Will he get through to the morning or have to give in? What is it he feels guilty for? There were odd moments when the dialogue did not ring true, and made the audience laugh. But they didn't laugh for long! In parts it felt a bit slow, and the opening could have been more ruthlessly edited, but it was a genuinely unsettling drama.
Then came the only twaddle of the evening - the judges' comments! If I'd been involved in making these films I would have found comments like "It's, um, nice" immensely insulting! There seemed to be no recognition that making a film is hard, nor that making a film that is amusing is an awful lot easier than one that deals with real, serious issues and emotions. While Dream Merchant and Ring Ring might not have achieved everything they set out to do, they aimed higher in terms of their audience reaction. The comments were not worthy of the films, and I was deeply disappointed, particularly as the judges came from organisations whose purpose is to help and encourage beginning film-makers.
Having said that I wouldn't have wanted their job! How do you begin to compare these films? In case you weren't there, and are now dying to know what happened, Ophelia was the runner-up, winning an OFVM course, and the winner was I Just Keep Thinking Of Humphrey Bogart which will be distributed by Future Shorts. And put next year's film cuppers in your diary. It's a most eclectic evening's cinema!