TGIF! The Horror Of Being Emily likes to start the weekend off right by featuring one spooky short film each week. Watch late at night with the lights turned down low to maximize the scary atmosphere. Grab your popcorn and enjoy!
Since my days curating ScareLA’s screening room, I have loved watching creative films from around the world. Short films are a wonderful way to start out as a filmmaker and demonstrate a proof of concept for longer works. It is much harder than you’d think to convey a coherent story in a short amount of time! I hope you enjoy this curated selection of the best fantastic horror, science fiction, and fantasy the internet has to offer.
Want to binge more? Check out all my past Film Friday entries.
Before the days of CGI and the catchall “we’ll fix it in post”, practical effects were king in horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. Ray Harryhausen’s stopmotion skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts and dinosaurs in One Million B.C. thrilled audiences. Rubber suit monsters like The Creature from the Black Lagoon terrorized teens at the drive in. The animatronic t-rex from Jurassic Park still holds up for today’s audiences.
Rebooted, written and directed by Michael Shanks of Late Nite Films, pays homage to these classic effects with a touching story that is sure to delight move fans of all ages. Despite being a silent stop motion skeleton, Phil is relatable and a character to root for as he comes to terms with the fact that the world has moved on from the type of filmmaking he rose to stardom through. Although Phil’s world may no longer have a use for stop motion, this film proves that classic practical effects do still have a place in modern films. With a strong story and using digital processes to enhance the practical effects, you can create a filmic world that feels real – much better than CGI alone.
It’s not easy for a movie-star to age – especially when you’re a stop motion animated skeleton monster. Phil, once a terrifying villain of the silver-screen, struggles to find work in modern Hollywood due to being an out-of-date special effect.
Rebooted is a perfect example of how filmmakers can mix classic techniques and the “realness” of practical effects with modern computer technology. Shanks incredible team combined traditional stopmotion animation, rear projection, creature suits and more with motion capture and After Effects to bring Phil and his friends to life. You can learn more about the techniques and filmmaking process for this short from this interview Shanks did with Ian Failes of Befores & Afters. Shanks describes many of the behind the scenes challanges the team faced – and overcame – during production. It is a fascinating read and quite inspirational!
Want another behind-the-scenes look? This video gives a more in-depth look at the stopmotion and VFX processes used to create the film:
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