Numbers ★★★★☆

Review of 'Numbers' which can be found here on Virgin Media Shorts. 

Length: 02:21

Written & directed by Matt Hutchings

Genre: Mockumentary 

Date: 2011
Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: A young man considers what to do with his multi-million lottery win. 

There's good intentions behind this short but it doesn't quite hit the nail on the head for me in terms of believability. 

Daniel Brewerton is excellent at delivering subtext, his secret hatred for his "best friend" played by Chris Aukett is nicely played as is his abhorrent loathing of his dominating parents. Both acting and writing is great at making you want to grab this guy by the scruff of the neck and yell at him to grow a pair. Moving to America because his parents want to indeed! What a pushover. And although the punchline is delivered with good effect, the fact that the character SPOILER ALERT gives all his winnings away to charity is tainted by it's either because he doesn't have anyone "to share it with" (erm, the best mate seems happy to accept it, plus I don't think it'll be that hard with 158 million quid in his back pocket) or it's because he doesn't want other people telling him what to do with it all, which is a pretty frikin' daft reason. 

That said, this is well set up. Good talking head shots help create that documentary feel. They vary between mid shots and close ups, which are good at highlighting the emotion of the dialogue as well as letting the audience watch Aukett's reactions in the background. A professional sounding interviewer asking all the right questions adds to the attempt to make this feel like a factual short. Good attention to detail regarding the shoddy living room location and the tinny sound recording give a realistic impression. There's a good soundtrack which accompanies this and is equally good at evoking the stirring sentiment of the theme. 

Best Bit: Brewerton by far.  

Worst Bit: Lacklustre spirit of someone who's just won the lottery. Miserable git. 

Final thought: Could that TV in the background be any bigger!

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Potatoes ★★★★★

Review of 'Potatoes' which can be found here or on the official website here.

Length: 02:04

Written & directed by Matt Smith

Genre: Mockumentary

Date: 2002

Rating: ★★★★★

Logline: A detailed look at the origins of the humble potato.

This starts off as your run of the mill boring made for TV factual documentary but soon delves off into an absurd scientific narration which takes its seemingly normal plot away from its convincingly realistic origins and into gross fantasy.

The bland matter-of-factly narration is key to keeping up the pretence. The constant spew of technical jargon coupled with the meaningless animated diagrams all adds to the illusion of truth. The increased pace of speech towards the end gives into disbelievability but is a welcome change as there is potential for the viewer to tune out from the droning voice.

The low picture quality helps give a vintage look to the footage which also aids credibility. A good selection of different shots, locations and graphics coupled with a quick edit creates momentum. Without any bells or whistles, it comes to it's natural conclusion and ends without any fuss.

Overall, and unexpected gem which is humorous, inventive and cunning.

Best Bit: The outlandish potato claims.

Worst Bit: The sieve in the too-green panful of liquid which spoils the illusion.

Final thought: Hmmm. Chips.

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

Beef ★★★★☆

Review of 'Beef' which can be found here on the MiShorts channel on Daily Motion.

Length: 03:00

Directed by Chocolate Films

Genre: Mockumentary

Date: 2011

Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: Docu-stlye film about the biggest problem on the block - the amount of beef that's going down.

This is a well set up film showing that inner city yoofs do have a lighter side too. Beef: The Truth Behind London's Youth Culture was made by loads of young folk and supported by BFI's First light initiative but it doesn't have that horrible home made amateur feel or depressing anti-social message attached, which most of these schemes have. This one looks like the kids might have actually learned something and enjoyed themselves too.

This is designed to fool the audience into thinking they are watching a gritty documentary showing gang warfare on our own streets. Estates shot at night, hoodies running amuck, and the interview with respectable community worker all stick to genre conventions. It's all done in a straight forward and somber mood, giving nothing away. Some young 'gang' members talk to camera in a convincing and well acted performance so the jokey reveal does come as a surprise and lands a bigger impact thanks to the set up.

Pivotal to the facade is the background audio track used in the first half which helps evoke a serious tone and adds danger. The mixed in police sirens is a nice and subtle touch. The good quality camera picture and interesting shot compositions give the air of professionalism to the shoot. Dialogue is kept realistic and structurally advances plot in a smooth way. All in all, a good effort.

Best Bit: Superb acting.

Worst Bit: It almost reverts back to shabby youth video style in the latter half.

Final thought: That's right, get them off drugs then encourage them to gorge on heart attack inducing red meat instead.

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

The Crusader ★★★★☆

Review of 'The Crusader' which can be found here at Future Shorts.

Length: 07:06

Written & directed by Gerard Monaco

Genre: Mockumentary

Date: 2007

Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: A guy on the dole tries to sue Warner Bros. for gross misrepresentation.

This is a cracking mock doc about a deluded fella who believes himself to be Batman and in between fighting crime and collecting his giro, he plans to pursue Warner Bros and make them cough up for stealing the rights to his life.

It contains all the expected elements of a documentary, the female filmmaker voice over, standard questions are asked, the lonely subject makes a cup of tea etc, so it does a good job of holding the pretence. True to reality TV form, there is the confrontation with the main character, a tussle with the camera crew and the only too often reaction of refusing to continue with the documentary. Almost cliche but works very well with the character in hand.

Neil Carter plays Lee Philips, the hero in question, and is naturalistic, funny and gives a real character performance, reminding me of a young Timothy Spall. Philips regurgitation of classic Batman lines in his northern accent is a treat and his simpleminded persona is complemented nicely with Victoria Perry as the intelligent investigator.

I like that it is filmed in black and white which was a good choice as this helps the Batman mask to stand out all the more. It also contributes to the clean look of the film as well as help retain a certain timelessness which colour can sometimes eradicate. There is a mix of shots, both internal and external, all of which are well lighten and composed. It feels simplistic and straightforward, which is certainly not an insult.

Just as you think the film is about to end, you get a little vignette of Philips giving a self promoting speech which is more cinematically constructed. It could almost be a trailer for the film but doesn't feel out of place here. The pace is steady but there is still room for trimming if so desired. You know I prefer faster cuts. Overall, the story suits the genre very well in this exploration of an oddball character and is enjoyable and funny to watch.

Best Bit: Batman wiv a fag hangin' awt his mawf.

Worst Bit: Pace is a bit slow.

Final thought: Dunna dunna dunna dunna BATMAN!

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

CGI-brows ★★★★☆

Review of 'CGI-brows' which can be found here on the Vimeo.

Length: 02:41

Written & directed by Andrew Gaynord

Genre: Mockumentary

Date: 2009

Rating: ★★★★☆

Logline: A behind the scenes featurette on new movie technology invention CGI-brows.

This short is worthy of delivering a couple of laughs as it makes a mockery of the film industries sometimes ridiculous overuse of computer generated imagery. With believable performances from Derek Holt and David Brain, as with the rest of the cast, this professional output is very convincing as far as mockumentaries go. It's only the far fetched product sell that gives it away.

Dialogue is mostly commercial talk but the humour comes from the fact it's all being delivered with dead pan seriousness. "CGI-brows literally saved my daughters life" is my favourite line. There are varying versions of this film online, all at differing lengths as the filmmaker endeavours to trim the fat or to pertain to certain short competition. But throughout each, camera work is excellent as is picture quality and audio. There is a good structural build up of pace and the whole production feels competent and of a high standard. Naturally, all that makes the crap CGI stand out like a sore thumb, but I think that was part of the point.

In true DVD extra style, the film delivers the expected rock guitar riffs, interviews, successful motion picture soundtrack rip off, behind the scenes work, film clip preview, inept crew member input, plus outlandish and over exaggerated statements. There's probably not many Hollywood blockbuster movies out there that don't have a similar addition to their own extra content.

Best Bit: Eyebrows moving across face. lol.

Worst Bit: Goes a over the top ridiculous in the end.

Final thought: Why no mono-brow action?

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.