Check out my new short film "The Us in U.S."

[Gohanto]

Hey,

I just finished a 5 minute short for "On The Lot" that I've been working on since August. It's more experimental than most things posted here, but I'd love to hear what people think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWmHRIIbZ6s

Background
-Besides Music and Acting, Everything was done by me personally
-All sounds were done in post.
-Shot on a 4 year old Sony Handicam

Plot/Idea
In a nutshell, my goal was using the interactions of an American and a Mexican student as a metaphor of the racial indescretion shown in America with the rising Mexican workforce over the past few year.

Thanks.

 

[OldCorpse]

I wish you didn't tell us what the plot/idea was. Makes it hard to watch with a virgin eye. How often do you go to the movies only to have the director explain the plot before the film starts? That's right, never.

You could've gotten all kinds of responses/reactions, but now all I can think of "does that idea come through". It doesn't. I mean - I don't think to myself "wow, metaphor for race relations in the U.S." when watching this. I'm watching this trying to figure out "how exactly is this supposed to tell us what the state of relations between Mexican immigrants and citizens?" I look for it, and I don't see that, personally.

Now, if I didn't know what this was purporting to be about, I'd have a different reaction. I'd be wondering what is this about. I'd think about mood, about development. I'd get riffs of Lynch. All kinds of stuff. Generally, likeable, and in my view, worth seeing. But not what you want me to see.

 

[Gohanto]

I posted the idea behind it because the most common probably people that have watched it get is not understanding it. Most people can't/won't comment on it if they don't understand what I was going for.

I meant it to be symbolic, but I'd rather tell people seperately what the idea behind an odd movie was than to put something into the movie that would explain it. You're right, a director never explains his movie to a crowd. But if Scorsese makes a movie and puts something in people don't understand, they'll look harder for the meaning. If I make an odd film, it'll be quickly assumed I simply don't know how to make movies.

The advantage known directors have that I don't is that people don't assume my movie was made intentionally.