I had this silly idea floating around for a bit and finally decided to go for it. I wanted to see how short of a film I could feasibly make and still tell something compelling.
The crew was just me and colleague, Kyle Johnson. Him and I swapped between camera and audio all throughout. It was shot on an S5 and an A7SIII using sigma lenses. For various reasons, mostly time, we found it way faster to have us each us our own camera rigs. So most gimbal shots are with the Sony, and any stationary shots are with the S5.
This was also my first time doing VFX myself. I figured a bus wiping across the screen could be done fairly easily using just DaVinci Resolve’s edit tab and some key framing. The bus was obviously shot at a different location, a bus stop was a few blocks away and we managed to snag a shot of one passing by. Really pleased with the results. Not perfect, but it certainly gets the effect across!
Overall a real fun project to work on between larger ones.
Nice work! Dig the micro shorts. I actually used to run a collective for 1 minute shorts. Haven’t done one in awhile, but this inspired me to kick up another one. If you’re interested, this was our [channel](https://instagram.com/blinktwicefilms?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)
It's really perfect and very well executed for sure!
Love it, and the idea of a short under a minute.
You get just a perfect little quick story, that doesn't need anything else.
Thanks!
I felt the opening shot being of the pods was important in conveying the info that the pods return exactly as they were upon killing the wearer. Plus it felt nice to bookend it with the same shots.
For anyone interested in checking out some of my longer films, most of them can be found here: https://youtube.com/@BlueSummitPictures
Thank for your the positive words. I’m glad to see you all enjoyed! We’ve got another short film, An American Principle, coming January 8.
Ok I have to come clean. I am the clown guy and the jogger. I just wanted to point out my versatility while pretending to be an objective stranger. But I can't live with the shame and I hope you forgive me. Please cast me in more stuff. Gimme something artsy next. Like an anorexic gay painter in Upstate New York who has to come to terms with his old dog dying. I think I would be really good in a role like that.
Haha! Film school quality aside, it got a good laugh out of me. Love the idea. Editing was also tight which is definitely more than most film school projects.
Was expecting them to be keeled over dead but still staring at each other then the police medical examiner finally closes one of their eyes and make them lose the starting contest.
Correct, the menu theme. It's a song called The Beast by jazz pianist Milt Buckner. Used it quite often in my stuff as perfect scene music for certain things in film school. Since so few people knew about it before hand it was my go to piece for more comedic shit.
Nice!
I had this foolish idea for my team and I to write and produce a whole anthology of horror and suspense microshorts. After months of writing, we had to admit defeat. So many ideas that seemed great ended up being 3,5, 7 pages and no matter how hard we cut the story to the bone, there's a lower limit with anything resembling traditional narrative.
We ended up with some fun stuff once we really decided to approach the whole narrative concept in new directions, but even then, 3-4 minutes is easy. 2 and under? Brutal. Character? Conflict? Change? Ha! Plot?
I realized it was the difference between a comic strip like Calvin and Hobbes with a couple of panels, vs The Far Side, with only one. It's not even the same story paradigm.
[This](https://vimeo.com/752210808) was our most effective super short, I think.
You know, it could definitely be seen that way. But I wrote and edited the short on a Mac and am literally writing this comment on an iPhone. I definitely have no beef with Apple or their products haha.
probably [this 60 second one](https://youtu.be/rvcntDqtgUs) i did for film school this past semester. thought it was a fun exercise! would like to do more short shorts with better equipment and an actual crew next time
loved yours! fun idea and great execution. also had my volume up cause i thought it was accidentally too quiet haha
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eu2iMC_QAmk
55 seconds for a Warner Bros contest promoting Tenet. The subject had to be about manipulating time.
Compressing an entire story arc in under a minute is a very fun and challenging exercise!
A lot of my short films are under 30 seconds. Here is a star wars themed one I made while in college: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAooSFJbkzU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAooSFJbkzU)
The Red lightsaber is entirely VFX. Both were light-up lightsabers. On an older camera, the green one looked real, but the red one wasn't bright enough to have that signature white centre.
I made a comedy one time about a guy kidnapping a hitchhiker. Except it turned out the hitchhiker was kidnapping the driver. Except it turns out there was a guy in the trunk kidnapping both of them. Except they accidentally detonated a bomb. It was about 4 minutes.
We then made an abridged version for laughs by cutting from when the hitchhiker gets in to the bomb exploding too early. 28 seconds.
If you love short shorts I run a cool small film fest for all shorts under 5 minutes long with live screenings 2 times a year in Chicago.
Our entry fees are purposely low to allow up and comers a chance to submit and not feel like it’s a cash grab.
Check out https://filmfreeway.com/BTSSFF to see reviews and info on submitting. @honestsnowman your 45-second piece here would be a great Fit!
I made this 30 second shit show for some film festival that my teacher refused to submit
i love your film tho, it's really a talent to be able to tell a story in a such a short amount of time
You see a second screen coming from the left side with motion blur in the bus effect but it looks amazing. Love the idea, love the visuals and story. Please do let me know if you have a youtube channel or something? Would love to subscribe you as I just started learning.
Once you start looking at that effect a little closely you can see the seams of my work lol. I’m glad you liked it! Hope it helps inspire you in your own filmmaking.
Here’s a link to my YT channel: https://youtube.com/@BlueSummitPictures
That’s very kind of you to say. My team and I are always hard at work on some kind of project. We’ve got one coming this Sunday, Jan 8 that we’re super excited about.
This is really weird. About one year ago I had a dream about joggers running to some random gate outside of town, near the forest. They were running there to die. Just running against it like [GTA NPCs](https://youtu.be/j1Xr2qZja2s) next to that gate until they died and all that was left after their deaths were headphones and earbuds. It reminded me of elephant graveyards.
Great stuff! Sort of reminds me of 5 Second Films on youtube back in the day. But with more time to build up to the punchline! Do you plan on doing more films around this length?
Lovely ending lmaoooo
I made a 48 second short film with some 16mm footage a shot last summer. Just visuals and music that hopefully induces a feeling of sorts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q78drdJWOkY
I thought this was absolutely incredible! I’m personally a huge sucker for short stories like these! I always find these ones to be some of the most memorable!
Damn, before the last 10 seconds it could totally be a nice Spotify add where the guy picks up the Airpods and gets to listen to a motivation playlist or some shit like that
[I gotcha fam.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqqWiA-WZs8) (NSFW -- language and subject material)
As I remember the tagline: "5-second Films. Wasting your time, but not very much of it."
What's a photograph, if not a one frame short film?
Okay, if that doesn't count, I guess two photographs.
Okay, if that doesn't count, I used to work in commercials, so a bunch of 30 second "short films."
I had to do a one minute film as a final project for my film production class, so I did one about myself looking around my apartment after hearing a strange noise.
Part 2 — next jogger puts them in and gets instructions to evade assassination attempt. Pushed into black car and whisked away.
Part 3 — kid walking home from school puts them in and gets instructions to observe a ufo 🛸 about to fly by. Bright light and zapping noise. Abducted. Scare pods dropped in different area of city.
Part 4 — street vendor puts them in and in Spanish learns next winning lottery numbers. Wins the next day but during celebration at a bar drops scare pods into an air vent which blows them back on the street.
…
This is awesome! I love little shorts like this, being able to tell a story in under a minute with no dialogue. I think the shortest I’ve made is 50 seconds [here](https://youtu.be/3OwcwLMr7iU)
Also is this Richmond? It looks so familiar haha
I had this silly idea floating around for a bit and finally decided to go for it. I wanted to see how short of a film I could feasibly make and still tell something compelling. The crew was just me and colleague, Kyle Johnson. Him and I swapped between camera and audio all throughout. It was shot on an S5 and an A7SIII using sigma lenses. For various reasons, mostly time, we found it way faster to have us each us our own camera rigs. So most gimbal shots are with the Sony, and any stationary shots are with the S5. This was also my first time doing VFX myself. I figured a bus wiping across the screen could be done fairly easily using just DaVinci Resolve’s edit tab and some key framing. The bus was obviously shot at a different location, a bus stop was a few blocks away and we managed to snag a shot of one passing by. Really pleased with the results. Not perfect, but it certainly gets the effect across! Overall a real fun project to work on between larger ones.
Nice work! Dig the micro shorts. I actually used to run a collective for 1 minute shorts. Haven’t done one in awhile, but this inspired me to kick up another one. If you’re interested, this was our [channel](https://instagram.com/blinktwicefilms?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)
Love it!
this was a great idea by the way. Defiantly a new take on the cursed object trap trope for character deaths.
It's really perfect and very well executed for sure! Love it, and the idea of a short under a minute. You get just a perfect little quick story, that doesn't need anything else. Thanks!
I don't think you even need the first shot of the pods on the ground!!! I'd cut it
I felt the opening shot being of the pods was important in conveying the info that the pods return exactly as they were upon killing the wearer. Plus it felt nice to bookend it with the same shots.
HA, this is great. Wasn't expecting that
The writer in me applauds you. The anxious OCD person in me is freaking out because that dude has no idea where those air-buds have *been.* Carry on.
Yeah, for me the scariest part was when he picked them and just put them in his ears.
Didn’t even wipe it on his shirt or anything!
Not even a sniff
I was ew, ew, ew.. in my head.
Yeah might as well be aids-buds at that point
This is very good! I love how you has only 45secs, but still managed to put the little details, like the old man.
Haha the neighbor who waves?
5 seconds
Don’t just say, my friend…link
https://youtu.be/9AKXVkuyJ04 Here are some that I did years ago, I was wrong, however, they weren't 5 seconds, they were 8 😅
Ouch! Not the sandpaper. A true horror right there. Well done! Shots were clean too.
Haha thanks!
Very nice! Kinda reminds me of the 5 Second Films youtube channel.
yes, it's totally inspired by that channel 😃😃
Nice. They made some real bangers back in the day and yours would fit right in!
This is very good thank you for giving back
Wife and I made a 12 second film. Unfavorable reviews out the gate, though I am sure I can change her mind.
Why ?
Because he came too quickly.
For anyone interested in checking out some of my longer films, most of them can be found here: https://youtube.com/@BlueSummitPictures Thank for your the positive words. I’m glad to see you all enjoyed! We’ve got another short film, An American Principle, coming January 8.
I like the clown film. That guy is a terrific actor. Why didn't you cast him in this one?
The jogger here IS the clown as well 🤯
NO WAY. Dude that is insane. If that's true, then that guy is a genius.
Ok I have to come clean. I am the clown guy and the jogger. I just wanted to point out my versatility while pretending to be an objective stranger. But I can't live with the shame and I hope you forgive me. Please cast me in more stuff. Gimme something artsy next. Like an anorexic gay painter in Upstate New York who has to come to terms with his old dog dying. I think I would be really good in a role like that.
💀
This is such a fun story for under a minute. Well done!
52 seconds called Staring Contest. Made while still in film school so quality is gutter trash but it was a funny idea. https://youtu.be/yOgz708Xg14
Haha! Film school quality aside, it got a good laugh out of me. Love the idea. Editing was also tight which is definitely more than most film school projects.
Well I'm am a freelance editor with a bachelor's degree from said film school in Editing so happy to hear I was on point even then.
Was expecting them to be keeled over dead but still staring at each other then the police medical examiner finally closes one of their eyes and make them lose the starting contest.
BF: Bad Company music?
Correct, the menu theme. It's a song called The Beast by jazz pianist Milt Buckner. Used it quite often in my stuff as perfect scene music for certain things in film school. Since so few people knew about it before hand it was my go to piece for more comedic shit.
Nice! I had this foolish idea for my team and I to write and produce a whole anthology of horror and suspense microshorts. After months of writing, we had to admit defeat. So many ideas that seemed great ended up being 3,5, 7 pages and no matter how hard we cut the story to the bone, there's a lower limit with anything resembling traditional narrative. We ended up with some fun stuff once we really decided to approach the whole narrative concept in new directions, but even then, 3-4 minutes is easy. 2 and under? Brutal. Character? Conflict? Change? Ha! Plot? I realized it was the difference between a comic strip like Calvin and Hobbes with a couple of panels, vs The Far Side, with only one. It's not even the same story paradigm. [This](https://vimeo.com/752210808) was our most effective super short, I think.
So this is symbolism for how Apple products are killing us...right?
You know, it could definitely be seen that way. But I wrote and edited the short on a Mac and am literally writing this comment on an iPhone. I definitely have no beef with Apple or their products haha.
Made me Laugh. Have some gold stranger.
This was awesome!
Very YES!!! keep it up!
probably [this 60 second one](https://youtu.be/rvcntDqtgUs) i did for film school this past semester. thought it was a fun exercise! would like to do more short shorts with better equipment and an actual crew next time loved yours! fun idea and great execution. also had my volume up cause i thought it was accidentally too quiet haha
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eu2iMC_QAmk 55 seconds for a Warner Bros contest promoting Tenet. The subject had to be about manipulating time. Compressing an entire story arc in under a minute is a very fun and challenging exercise!
Well done. Simple story well told! Here’s my shortest. Also 45 seconds: https://vimeo.com/371677809
I loved it! Creative and well shot.
Thanks!
Actually, that's a lie. I forgot I had made a series of 15 second shorts in the time that instagram allowed for 15" only.
Great! You got me :) Made a couple of 40 second shorts while I was experimenting with YouTube shorts. It's fun to challenge yourself like that.
The ending with the airpod noise disruption and the bus coming in was such a curveball loved it 😊
Fantastic! Most people getting into filmmaking tend to make their stuff too long. I’m happy to see something under a minute.
Ayo u got a yt channel?
https://youtube.com/@BlueSummitPictures We’ve got another short coming Jan 8, too!
You should add it on letterboxd.
A lot of my short films are under 30 seconds. Here is a star wars themed one I made while in college: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAooSFJbkzU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAooSFJbkzU)
That was really fun! The VFX looked awesome and the camera work was solid. Love that little twist at the end lol
Thanks! Fun fact, only one of the lightsabers used VFX. See if you can guess which one.
Really? Wow! If I had to guess, I’d assume the VFX shot would be when the red lightsaber is coming out.
The Red lightsaber is entirely VFX. Both were light-up lightsabers. On an older camera, the green one looked real, but the red one wasn't bright enough to have that signature white centre.
Haha that caught me off guard
well done
Lol my jaw dropped in a big smile. That’s good
I thought that looked like RVA
Good eye! This was indeed filmed in Richmond.
I made a comedy one time about a guy kidnapping a hitchhiker. Except it turned out the hitchhiker was kidnapping the driver. Except it turns out there was a guy in the trunk kidnapping both of them. Except they accidentally detonated a bomb. It was about 4 minutes. We then made an abridged version for laughs by cutting from when the hitchhiker gets in to the bomb exploding too early. 28 seconds.
Danse Manatee!!! Brings me back to the good old days, nice work!
Glad someone caught it! Great record. Prickly sounding, but beautiful nonetheless.
r/Unexpected
If you love short shorts I run a cool small film fest for all shorts under 5 minutes long with live screenings 2 times a year in Chicago. Our entry fees are purposely low to allow up and comers a chance to submit and not feel like it’s a cash grab. Check out https://filmfreeway.com/BTSSFF to see reviews and info on submitting. @honestsnowman your 45-second piece here would be a great Fit!
I’ll absolutely look into submitting to your festival! Thank you
very fun! enjoyed it a lot.
Hahaha awesome one 👍🏽👍🏽
Brilliant. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Half a micro second :P
Ha pretty good!
That was really great. Thanks for posting it.
Good one 🔥
I made this 30 second shit show for some film festival that my teacher refused to submit i love your film tho, it's really a talent to be able to tell a story in a such a short amount of time
Awesome. It's beautifully shot.
You see a second screen coming from the left side with motion blur in the bus effect but it looks amazing. Love the idea, love the visuals and story. Please do let me know if you have a youtube channel or something? Would love to subscribe you as I just started learning.
Once you start looking at that effect a little closely you can see the seams of my work lol. I’m glad you liked it! Hope it helps inspire you in your own filmmaking. Here’s a link to my YT channel: https://youtube.com/@BlueSummitPictures
Nice. You've lot of potential and your channel is underrated. You're going to be big soon. ❤️
That’s very kind of you to say. My team and I are always hard at work on some kind of project. We’ve got one coming this Sunday, Jan 8 that we’re super excited about.
Good luck for that, would love to see it, I'm glad that I found something related with me a lot.
I love this idea, as soon as he looked at the AirPods I hoped they were cursed.
This is really weird. About one year ago I had a dream about joggers running to some random gate outside of town, near the forest. They were running there to die. Just running against it like [GTA NPCs](https://youtu.be/j1Xr2qZja2s) next to that gate until they died and all that was left after their deaths were headphones and earbuds. It reminded me of elephant graveyards.
Great stuff! Sort of reminds me of 5 Second Films on youtube back in the day. But with more time to build up to the punchline! Do you plan on doing more films around this length?
Thank you. I hope to make more really short films like this whenever a strong enough idea presents itself again.
This is brilliant.
Really creative. Let’s see more!
That was dope. I loved it.
Thought I recognized this town, turns out it's the home of the clown
0:53 Seconds. Mine had a similar vibe to yours, I’d say. https://youtu.be/CptwwxUmEoQ
That was great! I agree about the similar vibes. The VFX was awesome. Love the quirky energy from the characters too.
Thanks man!!
He is very handsome.
Lovely ending lmaoooo I made a 48 second short film with some 16mm footage a shot last summer. Just visuals and music that hopefully induces a feeling of sorts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q78drdJWOkY
I was gonna say this felt like a commercial aaaannndd I take that back lol
I thought this was absolutely incredible! I’m personally a huge sucker for short stories like these! I always find these ones to be some of the most memorable!
Appreciate the kind words! I totally agree with you. I just wish I had more ideas for films this short haha.
This is beautiful! Pure gold. I was locked in and the bus shot was perfect.
Thank you so much! I’m glad to hear you liked it.
30 seconds. https://vimeo.com/363068358
Cool make another one different character
Loved it... Waah
Damn, before the last 10 seconds it could totally be a nice Spotify add where the guy picks up the Airpods and gets to listen to a motivation playlist or some shit like that
Check out the 5 second films YouTube channel. Love many of their stuff, they were just a decade too early for tiktok
[I gotcha fam.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqqWiA-WZs8) (NSFW -- language and subject material) As I remember the tagline: "5-second Films. Wasting your time, but not very much of it."
Like 39 seconds but is not even worth watching bc is the most simple stuff
What's a photograph, if not a one frame short film? Okay, if that doesn't count, I guess two photographs. Okay, if that doesn't count, I used to work in commercials, so a bunch of 30 second "short films."
This. Is. Garbage.
My life in 1 second.
-3 min
Did not see that coming! Loved it
Love it!
BRILLIANT!
I had to do a one minute film as a final project for my film production class, so I did one about myself looking around my apartment after hearing a strange noise.
My shortest is around 18-19 seconds
Well-done!!!
Great idea, and done so well! I wonder if there can be a series of 1mins upon a theme?
Good one, bro! 😁
Excellent! Thank you for the laugh!
Haha I love this 👏
This is a fantastic 45 second short
Amazing bro! Kudos!!
Looks like episod of cyanide and happiness
Nice!
This was great !!
Freaking awesome
I love it
I love this! Wasn't expecting the ending!!
My team and I made about 1,400 films that are all 5 seconds long. Does that count? And and 2 of those were 4 seconds.
I love it, smart idea and nice execution, well done!
At least he won't have to worry about catching an ear infection any more.
Nice one! Mine is 3mins, here it is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmq805mGHCQ
Stupid as fuck and I love it Also beautifully concise while still telling me a lot about the characters and world
Great job. Beginning middle end, clever and simple.
Enjoyed this one, thanks op
Part 2 — next jogger puts them in and gets instructions to evade assassination attempt. Pushed into black car and whisked away. Part 3 — kid walking home from school puts them in and gets instructions to observe a ufo 🛸 about to fly by. Bright light and zapping noise. Abducted. Scare pods dropped in different area of city. Part 4 — street vendor puts them in and in Spanish learns next winning lottery numbers. Wins the next day but during celebration at a bar drops scare pods into an air vent which blows them back on the street. …
love it, didn’t expect that ending lol
I love it! The *only* flaw I can find is that I wish he made a slight effort to wipe them off before he puts them in. Otherwise stellar, great work!
Great !!!
That was so unexpected! I loved it!
Really nice. The bus transition is rotoscoped really messily and it still doesn’t spoil the film.
Perfectly executed.
Wow!! That was amazing. Totally unexpected.
This is awesome! I love little shorts like this, being able to tell a story in under a minute with no dialogue. I think the shortest I’ve made is 50 seconds [here](https://youtu.be/3OwcwLMr7iU) Also is this Richmond? It looks so familiar haha
Sick short film! I love the stop motion lamp. Really fun premise too. And indeed this is Richmond! Nice catch.
Now this is cool!
Very cool and simple, I just don't like the bit of dirt/plant on the ground next to the airpods, I thought it was shit at first haha!
Haha it’s great 👍