Today I have two great shorts for you.

The first is by a Japanese filmmaker, Naotomo Umewaka, we met in Hannover. He sent me some of his films and this one, called Nothing Else Matters, is a haunting documentary short about lost dreams and the hardships of everyday life.

The second is a film called Say, Marimo and it’s from a Japanese short film collection called Inu no Eiga, where a group of Japanese filmmakers explores the relationship between human beings and their dogs. This one might be a bit over the top for some, but if you’ve ever had a dog you might be able to relate to it. So touching.

We were lucky enough to be invited to the Up-and-coming Film Festival in Hannover, Germany, last weekend, so we decided to take the trip. Nemesis screened in the international competition.

Foto: Espen Hobbesland

We met a lot of talented and interesting people down there (no Jude Law though), and basically had a really good time. There’s a lot of creativity out there, and I think some of these guys might produce some really magnificent work in the future.

Since we were traveling to Germany we of course decided to grow moustaches (As the picture shows, I should have brought a black marker)

Oh, and German beer is great!

You can see more photos at Espens Flickr account.

Youtube has finally enabled HD 1080p uploads. Read more about it at the YouTube blog.

I’ve made the mistake of fitting a video to the youtube player before, so when I uploaded Nemesis and Small Penis I used a 1080p file just in case it would ever be an option. With the new format YouTube has re-coded these videos, and they are now available in 1080p. In the bottom right corner, where it says HD, you can choose between 720p and 1080p.

With this upgrade YouTube is turning into a an even better screening area for short films.

Er vi eigentleg for gamle til å surre rundt med lause parykker og dårlege aksenter, medan vi prøver å etterligne amerikanske filmar?

Ja det er vi nok.

Men er det kjekt?

Ja du verda!

Takk til Tore Urke og Gjartrud Kolås for herlig skodespel!

Videoane i Saw-serien vår har sålangt fått gode seertall, med like over 100 000 treff totalt. Då vi begynte å produsere igjen i haust, satte vi oss som mål å få 40 000 treff i snitt på alt vi legger ut. Dette er kanskje for ambisiøst, men det skal ikkje vere heilt uoppnåeleg. Om vi klarer det vil tida vise.

Mål nummer 2 på planen var å prøve å auke produksjonen til 1 video i veka. Dette har vi foreløpig lagt litt på is, sidan dei videoane som får mange treff, som regel også er dei som tar lang tid å lage. Men om vi får skinnelagt produksjonen litt meir på nyåret så trur eg vi kan klare det.

For tida held vi på med oppfølgjarane til Harry Potter and the Outcasts of Hogwarts, men på grunn av eksamen og andre jobbar blir dei nok ikkje klare før i byrjinga av desember ein gong.

A mesmerizing short film by Spike Jonze. Even if you don’t like  Kanye, it’s definitely worth 11 minutes of your day.

It’s been taken down from Vimeo and YouTube, probably due to copyright claims, but you can still watch it here.

Saw VI har premiere til helga, og sidan vi er svært fascinert av både estetikken og konseptet så har vi tatt ein titt på feller som ikkje kom med i filmen.

Stor takk til Trond Gil som er ein fantastisk fyr, og ein glimrande skodespelar.

For dei teknisk interesserte: Skutt med EX 1. Vi brukte taklyset og ei 350 W lampe. Salaten er av merket Bama. Alt etterarbeidet er gjort i Final Cut.

Gode nyheter!

Nemesis fortsetter reisen på festivalmarknaden, og forrige veke var vi så heldige at vi vant prisen for beste kortfilm på Friars Club Comedy Film Festival i New York.

Samtidig har Liten Penis blitt nominert i kategorien beste kortfilm på Os Internasjonale Filmfestival. Noko som jo er veldig kjekt. I tillegg får vi filmen vist på tysk tv i forbindelse med ein festival i Køln. Så vi er strålande fornøgd:)

We have been planning to make some new videos for our Pistol Shrimps channel for quite some time, and finally, this weekend, we had the time to start shooting.  Here is the first result. It’s a promo for a couple of sequels to our Harry Potter spoofs.

As always we had a whole lot of fun while shooting:) Here’s a photo of us and the crew:

You might wonder why Christer is holding a vibrator. Well, I cant say much about it other than I think that it’s going to be funny.

Anyways, a special thanks to Tore, Arne, Trond and Gjartrud for helping us out this weekend!

Since we were busy filming all day Friday, I didn’t have the time to write a new post. I’m sorry about that. But to make up for it I’m going to share with you one of my absolute favourite short films. It’s a mockumentary-style comedy by the name Jedi Gym.

I also got in touch with one the creators of the film, Timothy Kendall, and he was kind enough to answer a few questions about the production. So here it is: Jedi Gym!

1. Can you give a short introduction of yourself?

Creators behind Jedi Gym are Timothy Kendall and Ben Koldyke. I (Timothy Kendall) direct television commercials for a living and when I’m not doing that, I make short films and webseries like this one. Ben Koldyke is an actor and writer.

2. Technical aspects: camera, lenses, editing software?

We shot on a Panasonic HVX200 and edited with Final Cut Pro. All visual effects were done with Photoshop and After Effects. The key was mixing live practical effects with digital. So you don’t just rely on post. That stuff is for Peter Jackson.

3. How much time did it take to produce this short?

It took us two weeks to get the script where we wanted it, one week to produce it and two and a half days to shoot it. I then went into an edit/vfx cave for another two weeks. So a little over a month to pull it off. I use the same teams as I do in commercials to do my little shorts so we’re pretty tight.

4. What was the budget?

Budget was under 3k. We had to rent costumes and some lights and feed everybody. The value came in getting a free location and finding people online who own their own Star Wars stuff and wanted to exercise. It’s a strange world we live in.

5. Where did the idea come from?

Idea came from reading an article in Wired magazine about NYJEDI.COM. Go check out the real Master Flynn.

6. What is your next project?

Next project? Since Jedi Gym I’ve done several. I currently co-produce and direct a webseries called “LA I.C.E.” about Immigration officers who aren’t after the South American population– they’re after Canadians. But actually just recently I finished a 3 min short that I’m very proud of that also has some Jedi themes. Check it out, it’s called JUST BEFORE DARK. If you liked Jedi Gym, you’ll LOVE this one.

7. Where does one sign up for the classes?

nyjedi.com

Has anyone else noticed that every Seth Rogen movie has a poster where he is looking straight into the camera while making a goofy face?