Wed, August 10, 2005

Ready to be present at the origin of one of the greatest rising talents in the next generation of filmmaking?

Good!

Here's what you do:

1. Create a (free) account at filmerica.com.
2. On the homepage, click to view the "Top 20 Films."
3. Watch and enjoy Dead End Job, submitted by team Kingski McStoneberry. (List is alphabetical by team.)
4. Vote for Dead End Job in the Audience Award, before 8/22.

Filmerica is a competition akin to the National Film Challenge and others: participating teams receive a list of constraints (a prop, a genre, a character, and a line of dialogue) and produce an original short film in 72 hours, using these elements. For Dead End Job, the genre is horror, the prop is a magnifying glass, and I don't know the line of dialogue, but I'll wager it wasn't "Hassle-free-ness."

Dead End Job was directed with stylized, chilling precision by Josh Skierski, whom I have not met. It was written by – and stars – Kate McManus, a childhood friend and also the writer/director of "Jesus Was A Capricorn", a gleeful exploration of the romantic quagmires of hapless twentysomethings and the smartest, funniest, most enjoyable stage musical I've seen – and I saw "Mamma Mia!" twice!

In Dead End Job, Kate focuses her probing, ironic perspective on the desperate disconnect between marketing and real, human interaction. Which is more of a sociopath – a serial killer or a traveling salesman? In the role of saleswoman Kelly Blair, Kate's performance, like her writing, takes bold chances and refuses to embrace the ordinary. At first, Kelly is detached and jittery: a nervous suppliant, speaking like the menu recording you get when you phone your bank. But as the story unfolds, she assumes control of her surroundings, and confidence blossoms into sarcasm and manic glee. As the customer, Roy Berry (who was delightful in "Capricorn") is distracted and hostile: he's got secrets, and he's not exactly in the mindset to buy.

The chemistry between the two is uncomfortable from the start, and the scene's energy builds slowly throughout, interrupted by frenzied outbursts. All of this is explored through Skierski's lens via a wandering magnifying glass, which creates a voyeuristic tension as it leers deeper into the scene. The visual style matches the compelling and unusual tone of the film and, well – I think Kingski McStoneberry puts it best: "all notions of cleverness to date are hereby rendered obsolete."