Chelsea Lupkin
A boy who discovers a glitch that allows him to trade cotton balls for cookies, sets off a series of events that are altogether whimsical and surreal in Evan Forrest Mann’s (Voyage of the Galactic Space Dangler) Opulent Round Edible Object. As bizarre as the premise might sound, Mann’s film – featuring a blend of live-action, stop-motion animation, and some incredible sloth costumes – delivers one of the most enjoyable viewing experiences you’ll find on Short of the Week this year. You may not know where the story is going, but you’ll certainly enjoy the ride.
You might be surprised to learn that the film’s budget was only $2K, especially considering how impressive the craft is. Artistically, there’s such a unique visual language to the project that it feels as opulent as the film’s namesake. The practical effects may be simple, but the magic is nonetheless impressively executed. And those sloth costumes look like something out of a commercial, right? Well, that’s no coincidence – Mann’s background is in the commercial space, a part of the industry that is heavily focused on impressive visuals and sharp cinematography. Frankly, it’s no wonder that Opulent Round Edible Object (OREO) looks so good. And yes, that acronym is pretty genius if you ask me – we see what you did there, Evan!
“The idea was to film the first scene and then fabricate a narrative on the fly”
With this short, Mann set out to create a simple, low-pressure process film without a huge crew or tedious scheduling. Looking to make something in a quiet space to give him the ability to “tinker”, he opted to involve his family, who appear on camera as both themselves and as sloths – truly a family affair! “The idea was to film the first scene and then fabricate a narrative on the fly, without a clear vision of where we were going,” Mann explains. Filming spanned fifteen days over the course of a couple of months, giving the director time to figure out what would happen next and lean into that loose creative process.
For the practical effects, Mann primarily relied on puppetry to move the cotton balls around the house. Using a very thin fishing line tied to a long dowel rod, he was able to control the movements of the balls. While the foot carrying the cookies in the jungle world is just his hand in a sock and it goes to show that sometimes the best effects are the most basic. You don’t need a huge budget to make cotton balls float in the shower if you have patience and imagination. “The film was never planned, so each day I came to record, it was a choose your own adventure storybook,” Mann tells Short of the Week. “I pulled out some old sloth costumes we had fabricated from a previous commercial project. The pack and play crib in the basement was on hand and suddenly I had a sloth in a crib.”
The sloth costumes are undoubtedly a highlight of OREO
Mann had to constantly think ahead in order to stitch the surreal narrative together. “The first day of filming was the bathroom scene with my son dropping cotton balls into the portal and I also filmed my father in law putting cookies on the counter. So both the beginning and end were filmed, and the remaining fourteen production days were spent filling in the middle parts.” OREO comes together so well and is so playfully executed, that it’s hard to believe so many of the whimsical moments were created spontaneously. Experimental, visually compelling, and weird in the best way possible, OREO is a surprise hit for us.
Planning to continue making short films with his local community in Colorado, Mann hopes to become the “best commercial film director [he] can be”. A sustainable way to keep his art alive, we look forward to seeing more shorts from the director in the future.