It’s fun when mainstream sites do pieces on short film, and in a rare treat, two such articles were published online today. First up is a brief article and slideshow from the online magazine Slate via is DoubleX blog, where contributor Sasha Watson explores the trend of fashion advertising films. This is a trend near and dear to my own heart, so I’m disappointed she beat me to the punch. However I find that her Lynch-ian centric investigation still leaves some room for additional thoughts. I think there is a lot more to be said about this, and I intend to, so look forward to that! The second piece is a really interesting look at the work of Canadian filmmaker Jaime Travis in the NyTimes, one of those rare directors to receive widespread acclaim solely on the basis of his several short films. Travis is a master visual stylist—1960’s decor and generally superlative art direction play huge roles in his films, but he is adept at creating uncomfortable moods as well. The article has a good line when describing his films as “…a mixture of work by David Lynch and Douglas Sirk.” None of Travis’ films are online so I’ve only seen his latest work, The Armoire, which is on the festival circuit now. However it just might be my favorite film of the year so far, so needless to say I’m eager to see more. patternstrilogy

Screengrab from the Patterns Trilogy

Thankfully I’ll get the chance. The article in the NyTimes is in advance of Zeitgeist Films releasing a DVD collection of 5 of Travis’ films, the complete Patterns Trilogy of shorts, as well as the first two films of what is being called The Saddest Children in the World trilogy, of which The Armoire, not included (d’oh!), is the third. I’m skeptical about DVD distribution for short films, but part of why I’m skeptical is because such releases usually get ignored by taste-making outlets such as the NyTimes. Also admittedly few filmmakers develop such an impressive catalog of shorts in which to draw upon as Jaime Travis does, so I imagine this collection has more of a fighting chance. Here’s wishing it the best!