Short Sited Film Festival v12.0: 2 Disc Special Edition (2008)

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General		Extras
Category	Various	Menu Animation & Audio Scene Selection Anim & Audio Audio Commentary-all 16 short films. Audio-Only Track-Intermission Music (mixed in Dolby 2.0 & 5.1) Trailer-Sponsors (2:35) Featurette-Animal Instincts Acceptance Speech (0:38) Short Film-Cowboys and Indians (7:03) Featurette-Behind The Scenes-Short Look At [SS_v12.0] Film Festival (1.41) Deleted Scenes-(1:26) Multiple Angles-Animated Festival Opener (2:37) Featurette-2008 Non-finalists Montage (2:11) TV Spots-(0:43) Radio Spots-(0:51) Gallery-Advertising (4) Notes-Press Releases (19 pages) Gallery-Design (16 pages) Teaser Trailer-Short Sited The 13th (0:41) DVD Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	2008
Running Time	90:03
RSDL / Flipper	No/No Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Tom Subjak
Studio Distributor	Studio Unknown Distributor Unknown	Starring	Tom Subjak
Case	Amaray Variant
RPI	$24.95	Music	Adrian Sotomayor

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s) English Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) English Audio Commentary Dolby Digital 2.0 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	Varies
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	Varies	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	Yes

    The Short Sited Film Festival is an annual event based in the Illawarra Region of New South Wales, Australia. An important local cultural event, the festival enjoys firm support from local media and industry and is a vital platform for showcasing our superb local filmmaking talent. 2008 marked the festival's twelfth successful year, this time with a Sci-Fi theme.

    This is the first time the festival organizers have attempted to make a DVD release of their finalist's films, and the result is outstanding. A lot of work has gone into the content; the menus, extras and overall package is first class to say the least. To be honest, I found it a little odd at first, watching this DVD and recognising local landmarks on my big screen. I'm certain anyone from the region would get a kick out of watching this collection of short films.

    The content (sixteen short films and extra material) is spread over two single-layered discs, labelled Session One and Session Two.

    Disc One

• The Life Guard (6:55) - Directed by Rory Anderson. This short film was produced to coincide with the centenary of Surf Life Saving in Australia. It's a comedy, observing an obsessive Life Guard on the job and the unfortunate people he tries to 'rescue'.
• An Outlaw, An Officer and a Brick (3:21) - Directed by Jim Zounis & Nick Zounis. A bit of slapstick humour, in which an outlaw resembling Ned Kelly exchanges fire with a man of the law.
• Second Chance (7:00) - Directed by Chris Busuttil. One of my favourites, in which a hard-as-nails hit man decides to make a bizarre career change.
• The World Is Yours (5:24) - Directed by Ben Kumanovski. With more than a little ambience borrowed from Goodfellas, a mobster is instructed to whack his partner.
• Subject Zero (6:44) - Directed by Lauren Andrew. A girl performs a series of cruel experiments on her flatmate. I had to view this one a number of times to understand what was going on, and the commentary does help make sense of it.
• Into The Heart (3:45) - Directed by Nick Hansen & Phillip MacDonald. A nervous crew and their vessel respond to a distress call in Darwin, 2065. This animated short won the Sci-Fi category at the festival.
• Controller (5:15) - Directed by Anthony Connell. An ingenious bloke constructs the ultimate universal remote and uses it on his unsuspecting girlfriend. There's some great laughs to be found here- another one of my personal favourites.
• The Way Wollongong Was (5:03) - Directed by Daniel Stawanski & Patrick Williamson. The bizarre, hilarious, completely fictional story of Wollongong's history. It's a shame it's fictional, as this one's much more entertaining. This film won the local open all ages category.

    Disc Two

• Hopscotch (4:28) - Directed by Tasha Vasos & Anita Vasos. A man is disturbed by his children fighting in the back yard over a game of hopscotch, and decides to give it a try for himself.
• Animal Instincts (4:25) - Directed by Cameron Edser & Michael Richards. This cleverly animated piece won the national open all ages category. A cow and a sheep fight a battle to the death.
• Just A Crack (6:57) - Directed by Jordan Prosser & Sam Burns-Warr. A well made, dark, thought-provoking film exploring a man's overwhelming regret.
• Christmas Bonus (6:57) - Directed by Simon Luckhurst. The festival's overall winner explores what life might be like had the allies not won WWII. Set in a bleak, alternate present-day Australia in which Nazi Germany rules, a man and his family await news of his Christmas Bonus payout. The '...advertising disguised as editorial' line is particularly apt for the media in our region, I feel.
• Pose (1:52) - Directed by Ebony-Jane Carroll & Nick Styles. A confronting depiction of three road crash victims, and very well made indeed.
• Tumbler (2:00) - Directed by Tom Subjak. This piece was not entered into competition. Well done, although the punch line may not be entirely obvious to every viewer.
• An Unnatural Thirst (6:48) - Directed by Keean Murrell Snape. An unfortunate man's fixation on water begins to consume his entire life.
• Hey Timothy! (7:00) - Directed by Nicholas P. Aplin & Toby Morris. Timothy is a man with a gift- the tambourine! Can his talent save mankind from a music-less future? This film won the audience favorite award at the festival.

    A big thank you to festival director Tom Subjak for providing this disc for review. Anyone who is interested in this excellent DVD package or the festival itself should visit the Short Sited website. For readers who live in the Illawarra region, this DVD is available to rent at your local Video Ezy store.

Video

    I was pleasantly surprised by the consistency in the video quality of these short films. Aspect ratio, resolution and colour depth does vary from one film to the next, but not to the point where any stand out or become unsightly. Despite the variations in aspect ratio between films, all are presented in a 16x9 frame. Some are window boxed on all sides (a black border), presumably to allow for reduced resolution in the source. All together, this is a great presentation of the material.

    Colours are bold and bright throughout. Some films have undergone digital grading, which makes a big difference.

    MPEG compression artefacting is minimal. The most dominant issue is DV video grain, which is to be expected given the budgetary limitations at play here. There are no film artefacts involved (other than those that have been introduced intentionally).

    There are no subtitles included.

    The content is split over two discs. Both are single layered, DVD5 formatted.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    Like the video presentation, the audio varies a little from one film to the next. Some are extremely polished, while others contain noticeable hiss or background noise. As I said above, these are excusable considering the scale of the productions on offer.

    All sixteen films are presented with stereo Dolby Digital 2.0 audio, encoded at 448Kb/s. Only Tumbler has a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio option, accessible via the Film Database menu.

    The English dialogue is generally easy to follow in these films, despite the mild differences in mix quality. One recurring issue I did notice is that many films seem to have mixed their background music too loud, which threatens to overpower the dialogue at times. There aren't any dire ADR or audio sync issues as far as I can tell.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    This is an outstanding, completely thorough DVD package, one that the festival organizers and participants should be very proud of.

Menu

Audio Commentaries

    All sixteen of the short films presented on discs one and two are accompanied by an optional audio commentary. These include worthwhile contributions from the directors, writers and some of the actors, and more than a few interesting anecdotes regarding their filmmaking experiences. Some of the commentaries are a bit on the dry side, and I do think it is a good thing these are short films, as it forces those speaking to get to the point rather than waffling on.

Disc One

Audio Track- Intermission Music (21:15)

    A selection of music that was commissioned specifically for the festival, composed by Adrian Sotomayor. The music is playable two ways; stereo with a video reel of sponsor logos, or, a selection of great surround mixes separated into eight individual tracks. The surround mixes are very immersive and worth checking out.

Sponsor Trailers (2:35)

    A couple of brief adverts from the festival's sponsors. It's a good thing these are relegated to the main menu and aren't forced on us in a manner akin to anti-piracy advertising.

Disc Two

Featurette- Animal Instincts Acceptance Speech (0:38)

    The two lads who made the film offer their thanks for their award, all the way from Adelaide. This piece can be found in the Film Database menu.

Short Film- Cowboys and Indians (7:03)

    This film won the audience favorite award at the 2007 festival. Directed by Phillip Hayes, it follows a pair of kids playing cowboys and indians in their street.

Featurette- Short Look At "SS_v12.0" Film Festival (1.41)

    A glimpse of the festival night, and a few words with punters and security guards in the foyer.

Deleted Scene (1:26)

    A short sequence that was deleted at the last minute from the festival opener.

Multi-Angle Feature- Animated Festival Opener (2:37)

    The cool animated opening sequence is presented in three angles; storyboard, basic animation and finished product. An optional commentary from creators Tom and Adrian is included.

Featurette- 2008 Non-finalists Montage (2:11)

    A montage of images from entrants' films that didn't make the final 15.

TV Spots (0:43)

    Two commercials promoting the festival; one for entrants, the other for the screening.

Radio Spots (0:51)

    Radio advertising for the festival.

Gallery (4)

    A few stills of the adverts that were placed in print media, monochrome and colour.

Notes- Press Releases (19 pages)

    All of the press releases that were made regarding the festival, announcing the finalists and the winners. Photos included.

Gallery- Design (16 pages)

    A gallery of all the graphic art work that went into the programmes, posters and the like.

Teaser Trailer- Short Sited The 13th (0:41)

    A little promo piece for next year's festival.

DVD Credits

    The transfer is great.

    The extras are thorough and insightful.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall