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DramaComedyDocumentaryAnimationExperimentalMusic
10 Seconds
Tim Clague
average rating from 69 members 
       
comedy | 2004 | South West | 2 min
Published 28 Mar 06
A man awakens to find he can see 10 seconds into the future. A gift or a curse?
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synopsis
A two minute comedy film that blends the art direction of a silent era short with modern day, multi-layered, compositing techniques. As our ‘hero from another era’ discovers his miraculous gift we go on a journey of discovery with him to find the best use of his new powers. But will he find it to be a blessing or a curse?
short fact
Design-wise I knew I wanted the look of a silent era comedy short. The make up is based on Buster Keaton. This idea suited the story well as our main character shouldn't talk for most of the piece. Normally this would seem out of place but the use of the retro-style meant that this fitted rather than clashed. Besides - a strange story should have an equally strange look. I am a big fan of silent films. They have a minimalism that I like and find liberating, rather than constraining. The sets are three walls and the camera shoots straight on. There is no fuss. This means that the props you do include have to strong and iconic. If you need a tea-pot it has to be the most teapotty teapot you can find. The kind of teapot a six year old would draw. This applied to everything in our set. Just about everyone felt I went too far by suggesting that the hat stand be painted on the wall rather than be a prop. But I'm sure it looks crazy enough to be cool.

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crew
cast
  • The Strange Chap Nick Ewans
  • The Innocent Cyclist Chris Musselwhite
format
16mm/Super 16
budget
£4000
© 2004 Tim Clague

comments
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comment by siva  sivakumaran
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posted Feb 23, 2009

Great comments. Am I missing something here?
comment by Darren  Sherry
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posted Sep 6, 2008

Good use of retro look and style. I think it could have gone farther with more plot though.
comment by Simon  Page
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posted Oct 19, 2007

interesting and well shot / edited but the voice over did not fit. At the end, the punch line was the stutter... should have held it there and left us to draw the conclusion, not the voice over to treat us like children.
A brief shot of the casino at the end would suffice.
So the ending was not tight and spoiled it for me.
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comment by Steve  Piper
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posted Jun 3, 2007

Neat idea, great execution, well performed and looked very nice. You could have gone further with the ideas and gunned for 5-10 minutes but very good job.
Steve  Piper is Filmmaker and MD at production company Coffee Films and a member of Film Network's Industry Panel.
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funded by
UK Film Council's New Cinema Fund in collaboration with South West Screen

film network submission
This film was chosen by the Film Network team through our online submissions process.

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