SQUID

SQUID (2012)
Directed by Robert Olsson

CAST:
Chris Ingersoll
Emilio Rossal
Emily Ingersoll

PLOT:
     A man is trying to survive as giant creatures are emerging from the sea.

REVIEW:
     I must admit sometimes I really like watching short films due to the fact they have to cut away all the fat from the script to get the point of the film across. Yes, some are done really poorly while others look like a work of art in motion. I know that most of the time these shorts are a labor of love for the people making them. Then sometimes it's just people who just want to show the world how awful they handle film making.

     I usually use the second paragraphs of my reviews to the actors and acting in the films and movies I watch and the same can be said for this review as well. It's just that this time it's a little harder to talk about the actors and the job they did. I say this due to the fact that the main character played by Chris Ingersoll doesn't speak a line of dialogue throughout the film. Now granted the film is only a little over three minutes in length so it is a little harder to get a read on how the person does. Never the less from what I saw Ingersoll does a decent job as a man trying to survive a very bad situation. His facial expressions are what carries him, and with that he does what he's supposed to do and that's act. Ingersoll's body language really doesn't change throughout the short from that of someone that is scared, beaten and worn down.  The other two actors that are truly shown in the short, Emilio Rossal and Emily Ingersoll, are only visible for a total of about 7 seconds and Rossal has the only speaking line in the short.

      Director Robert Olsson has put together something fun with Squid. It's completely self contained and no hint is giving as to what is happening, yet I didn't really care about the explanations as I was having fun while watching the short. The camera angles Olsson uses gives the short a much larger cinematic feel. From close up of the main actor from above him, to his uses of worm's eye view to show the depth of the Eldritch  horror from the earth's seas. The sound effects and sound design are spot on in the short and nothing is to overpowering. My one problem I did have with Squid is with the special effects. For the most part the special effects were very well done and looked like they fit perfectly with the world we are seeing. Then there are the tentacle effect in some of the shots that just looked unfinished. I would have to say the best way to describe them would be to say it looked like they came out of a SyFy channel original movie. The good part is those shots don't last long and everything goes back to looking correct, yet it's still those shots that took me out of the film as the special effects were so important to a short such as this one. Squid though is a fun quick watch that won't leave you stupid yet makes you wonder what could happen if it could be made into a full length feature.

FUN FACTS:
     Squid was made on a shoestring budget with help from many volunteers.

      Almost every shot in the short has some form of visual effect in it.

     You can watch Squid by following the link here SQUID.