Animism and the art of the micro short film

What would that turnip say if it could speak?

Animism is the belief that everything has a soul, including inanimate objects. Ever since I was a child, I have felt that everything - a rock, a body of water, a boat, a tree, even a piece of garbage - has feelings and something to say. Perhaps more than humans even. The role of the "artist as conjurer" is, in my view, to give that voice a means of expression. This is where the rise of the smartphone as an everyday filmmaking tool, and the emergence of the micro short film form are giving expression to a cool new kind of art.

Inanimate objects embody a special kind of poignancy for me because they have no agency to change their situation. A rock remains a rock, at least in the short term. Yet in the hands of an artist, that rock can say what it would like to say, and we can all learn from its message. Yes, for sure there is some sophistry going on here: it is perhaps really the artist that has something to say, and the inanimate object becomes the channel.

I've made several micro short films that involve inanimate objects, and to my delight, they have been accepted into festivals around the world. Coming in at around 1 to 2 minutes, these small stories present an inanimate object imparting some thoughts, a worldview or a bit of wisdom and advice. When I shot "Every Boat is a Dream" it was the accidental discovery of a sunken sailboat in a snowstorm that inspired me to start filming. I could feel something strong emanating from that boat, and I knew it had a story to tell. With "Mr. Sadheart's Small Day" it was a glimpse of a sad face that someone had drawn in the dust on a window that made me start filming with my smartphone.

With "Mr. Turnip Looks Back" it was a funny, dried up turnip that we found in the fridge that provided the inspiration. My wife had drawn a face on it, and as it continued to shrivel on my desk, I was convinced it - he - had something to say. After reflecting on what Mr. Turnip was trying to tell us, I set up a makeshift green screen, and shot some footage. Smartphones are great for giving life to objects because the camera is so mobile that you can use the device to "paint" the object, sweeping in and out at different angles and speeds to create a sense of emotion, character and movement. With a narrative I recorded on the phone, and a few happy accidents in editing, a film was born that was accepted into festivals in Canada, the US, Spain and South Korea.

To make your own animist micro short film, here are a few tips:

• Be alive to what you see around you, and the feelings those things conjure in you
• Shoot immediately, without second-guessing yourself
• Use your phone or whatever you have handy
• Aim for 35-40 seconds of nice footage for a 1 minute film
• Take some stills for poster images
• Reflect on what the footage is trying to say
• Carve together around 12 lines of narrative
• Record the narrative
• Pull the audio narrative and the video into an editor, match them up and add titles
• Write a brief director's statement and tagline for your film while the ideas are fresh
• Submit your micro short to a few festivals such as the Miniature Film Festival using FilmFreeway or similar service
• Take a bow, you are now a micro short filmmaker!

I hope you enjoy your adventures in making micro short films, and I wish you the best of success! 

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