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Introduction
There's a certain charm with old YouTube short films that's hard to find nowadays. Many of these productions were made possible by small groups who came together with a shared passion. For them it truly was about the journey, not the destination. That's why I love finding these. Here are my reviews on these productions in order of date added to playlist.
:: You can check out the playlist here :: (videos sorted from oldest to newest)
Prom Queen by Outcast Productions
The film that inspired me to make this playlist. Sitting at just over 900 views, I found this while trying to find a music compilation called Prom Queen Massacre. This horror short film has moments where it tries to be funny and moments where it's unintentionally funny. All I can say is that this video exceeded my expectations in ways I didn't even consider possible.
Cyber Tron 374 by Hellocoptur Films
When I decided to make this playlist I immediately went to Hellocoptur Films to add their iconic Mickey Doonalds video, but decided to browse their catalog and came across this hidden gem. Sitting at over 1000 views, this short tells the story of a teen boy who pushes all his friends away for a hot new friend. But this short film revolutionary subverts the heteronormative trope by having the boy be friends with Cyber Tron 374, a gender ambiguous automaton! The first half is comedy gold, and I can't tell if it's intentional or not, the second half is a montage to the song It's 5! by Architecture In Helsinki.
The Life-Altering Time Sandwich uploaded by Matt Glass
You might know Dallon Weekes from iDKHOW, or maybe P!atD, but did you know he formed his first band, The Brobecks, with three people right out of highschool? Life-Altering Time Sandwich is considered part of the obscure Brobecks lore, having featured 3 of the 4 founding members and Breezy Weekes, and has gained a sort of cult popularity. Using the Wayback Machine I've found that this video had about 3000 views in 2015, 5000 in 2017, and today it has over 13,000 views. For how funny this improv sci-fi dramady is, it definitely needs to be seen by more people.
Sonic Zombie Origins by Balena Productions
The first machinima on this list, Sonic Zombie Origins is one of the few videos on this list that I'm adding because it was part of my childhood. It's a certified gem from start to finish as one man attempts to control Sonic ragdolls and the environment around them to tell a serious story about the beginnings of a zombie apocalypse. I want to rewatch the whole series (10 videos) to see if the other entries deserve a place on my playlist, but for now I'll probably leave interest in the franchise in the hands of playlist viewers. As of now, it has 63 million views, making it the most viewed on this playlist.
Fahrenheit Coca Cola uploaded by Joere Estremadura
This was the first film I found by adding before: 2007 to my YouTube search (I learned that on SpaceHey :D). The description says it's a student class project made for a project about narrative structure, but it also has a very impressive filmography and soundtrack. As of now it's the oldest upload on this playlist, from July 26, 2006.
Trying to Kill Sasuke by Fighting Dreamers Productions
I first watched this video when 2000s_web on Twitter posted it and I knew it deserved a place on this playlist. One could say that this is an early example of a YouTube sketch comedy rather than short film, but the improvised dialogue is what gets it on this playlist. You can clearly see these guys having fun with the concept rather than making a whole script with jokes and comedic timing and whatnot. I know nothing about Naruto and yet I really enjoyed this video.
Avatar- Blind Date Bending by Fighting Dreamers Productions
After staying up until 1am checking out FDP videos, I can definitely say that this one is my favourite. The video follows Sokka and Zuko as they decide they can help eachother with their dating problems by setting up eachother on blind dates, giving us some awkward Zutara and Azukka. The focus is an Avatar parody, but the fact that it's filmed in a public space and some cosplayers not from the Avatar universe play parts really add to the comedy.
Mickey Doonalds by Hellocoptur Films
It's iconic. Nothing else to say. The description says it was originally uploaded on March 22nd, 2006, making it the oldest video on the playlist so far.
The Real Stroman by Joel Haver
The Real Stroman is a 10 minute psychological horror about a young man named Sam Stroman. He has a good life, with his best friend Aiden who wants to hang out with him everyday. But everything changes when hanging out with Aiden suddenly comes at a great cost.
Spoilers: The cost of Sam Stroman's daily hangouts with Aiden seems to be that he must watch someone take his place, who's also Sam Stroman, after waking up in a timeline where he doesn't exist. The events that unfold imply that he's stuck in a timeloop, but we don't see it unfold enough for it that to be confirmed. The audience sees the truth at the same time as Sam, that he's connected to the man he sees take his place in the other timeline, that there's a cycle of fighting over who is the real Sam Stroman. There are elements to this hidden from the audience, a mystery that our protagonist simply can't bear solving.
I will be updating the playlist and the blog post as I find more short films and get suggestions for it.
Comments
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Wednesday
Interesting playlist.Thank you for sharing!