9 May 2012

Bad Things That Could Happen ★★★☆☆



Review of 'Bad Things That Could Happen' which can be found here on YouTube.

Length: 05:09
Written & directed by This Is It
Genre: Comedy
Date: 2010
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Logline: Large cardboard props are used to show us some bad things that could happen.

If you like creative ideas then you'll like this. If you like plot, characters and conflict, you might not. This is mostly spectacle but contains enough entertainment to keep you watching. It's definitely a performance piece, bordering on puppetry, with giant sets of teeth, mouse traps, and buzzing flies getting manoeuvred around on a large scale.

The props are brilliantly crafted, seamless, and simplistic in design. A mostly muted pastel palette has been used against the backdrop of a white studio giving a very stylised look. Performers blend into the background by either dressing all in white or being camouflaged as part of a prop. The camera is always static, allowing us to focus completely on the action taking place on the screen as an array of ingenious techniques are used to animate inanimate objects. A clever way of changing perspective was the magnifying glass trick used instead of a cut away.

The story is a rather weird one. The concept involves depicting bad things that could happen. The scenes are kind of oddball and sometimes nonsensical. A mouse getting it's head cut in half might be a bad thing for the mouse but probably not for the person who put the trap down. Similarly, yes an ashtray and packet of cigarettes going on fire is likely a bad thing, but then again, it looks like they are purposely set alight by some unknown hand. Plus the hard boiled egg that suddenly flies about the place seems highly unlikely too. So it's all a bit subjective or prone to interpretation. In any case, I doubt it is to be taken at all seriously and all in all, is just a bit of fun.

Best Bit: Fab cardboard creations.

Worst Bit: The drawn out (no pun intended) "writing" of the titles.

Final thought: Good soundtrack also which I forgot to talk about.

Read a condensed review of this film on Twitter here.

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