Today, we’re looking at two short films from Slamdance about creatives and their minds. One focuses on a filmmaker preparing for the eventual progression of his diagnosis, and the other is about a drummer struggling through a creative block.
Noggin (Case Jernigan)
Being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis is life-changing. The symptoms that can arise from it, especially as the years go on, can be frightening. Your vision can double, you can have trouble walking, and your memory can even be affected. Those things you hold dear, your friends, your family, your memories together, can one day vanish. In Noggin, we follow a man coping with his diagnosis, preparing his mind palace and reminding himself of those memories he treasures most. The film is told through his first-person perspective, using animation, stop-motion, paint on glass, and filmmaker Case Jernigan’s own live-action footage.
In just seven all-too-brief minutes, Jernigan’s film hits you like a brick. Using eyelashes around the edge of the frame and blinks as transitions, you really feel like you’re in the character’s mind and it makes the emotions hit that much harder. Noggin is beautiful, yet sad, but powerful as you’re hoping that these memories will be able to stay with him and the foundation can be built. I’m assuming that much of this, if not all, is auto-biographical, which further gives the piece its urgency and emotional power.
If you’re ever given the opportunity to check out Noggin, do so. It’s a moving piece of art, not just a film, that you won’t soon forget. I look forward to seeing more of Jernigan’s work.
Bloqué (Miguel Ortiz)
A drummer (Malick Koly) sits behind his kit, becoming more and more frustrated as he drills the same fill over. And over. And over. He can’t seem to nail it, while his mind is filled with opposing images: from a couple in love to them having a shouting match in front of a child. As he processes these emotions and memories, he attempts to power through and channel that energy into his instrument. Can he break through this creative block? Or will it prove too much to overcome?
Bloqué has a great look to it, and its absence of dialogue allows the drumming to take center stage. In doing so, we can really hear the emotion within the beats, the struggle to find the groove, and we feel the impact of the performances even more. However, as we get glimpses into the drummer’s world, they’re just that: glimpses. With every flashback I’d just wish the scenes were allowed to breathe a little bit more and we could find out why the good memories were coming through as well as the bad. That’s just the trouble with short films sometimes, you find yourself wishing for more and more runtime so you can be in the world just a little bit longer.
Writer-director Miguel Ortiz has delivered a film commendable for its style, with a solid cast including drumming also provided by Koly. My only wish is for a little bit more time inside his brain so we could feel a bit more of his struggle along with him.
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