YouTube is a breeding ground for crap crap crap. There are so many boring, uninsightful, exhausting directors in the world and YouTube is the unlimited Public Access television that these same people put their crap crap crap on. Sometimes it can easily be passed off as kitsch, a two minute spit in the wind that we can all watch and giggle at the director's ineptitude and then turn off with a wince. Sometimes we can't even watch for more than ten seconds because the boreitude is off the charts. Sometimes, though, we come across a little homegrown gem.

YouTube is a library of the ephemeral, the passing moments that no one would attempt to document, the medium for those who never really had a voice before it existed. Namely young directors with a trunk full of spare talent but without the clout or the money tree in the backyard that some people seem to be born with. Cherrera7 is one of those few directors on YouTube who, with a little spit and a polishing rag, could emerge as a real player in film.

Cherrera7 is a masterful Director of Photography with countless static shots that neither bore nor destroy the mood of the film with much movement. Notice the scene where the main character runs back and forth off and on screen to grab a bag he is arguing with himself about. No overbearing monologue. A static shot. Its simple and clean and sweet. The final shot is a beut too.

The actors are obviously amateur, except maybe the main guy, and he reigns in their speaking roles with clever cuts and edits. Best of all, and a usual downfall amongst amateur directors, is that this story is not told by the plot, nor the dialogue, but by the medium itself. With fast cuts, hazy memories fading in and out, and simple acting Cherrera7 has created a cool little cucumber.

The biggest tool that a director has while filming is control. Control of shots, cuts, actors, lines, etc. If he or she doesn't like something the distinction between a good and bad director is how many times he or she is willing to go through it to Get. It. Right. Peter Jackson allegedly took 40 shots of one five second scene for Lord of the Rings, and I'm sure thats not even the largest number out there. Point is this: a director knows what he or she wants and will stop at nothing to get it. Cherrera7 appears to be kicking away the bramble and thicket on his path to directordom. This film is by no means perfect, but the he has some raw lump talent and seems to be moderately patient enough to pull off what he's going for with this nearly dialogueless, Tarantinoesque film.

Lets hope YouTube helps him get there. Be ready to be in it for the long haul though. This is a 15 minute long endeavor.

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Labels: cap'n guthrie, cherrera7, film, Short film