The Girl On The Wall Wants What They All Want… A Non-Smoker
Yet another surprising short film from abroad… will the hits ever cease? No, and not surprising either, the hits just keep on coming and over here at Openfilm we know the world is filled with talent waiting to be discovered and this short is no exception.
Writer, Director, and Producer of The Girl on The Wall, Gabriel Psaltakis, has gifted us a short heart-felt comedy shot in HD, all the way from Greece, that delivers on multiple levels; 1: The Story; 2: The Characters; 3: The Art Form… Gabriel's take on romance uses the graffiti art form as the catalyst to tell one of our planet's most indelible obstacle filled stories… the dilemma of discovering exactly what it is the female species wants the male to do, and aside from feeling like it has an anti-smoking ad slyly hiding beneath the surface, it is an entertaining five minutes that touches us right there in that little place we like to call: The Soft Spot.
Actor, Malamas Sotiriou delivers his best bored demeanor for the opening scene leaving us as uninterested with life as he looks, until he finally leaves the house. Gabriel's post-pro uses interesting and slick editing swipes to move the story along at a faster pace, which along with his animation skills, gives and takes the time to get our main character through his way in life, which apparently is as humdrum as it can get. While immersed in the first two minutes, I noticed that the comedy it contains sits idle, yet slightly humorous, till the revelation of our second main character… a graffiti character that has come alive (in 2D) to chat it up with our buddy on his way home from work.
Character creators, Stavroula and Christina Anthiropoulou add their flair to the quick-as-ink costume changes for our graf-character, making the story seems like a slowed down montage of a dressing room shopping scene. It took me back to the 90's Roger Rabbit era where technology was just about to break into the possibility of a full-out animation/human interaction. This short also reminds me of an animated graffiti video I saw online once called "Muto" by an amazing visual artist named BLU, who is someone I'd love to have start up a channel with Openfilm to give his work the proper presentation it deserves.
The music by Kostantis Papakonstantinou also aids the story to move happily along with a dreamy collection of everything from bluesy cuts accompanied by a xylophone, to his choppy, almost ska-music-like riffs. The sound quality is excellent, (the subtitles persuade us to believe that all curse words in Greek are the same one) and all the music supports the swift scenes without overriding any subtleties in the story or the characters. All in all, this one will go down in my list of 5< minute favorites. Check it out and friend Gabriel… Greece is in need of support. Enjoy it boys and maybe we'll all learn something about what women want.
