12/26/2011

vimeo.com account review: sebastian sommer


you perceive 'an epiphany'

you realize that there is a high probability that more filmmakers are in the 'muumuuhouse school of experimental filmmaking' [for lack of a better term] besides ellen frances, adam humphreyspirooz kalayeh, kacper jarecki, david fishkind and MDMAfilms

you feel compelled to look for 'similar artists' on the internet

'at some point' you find the vimeo account of sebastian 'sebsom' sommer, a student at NYU

on sebsom's vimeo account is a video asserting that it is a 'reimagining' of two of tao lin's short stories, found in his bear parade-published collection 'today the sky is blue and white with bright blue spots and a small pale moon and i will destroy our relationship today'




while watching the video titled 'happily drowning', you feel high levels of confusion re choices in characterization, location, and costuming

you think maybe sebsom had difficulty with use of 'narrative tact' and with his attempts at establishing a discernable 'mood', but you also perceive that sebsom, being a student, probably had limited resources, and made the video with fellow students, friends and perhaps SAG actors who [probably] can't communicate his artistic sensibility with palpable, disbelief-suspending clarity

or perhaps sebsom, you think, has yet to 'manipulate' the scenario in a manner that is 'definitively sebsom-like' and not simply unlike other student filmmakers

you watch the other videos on sebsom's vimeo account multiple times and feel similar types/levels of confusion







you think about 'revisiting' sebsom's work in the future, when his 'voice' is more developed/coherent/horrific

sebsom sends you a friend request on facebook

you accept

sebsom sends you a message via facebook:
'hey dude! lookin forward to dead midgets! i wanted to know if you could possibly check out my latest short film EIGHTEEN SLASH STAINLESS and possibly review it? but first, a little about me. I'm from Manhattan and I've been making films my whole life. I made an experimental film Mama Said Sardine Baby that played at the TriBeCa Film Festival. I've also worked with Tao Lin on adapting one of his short stories into a film. 
Here is the link to the short: http://vimeo.com/33370714 
Here is the link to my site: http://sebsom.com/ 
Please let me know! 
Seb'
in a mutually beneficial 'promotional agreement' you review '18/S'




you watch the video several times and feel consistent levels of an 'indiscernible confusion', like... you feel unable to discern the filmmaker's 'intent', which seems... like... 'jarring', in that you perceive that your ability to enjoy a video is solely dependent on your ability to discern the filmmaker's use of 'narrative tact' and/or 'spectacle', but due to the paradox caused by the video's high production quality, non-existant narrative structure and seemingly 'thrown-together' spectacle, you think '18/S' is like... naive... in its... projection of... like... life's horror... maybe

you decide to use a cliche to describe sebastian sommer's current oeuvre: 'shows promise'... in like a similar way to how the first short film you made in film school 'showed promise'