Awesome Short Films

Based on a quote by clergyman Norman Vincent Peale, The Fly is an animated film about the power of thought, the value of patience and the need for flypaper. Thanks, Tenshi!

Curiosity killed the cat, or in this case, the robot: Luke Randall’s Reach is about a cute, waddling robot (WALL-E, anyone?) and its ill-advised battles with its tragically short power cord.

Forgotten Places breathes life into decaying buildings with slow tracking shots that are hauntingly beautiful; if you like grunge, this video is oozing with rust, grime, and even bullet holes.

Evelien Lohbeck’s Notebook is a series of reality-questioning animated shorts that are themselves encapsulated in a stop-motion short; anyone else feeling a bit M.C. Escher-ish?

The perils of time travel are well-known( if not understood), but we love Unpossible for its humorous take on the paradoxes (and bloody noses) you’ll no doubt create by meeting yourself.

Designed to be played in an endless loop, Adam Berg of Stink Digital’s Carousel is a short film that shows a single moment in time in the middle of a cops and robbers shootout. Thanks, Ben!

Adolescent gaming behavior meets very grown-up realities with The Clan, a goofy short film directed by Scott Patch about a group of slightly aged Xbox Live gamers; please, more!

Fascinating and just a little bit creepy, HBO/Movie is an artistic short that gives us a voyeuristic glimpse into the intertwined lives of initially disconnected apartment dwellers.

Debuting 4/30 in L.A., Turbo is a 20 minute short for a USC graduate thesis about a futuristic video game tournament; it was shot on a RED camera and produced by a four man team.

Two years in the making, Meet Meline is an independent short film by Virginie and Sebastien; the trailer above is short, but we’re impressed by how atmospheric it feels.

Bendito Machine is an ongoing series of awesome flash shorts by Spanish illustrator Jossie Malis; it centers around the lives of tribesfolk and their encounters with technology.

It’s not often a story manages to be mundane and heavy at the same time, let alone do it all in 12 minutes; Forever’s Not So Long answers an age-old question with surprising grace.

The next time a dog barks, it’ll be hard not to remember this Guard Dog short film by Bill Plympton; he takes us into the devoted yet slightly neurotic mind of a particularly vocal hound.

Beautifully rendered in black and white, Aakraman is about the horrors of war; it’s created by Abhishek Joshi, whose own home country of Nepal is presently wracked by civil war.

A steampunkish, tragic take on the search for the Fountain of Youth, Tyson Ibele’s Hemlock is an animated short film filled with spastic, unnerving energy and excellent sound effects.

Painstakingly created by Visual Effects student Patrick De Leon, this five minute Buck Rogers short film is a campy mix of real actors and rayguns, robots and futuristic cityscapes.

We doubt the Mac vs. PC debate will ever be put to rest, but this Transformers themed short by Nick Greenlee easily puts those endless Get a Mac / I’m A PC commercials to shame.

The University of Hertfordshire must be cloning brilliant digital artists, because Veni Vidi Vici not only has the looks but the humor meets heartwarming plot of a Pixar short.

Made with a ton of books and paper cutouts, This Is Where We Live is a stop-motion short film shot over three weeks this past Fall using a home-made dolly and still camera.

Created by Douglas Lassance and Jonathan Vuillemin, Galactic Mail is a beautifully animated short that pits Fedex vs. UPS; it explains why our shipments always get dinged up.

Shane Acker’s critically acclaimed short film, 9, has signed up Elijah Wood for the lead animated role; it’s also being produced by Tim Burton. If you missed the original short, check it out above.