Blacktop: A Story of the Washing of a School Play Yard (1952)

When you hear of an experimental film, you tend to think of subject matter.  Charles and Ray Eames directed a few short films that could be considered experimental.  In their case, however, it was usually to test equipment or a new type of medium.  I’m ot sure if Blacktop falls under this category, but I wouldn’t be surprised.  If you’ve seen more than three of their short films, you may know that they’ve done some very simple shorts.  This one is probably the simplest that I’ve seen so far.

It’s nothing more than soapy water flowing over what appears to be a playground, hence the name.  There are very few distinguishing features.  Most of the surface is, as the name implies, black.  Occasionally, there’s a patch of grass or some markings in the form of paint.  (You can make out a few lines and an occasional number.)

We don’t even get to see where the water is coming from.  I’d assume a pressure cleaner, but I’m not sure what the standard method was back in 1952.  I’m not even sure if pressure cleaning is the correct method today.  It’s jut that it seems somewhat wasteful to simply pour water over such a presumably large surface.

There is an esoteric quality to the short.  I’m not really sure who this was intended for.  I really only watched it because I was able to get the DVD from Netflix.  I don’t recall there being any sort of commentary on the DVD that I got, although it would be interesting to find out more about these films.

It’s not the kind of thing most people would even think to rent.  I could see this playing in an art museum.  I could even see someone mimicking it to learn technique.  It’s not the kind of film I’d recommend to a wider audience.  At 11 minutes, it may seem a little long.  I kept waiting for something to happen.  I can’t say I was necessarily disappointed, but I never got my wish.  It was all water flowing over a surface.

If you can find it as part of a collection or come across it online, it’s worth a few minutes, at least.  I don’t know that you should expect to watch the whole thing.


IMDb page

House: After Five Years of Living (1955)

Sometimes, when you find something new, you try to find more of the same.  If you come across a song you like, you might look for other tracks by the same artist or maybe buy the album.  There is a certain expectation that the other tracks will sound similar.  When I first saw Powers of Ten, I didn’t realize that Charles and Ray Eames had made so many short films.  Netflix and YouTube have allowed me to find many other short films by the husband-and-wife team.  Not all of them where what I expected

I had imagined that this was more of a documentary.  I had read that the Eameses had  designed, built and lived in a house.  This movie shows what that house looks like after about five years.  You get the usual assortment of items, like tables and chairs.  There’s even a spiral staircase.   Instead of interviews, it’s a series of still images, each shown for a moment before moving on to the next one.  The entire sequence runs for 11 minutes and is set to music by Elmer Bernstein.

The house itself is currently open to visitors.  Students can get in free.  Everyone else is charged a $10 admission.  Apparently, you have to make a reservation.  (Details can be found on the Web site.)  It might be interesting to visit if I’m ever I the area.  However, the Web site states that you can’t park on site due to the location.  Also, due to the age of the house, restrooms aren’t available for public use.

If you want to watch this production, it is available on DVD as part of a collection.  The Eames Web site doesn’t seem to have this video available, nor does it appear to be available on their YouTube channel.  However, there does appear to be a house walkthrough.   (The walkthrough seems to be more what I had in mind for this short.)  I did see the video on YouTube, but the account isn’t the official Eames account.  I’m not sure what their association is.

I don’t know that I would buy any of the sets.  The replay value is going to be limited for me.  My interest is in seeing what else Charles and Ray Eames made.  I’m probably going to watch many of the films just once.  I could see this being of interest to architects or art students.  Even then, I don’t know how often it would be viewed.

The DVD I was able to rent from Netflix was The Films of Charles & Ray Eames, which goes on Amazon for $250.  Unfortunately, I could get just Vol. 2 before Netflix removed it from their selection.  I might have to check local libraries to find other copies.

IMDb page

Kaleidoscope Jazz Chair (1960)

A little bit of nostalgia can go a long way.  When looking up the short film Powers of Ten, I came to realize that the directors of the film had also made several other movies.  Charles and Ray Eames are known for chairs.  But they also made a lot of movies, including Kaleidoscope Jazz Chair.  They not only wrote and directed it, but they also make an appearance.

The short film is pretty much what the name implies.  There’s no dialogue, but there are plenty of chairs and a lot of imagery reminiscent of kaleidoscopes.  There’s also some nice music accompanying it.  It only runs for seven minutes, which makes it pretty efficient.

I had gotten this on DVD from Netflix.  I was able to skip the first DVD, as both of those motion pictures were available through their YouTube channel.  It took me a while to watch many of the shorts on the second disc, as I was having trouble finding a DVD player that would play the disc.  When I went to see about renting another disc, I was dismayed to see that they’re no longer available.

It’s a shame.  All of the shorts, including this one, are kind of fun to watch at least once.  I don’t expect to get a lot of replay out of this one, so buying it probably wouldn’t be best.  From what I can tell, most of the versions available on YouTube are excerpts.  To watch the full video, you may have to either buy the DVD or see if your local library has it.

I think for most people, this isn’t going to be one of the videos that would compel you to buy the whole set or even the one disc.  It’s the kind of thing you’d watch after having some other reason to buy it.  I could see an art teacher playing this in class one day.  I would definitely recommend watching this short film if you can get access to it.  It’s a shame you can’t rent it from Netflix, though.

IMDb page

Gôruden taimu/Golden Time (2014)

I don’t imagine it’s easy being abandoned.  A television set is dropped of rather unceremoniously in a junkyard and basically left to fend for itself.  Soon after its arrival, it meets several other abandoned items.  There’s a fan, a windup toy, a chair and a bucket.  Each has presumably been discarded just like the new arrival.

The television has its only useful part, the CRT, removed by a recycling company.  (The TV set appears to be from the 1960s, but what I’ve read indicates that the story takes place in the 1980s.)  The TV set is   lonely and does try to escape, but does eventually find a new purpose.

The animation is only 21 minutes.  While some of that time is taken up with trying to dig under a fence, the five characters do have some interaction.  Most of that interaction is between the TV set and the windup toy, which is ostensibly a cat.

There’s no dialogue  It’s a fairly simple animation showing the five characters in a junkyard..  There’s nothing that parents would find objectionable.  (Netflix has the rating listed as TV-Y.)  It is a little sad at first, as we’re aware that the TV wants to get out, but everything seems to end well for the TV set.

I’ve been hoping to find more short films like this.  I don’t always want the commitment of a feature-length film.  Sometimes, I want something to watch before going to work or just before going to bed.  It can be difficult to squeeze a two-hour movie in sometimes.

It’s a shame that this is the director’s only credit.  I’d like to see more animation from Takuya Inaba.  I’m hoping that more might be forthcoming.  The movie was released only a few years ago.  It looks like there’s a corresponding book.  Amazon has the book release date as April 11, 2014 whereas Netflix has the movie release date as June 15, 2014.  Since animation takes so long to make, it’s possible that they were intended to be released together.  Information on either is nearly impossible to find.  If you come across anything, please leave a comment.

IMDb page