Inside or Outside of the Glass?

It's crazy watching the short film Bubble Wrapped from Keychain Productions/Andrew Lee Potts again. Was it really made ten years ago? It could have been made today.

The film shows a woman who has literally bubble wrapped herself into her house to quarantine herself from a virus; her significant other shows up at the door but she's afraid to let him in because of the risk of catching it from him. Sound familiar?

There's a great twist to it that I don't want to spoil completely (so just go ahead and watch the video now, eh?), but what is also reminiscent of current times is the constant questioning. On one side you hear this; on the other side you hear that. One person is inside the glass and one person is outside the glass, but who is actually safer?

There are obvious correlations to the current situation in the world. But can we take that a step further? What keeps you safe and what puts you in danger? Do you really always know? What keeps those you love safe and what harms them? Do our intentions really always play out the way we mean them to? As in situations like the following. You go on a quiet hike instead of risking a concert after hearing about shootings at big events--but you end up in the small percentage of people who are attacked by a mountain lion. You read a book before bed instead of watching a scary movie and have nightmares about something that happened in the book. You take your family out to dinner and you all get food poisoning. Etc. Add to the list.

We never know the results of our choices. Even the most certain things are uncertain. If I make a right turn, I will end up in that parking lot. No, that car is going to hit you and you'll never make it into the parking lot. I sound so pessimistic but it isn't all bad; these can go in the opposite direction, as well. Something that you think can only be bad can turn out to be good. The point is, we never really see the complete picture. There is an entire orchestration of events going on that we only have a small glimpse of as we make our daily choices.

Because we never do know how things might turn out, how events might flip around, it is best to simply try and make the best decisions we can and live as wholeheartedly as we may. Because you never know, when you try and be the one inside the glass, you might actually turn out to be the one on the outside.

Keychain Productions & Wireless

So I was on vacation. I'm back now; hello, world. And one of the things I came back to was the long-awaited, newest video from Keychain Productions. This is the first episode of the web series Wireless, in which previous Primeval actors Andrew Lee Potts and Lucy Brown are reunited. I do love reminders of Primeval. Written by Alex Moss and directed by Andrew Lee Potts, Wireless has that signature style we've become familiar with from Keychain, along with something more. 

I can't approach a Keychain film without addressing color. From the calm yellow at the start, the green in the opening scene, and the blue in the car to the pops of red, it is all very intriguing. Given that, plot-wise, this pilot episode seems to just be setting the scene, I'm looking to the colors for foreshadowing. In the night vision scenes, the red looks ominous and dangerous--but by the time we enter the car, it looks more glowing, like beating hearts. The red glows on the car seat headrests, as if standing in for the computer voice and the two people who have access to the car's camera feed. It's like we aren't just watching one person in the car: we're watching all four. 

Appreciation must also go to the cinematography here. Most of the ten minute episode takes place in the car, and in the front of the car, at that. Yet the camera moves around enough and with enough thought that I didn't get bored and always felt like there was something new to consider. This, in turn, brings us to the dialogue. All that hilarious, wonderful dialogue. I had thought that what I enjoyed most about Keychain films was their exploration of emotion through a thoughtful lens of color, but so far Wireless takes that thoughtful exploration and combines it with all the comedy of a Keychain vlog. I'm curious about the plot, but I also simply enjoyed sitting with the fun of the scene. 

We'll all be excitedly awaiting new episodes. Thank you, Keychain team, for the new videos. And for everyone reading, this is a fan-funded series, so please donate if you can: keychainproductions.co.uk.

(Side note: I keep a couple of my Little Links buttons clipped onto my suitcases. I find it fitting that I was carting them around California the very week that Keychain Productions released a new video.)

Watching the Green Monitor

You will recall my comments back in February when the Keychain Productions short film, Monitor, came out for rental online; you can read those here. Here we are now in October, with the timely appearance of the film on YouTube. It's just in time for Halloween, aye?

Because, yes, this film is on the horror side of genre--but not in a gruesome or bloody sort of way. Technically you might call it terror since we only get hints, toward the end, of what "it" is that is frightening; horror means that you are face to face with your fear. Technically. 

I've already put down my initial thoughts on this video. Let me add, however, that it was strangely delightful to be able to watch the film again after so many months. The color palette is just beautiful and the mood is so exact. Because I don't usually go for horror movies, I like having this shorter one to put in my Halloween collection. Just two more weeks left for the season. 

Atwood Alley

Often it's the stories that include imagination that I enjoy most--however imagination manifests itself. And given my multitudinous piles of neatly stacked books and ever widening Netflix queue, stories have incredible value in my life.

It took a few extra days for me to learn about the newest video from Keychain Productions because, being an entry in the Virgin Media Shorts contest, it debuted on the contest website instead of on Keychain's YouTube page. While I would have preferred a video with less voiceover/exposition, I do like the subject material. The character is a nine year old girl who values imagination even when others do not understand it--and that is important.

Once again, there is pretty use of color contrasts. Does anyone else think the shot of the umbrella against the snow is reminiscent of Narnia and Mr. Tumnus's umbrella?

To watch the short film, Atwood Alley, click here.

Little Links Go Public

Yesterday a new vlog from Keychain Productions announced what we're all been waiting for . . . merch. The true way for all of us to show our pride as fans.

Shirts, caps, pins, etc. Most of them have the Little Links phrase on them, although there are also some with Keychain Productions and Little Larry/Little Lilly. I wouldn't mind the shirt for the latter, but I chose the basic Little Links one instead. I would get them both, but you know, I don't have that much spending money, especially after putting the numbers through the currency conversion (pounds to dollars) (and adding in international shipping).

Connected to this release is a competition asking everyone to submit pictures of themselves with their merch for a chance to win something (maybe a signed DVD? or a prop? a phone call even?). So if you like Keychain's short films, head on over to keychainproductions.co.uk and click the "Links Shop" link.

And in the meantime, Little Links, take two and a half minutes and watch Little Larry again:

To View the Monitor

Hey, it's happy Valentine's month February and the release of the next Keychain Productions short film all in one. Not that it's a very Valentine's film . . .

The long-awaited Monitor appears not on YouTube as usual, but on Distrify--where I was surprised to find that, for once, I had to pay to see a Keychain film. About $10 to rent a 13 minute video, too. I found myself glad that when I was at the mall this morning to buy (Aveda) shampoo, I didn't also buy a pair of leggings I saw (naturally, I had to go into a couple of stores to at least browse, if not buy anything)--so I went ahead and paid the rental fee. Not that I mind giving to Keychain, anyway. (Although I wouldn't mind if it were on iTunes instead so I could just buy it and download it.) You can see the trailer below; to watch the film, either go to keychainproductions.co.uk or watch the trailer on YouTube and click on the link in the description box.

Monitor goes back to Keychain's Blood on Benefits feel, but with color imagery not so unlike Little Lilly. Horror isn't so much my genre, but one of the things I really enjoyed in this film (and Keychain in general) was the use of color. Colors aren't coincidental and they help to tell the story. The second time I watched, I also kept reading extra things into the story--I'm not even sure whether or not I was going overboard. The childishness or disobeying rules leads to literal reintegration into a nursery, the eating of an apple echoes Eve's inability to resist and therefore the concept of curiosity, etc. The thing I'm pausing on is the color green. Doesn't it generally stand for nature, fertility, life, and such? That might tie in with the nursery idea, but I'm not sure.

I'm also intrigued by this idea of a monitor. While horror often uses the concept of being watched, this film shows watching instead. Is it the danger of what you can see or perhaps of what you see that you aren't cautious enough about? Because like many horror victims, our heroine appears in some ways innocent but also to have been capable to preventing her fate.

Keychain Productions: New Vlogs & Website

I do love supporting (often random) artists, from Blondfire to The Hillywood Show to Keychain Productions.

Keychain Productions is the little team of filmmakers (including Andrew Lee Potts) who made such videos as the Little Lilly series and Bubble Wrapped. More recently was Little Larry, which was a sort of accompaniment to Little Lilly.

Today, Keychain released two new videos: a vlog and a behind the scenes for Little Larry.

As you can see from the vlog, Keychain has a new website, keychainproductions.co.uk, where you can read about the team, watch their videos, donate, and all that sort of thing.

As per my love of supporting artists, I just wanted to give this update on Keychains today. It looks like there are plenty of new things in the works, and of course I'm always happy to get vlogs and behind the scenes. I get too excited when a new video by them shows up in my YouTube subscription box. So check out their website, check out their films, and let's sit and wait for more, shall we?

Little Larry - Virgin Media Shorts

Little Larry - Virgin Media Shorts

A couple months ago, I mentioned my discovery of Keychain Productions; their latest short film, which you can view at the link above, is in a contest by Virgin Media. As you can guess by the title, it is along the same lines as the Little Lilly videos, so I recommend watching those on YouTube first (start with Little Lilly--Colour Blind, then move on to Chapters Two and Three).

At first, this new short is very much similar material to that first Little Lilly video, but its approach is slightly different. (Since I'm not interesting in summarizing, go watch it now if you haven't yet so that you'll understand what I'm talking about--it's only two minutes in length.) Larry, as the adult stuck as a child, reminds me inevitably of J.M. Barrie (who wrote Peter Pan), although I'm glad to see he was able to find out how to grow up in the end. Speaking of the ending . . . I love it. With the ending, we see the return of Little Lilly (after how many years?) and the color return to Larry's life as the two learn how to grow up, morphing from the child actors to Hannah and Andrew.

It's ultimately a very enlightening short, acknowledging that sometimes life isn't easy but also that it's easier to be hopeful when you're around the right people.

Keychain Productions

Circling for Primeval interviews on YouTube and fact bits on Wikipedia, I discovered the existence of Keychain Productions, whose director is Andrew-Lee Potts/Primeval's Connor Temple.

Most fortunately, they have a YouTube channel, where you can view their short films. They're very artsy types of videos, which is what I like about watching things like this every so often. It's a different perspective (from Hollywood) to what camera angles, color, and editing mean. They're smaller expressions of more . . .

My favorite is definitely the Little Lilly series, starring Hannah Spearritt. The first video especially is wonderfully poignant and beautiful. I do wish the series hadn't stopped at three videos; that last one brought things into a new scope that I'd love to explore. The next piece I most enjoyed was Bubble Wrapped. Again, it has innovative use of angles and color and emotion. The only problem is that half of the dialogue was difficult to hear, but it was otherwise nicely put together. Some of these films (or should I say most of them?) have a definite dark side to them, yet it isn't just dark--it's in contrast to light. That theme comes back around to the physical lighting and color. Which, I repeat, is very nice to watch when many films (not all) don't focus on this type of symbolic outlook anymore.

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