Wow!

I recall the line about CalArts was “If you’re good enough to get into CalArts, you don’t need to go to CalArts.”

Maybe true in his case.

WOW, what a great little piece of work! It takes something different to hold my interest any more, and I was hooked. This guy is going to get nothing but job offers!

I’d say it was a take on Jack & The Beanstalk more than Hansel & Gretel though.

WOW!! That was simply amazing! Congratulations to David!

Fantasic work David, looking forward to meeting you. :)

Congratulations!

I take that back…

Actually, it’s more H&G with a little Jack & The Beanstalk thrown in.

The fact that this was made by a beginner is amazing in and itself.

I see a bright future for this guy.

Fantastic! I was inches away from my monitor, hunched over and motionless for the length of it. The pacing is perfect and every movement is gratifying to watch. Ochs, your work here is done. Go forth and prosper!

Great stuff.

But:

“I recall the line about CalArts was “If you’re good enough to get into CalArts, you don’t need to go to CalArts.””

Not so true for the last 20 years. They let too many students in–for the money (like all schools, of course). Imagine what these students would do if they had better teachers that weren’t stretched so thin. And were paid better.

Poor guy…

I mean, if he made such an awesome short in his freshman year, they’ll be expecting him to do a complete master piece for his thesis project. Imagine the pressure!

Congrats, David :)

Everyone ignore the school rant tangents, this is David’s moment. Let him have it.

Congrats David. That was awesome.

Oh my….The Brothers Grimm would be proud, It was amazing.

Brilliant!

Yes! Caught this last week and was thoroughly impressed, and the reaction video is so much fun to watch too. What a great feeling it must be to sit in the back and have the audience respond to your work that way!

Haven’t seen such a self-assured first film since Vincente Minelli directed “Meet Me in St. Louis” and that one was done with a massive major studio support system. This guy will continue to surprise those who underestimate him.

We’re going to be seeing more from him in the next ten, twenty years. Guarantee it.

fantastic stuff David, glad to see you got into the producers show via Peers pick.

That was brilliant and totally amazing. Really, really fantastic and David Ochs is my New Personal Jesus! Wow, I want more.

What woulda pushed it over for me to become “brilliant” would have been to wrap up the foreshadowing of the little boy liking the taste of the blended human-milkshake (unless Im mistaken, that wasnt ice cream was it?). Perhaps as he’s running away with his sister, he looks over his shoulder almost as if in longing, the predatory circle continues…then roll credits

Otherwise, amazing short

Got a little weirded out at the end when the film stopped and I could still hear the ice cream truck… The one that comes down my street even plays the same tune.

WOW!!!!! DAVID IM A FAN …..great animation, story ,i was on edge …looking forward too you entertaining us in the future ….GREAT WORK!!!

Awesome, though it would have liked it more if the fat kid returned to the kitchen and ate the processed remains of that guy.

“Meet Me In St. Louis” was NOT Vincente Minelli’s first film. It wasn’t even his second. It was his fourth feature, after numerous shorts and stage plays.

But it is his best.

One thing (of many) I quite like is the way we are fooled in the first few frame into thinking that this might only be some cutout-animation piece that’s just about “the look”.

But no, real animation and real story follows.

Golly, this just made my day. What a great
film, wow. Creepy and engaging, my favorite combo.

hm, weird.

my first reaction was how demented the film is and much worse it was to see a crowd of people actually cheering when a frozen child is put into a blender.

i understand its “just art” and obviously the film is “well made” in the sense that it captures your attention. but i personally just cant pretend to enjoy what is a rather well made film when the subject matter is so demented and repulsive. all i could think of after watching it is “where in the world is our society going? ”

i know, you can all start kicking me now. not everyone at once.

If the open show didn’t start at like 8pm and goes until 4am then I would attend, ’cause the party that goes on with the show is awesome. Tons of drinking, tons of popcorn throwing, and the energy is incredible. oh memory.

Ovi- Shakespeare much?

axolotl- Shakespeare much? no, not much.

I was on the edge of my seat when the giant (or whatever the heck he was) grabbed the little girl as he was being sucked into the Cuisenart.

This student understands what good storytelling is all about… and it was all done visually, not a single word of dialogue!

@Ovi

nothing is for everybody, and nobody is for everything, and to get angry at you for not enjoying the subject matter would be a might bit pointless.

Now if you ignored all the technical value of the piece and said the movie was terrible (or even great) simply because of it’s subject matter, then you’d be asking for trouble, but that wouldn’t really matter anyway because personal taste is personal taste.

Awesome film makeing ……awesome animation….

freakin made me sick…..yuck….

ha!

creepy shiznit right there….I have that icecream truck in my neighborhood too.

jriggity

Nicely done David.

As a former animation student, I am just amazed at the standard of David’s film-making skills. With the solid animation, the sound design, and all that film theory that can be applied to make this film was excellent. It makes all my first-year products look like a waste of time.

But it does raise the question about learning to make films in an academic institution. The problem is encouraging people to do the course and receive that piece of paper at the end of their course, rather than to learn by doing. My first year was just the basics (principals, modelling, drawing, etc.) This means, for someone with a passion of animation and films, I couldn’t experiment with the tools available to me to fully learn what I was doing. Instead, I just made work to satisfy their mark scheme, so that I was ‘good enough’ to progress onto their next year of the course.

In a nutshell, if people want to make films, they can go off and learn the ‘basics’ (at school, from books, and so on.) but they should really be making films in the first place with whatever tools they have on offer. I would recommend to David to keep up with the filmmaking, despite the academic program he has chosen to do, as he would feel more satisfied about what he is doing than just taking the course.

nice work david, i thought this was a well made and impressive student film..

and while i appreciate Ovi’s concern about disturbing societal trends, i think that the film, at least, sets the appropriate tone for the source material. i mean, at it’s core, really, the Hansel and Gretel story is very disturbing and demented. many children’s fables and fairy tales of old have grisly aspects and i appreciate that this short film makes the connection between that tradition and more contemporary horror…that said, it’s the audience reaction in video two that is MORE disturbing to me…

i was also a little confused by the ice cream truck muisic at the end, but it was still effectively creepy…

I could’ve sworn the chubby kid was a total goner…

Damn this is good. Brilliant shot selection.

“nothing is for everybody, and nobody is for everything, and to get angry at you for not enjoying the subject matter would be a might bit pointless.”

This is true…Maybe my response came off as kinda snotty. Sorry about that.

yeah by no means am i saying the film isnt well made because it is. suspense, drama, action, cutting/pacing etc. its all there.

my concern is with WHAT is on screen. not HOW its there.

i dont know i suppose now that i have kids myself i always look at film/books/games through that lens.

not that i really entertained graphic and disturbing/bizarre material when i was single-freeminded-art school student, but my censorship radar is working overtime these days. ha

anyhow, hope david dont take my comments the wrong way. i think he has a great filmmaking career ahead of him.
anyway, i dont want to get to get all deep and philosophical but im just disturbed by the subject matter and how it(and other media) effects/desensitizes to what should be a repulsive reaction, to laughing and cheering at the site of a frozen child being put in a blender.
i realize “its just a cartoon” by means of its production, but the message is still very profound.

if you dont think so, try doing some extreme racist cartoons and see how long your career lasts.

>oVi

I’ve been trying to find anything else about David on the internet and see nothing. David: please post some of your other work somewhere, and let us know when you do!

I saw it a few days earlier. I agree, it’s an amazing short film.

I tip my hat off to freshman Dave.

How much time does an animation student at Calarts have to make a film? I can’t really find any answers as to how that all works. Do they start day 1? Any answers would be great.

Great, film David! Very well done …

Extremely sophisticated story-telling, acting choices, film-making, and designing. Congratulations, David Ochs, on a superb little gem macabre. I’m floored. I love the crowd’s reaction–this is extremely good film making. They are acting appropriately to what is on screen. And every audience howl is earned by David’s gift for riveting tension teased with a splash of charm and humor,”HICK!” Genius to add the hiccup bit throughout to up the already cresting vulnerability factor. It adds humanity and tension along with completely convincing us she is so just a little girl not a drawing of a little girl. And underwear and gore always a horror genre crowd pleaser. If I may be allowed a small piece of advice, even though you didn’t ask for it and most likely don’t need it. Careful not to let this debutante success ruin your brain. Stay hungry. Stay a student of film for the rest of your life.

“i realize “its just a cartoon” by means of its production, but the message is still very profound.”

The message is…what? That it’s okay to grind kids up and eat them?
The film portrays a really brave little girl who punishes an evildoer. I’d say it’s more like a kiddie version of Fargo, hehe.
As for society being sick…Sick compared to what? The Aztecs, the Romans, or even American society at certain points in the past?

Nice to see “Haensel and Gretel” interpreted state-side. The core story works, no matter where you put it and what nationality you are. Also very nice to see it boiled down to a few beats. I don’t think the film-maker has to worry about topping his effort here. It looks like he just knows and has fun with what he is doing. If you are good at telling a story film-wise, you have either got it or you don’t. This looks very natural and intuitive, let’s hope he will have some fun using his talent in a paid job.
Nice work. Keep going.

axolotl,

eh,
not sure im in the mood to get into a social/morality debate. maybe a different day. different place. email me. haha

im just saying the film is disturbing and the crowds reaction(laughing/cheering) to a frozen child being blended up is even more so.

thats all im trying to say.

yeah fargo was weird too. but i dont remember the crowd cheering and laughing when the guy was shredding the body parts. maybe cause it wasnt a cartoon. maybe, maybe not.

story wise this was not my favorite film at the open show this year, I love that it was different but not my bag , not to say it isnt awesome.. just not my bag…

A lot of stuff that was amazing at the open show didn’t get into the producers show… and I’m totally surprised at what didn’t get in to be honest… There is a slew of talent over there right now.. I just hope that they will find a better way of exposing all the talent that gets passed over, because the producers show feels very inter school political and biased from an outsiders pint of view

Wow. This kid’s got a hell of a future ahead of him. Stay in school kid. Make more awesome films before you’re snatched up by Disney or Pixar or Dreamworks.

And hey, CALARTS, give this kid a full fucking ride. He deserves it.

Wow, what a fantastic film! I applaud David’s efforts here. Great pacing, animation, tension, etc. Superb job, sir.

As a father with kids, I can see where Ovi’s stance is here, to a certain degree. When you have kids and see kids all day (at the playground, at preschool, etc.), to see an animated one frozen and then ground into a horrific slushie, you can’t watch this in a fully objective manner. I felt a bit of extra horror that a parent might experience because for a split second I thought, “What about that kid’s parents? They’re probably still trying to find him…” However, the story and animation pulled me right back into the film and I was able to enjoy it for what it was: a great first film by a very talented animation student.

Sure, there are connections to Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the hooks), and the current trend of torture horror in today’s films, but I don’t think it glorifies it. And the students watching the film are clearly enjoying themselves watching this crazy thing. Sure, there’s the occasional “eat it!” from some looney guy in the audience, but I do not seriously think that this a “where has our society gone” moment. The disconnection between the viewer and subject matter is still intact: it’s a cartoon. We can separate ourselves from the true grotesqueness of the story and enjoy the story line of the young heroine and her hapless brother. I see a direct connection between this and Billy’s Balloon, Bring Me The Head of Charlie Brown, and countless others. Normally I don’t like over-the-top violence in animated films (I’m not a big fan of Spike & Mike’s Fest, for instance), but here, it doesn’t bother me. It adds to the building tension, and to have the ‘chef’ get his comeuppance at the end is very satisfying.

Also, we have to consider the filmmaker and his audience: college-age kids and their friends. If the intention was to try and get this film out there for all to see, then hey, raise some hell about it. But it’s an animated film: done in college, by a student, for students.

I love this short! Having said that, when I first watched the short, I was silent the entire time. Very creepy stuff going on.

Then to watch the reaction video and people actually LAUGHING at some of this stuff… seemed odd. I didn’t find anything funny about the film. It’s pure creepiness! But that’s why I love it!

Very confused by people laughing at frozen kids being blended.

“Very confused by people laughing at frozen kids being blended.”

I had the same reaction. I felt nausea when watching the chubby brother chewing the… well, you know. And to watch people cheer when I was expecting them to shudder or gasp was kind of weird, and maybe what made Ovi uncomfortable about the short —which is still awesome. But different audiences will react differently when exposed to art.

> What woulda pushed it over for me to become “brilliant” would have been to wrap up the foreshadowing of the little boy liking the taste of the blended human-milkshake (unless Im mistaken, that wasnt ice cream was it?). Perhaps as he’s running away with his sister, he looks over his shoulder almost as if in longing, the predatory circle continues…then roll credits

I hate to admit, I expected something like that too! The ending really need to have that bite or punch to really bring down the curtain so to speak. In some way, if I had done this film, I would’ve made it my “show-off” moment, as I have put you through the suspense and action long enough to throw in the added joke to seal the deal! Those are the endings I adore!

Course you could always throw that kind of joke in during the last few seconds after the credits in case anyone was hanging in there too, that would work much better!

But still, this guy did great for a freshman, and I only wish I have had that sort of chance too.

>Very confused by people laughing at frozen kids being blended.

Probably the usual “Shock & Awe” moment I expect to see this film garner.

You are correct, Franklin. I meant to type “Cabin In the Sky” as Minnelli’s first film, rather than “Meet Me in St. Louis”, so my bad. “Cabin In the Sky” is amazing in the same way “Who’s Hungry” is in that one can’t believe the director hadn’t been making films all his life. There isn’t a false note in either picture. The difference is Minnelli had MGM at its peak backing him and David Ochs had a few friends, his own talent and no money. I’m not bothered by the gore. We’ve had over a decade of extreme butcher/horror films and murderous computer gaming up the wazoo. The industry can’t dump all that out there without it influencing upcoming generations, whether older people like it or not.

he will have his own series on CN soon.

Brilliant filmmaking to be sure. And, yes, this kid will deservedly go far. I wish that I had his sense of timing when I was that young.
But reactions are different from us parents.

Everyone’s sense of humor alters with life experience.

I will never view the neighborhood ice cream truck in the same light again…ever.

This isn’t a knock against all ice cream truck vendors, but some of the people staffing the trucks have creeped me out over the years. And the tinkling tone of “Turkey in the Straw”…how psychotic!

Great piece of film-making.

Congrats!

I heard he’s quite a humble chap as well. Yes. Quite humble indeed.

that has got to be the most inappropriate reactions to a film I’ve ever seen. It’s like rolling on the floor with laughter during the green mile.

Relax folks…this is a modern spin on a fairy tale you all grew up with, besides being an extremely well-made FILM.

“Fairy tales are more than true. Not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be defeated.”
-GK Chesterton

Firstly, David, amazing work! As someone who is still working on his first film (now dragged into the professional world, part-time), I really appreciate the effort and time that you must have put into making this exceptional short. Bravo!

Secondly, regarding the cheering in the second video, I think some people don’t understand how college screenings work. Everyone there is set to encourage their friends’ and colleagues’ work and the money-shot moments. It’s a heightened atmosphere that you don’t see amongst a regular audience.

I’m sure David must have felt proud during the screening as he should have.

>How much time does an animation student at Calarts have to make a film?<

Typically, the length of the Spring semester, minus the last three weeks.

And props to Chris Meeks for helping bring attention to Davids film!

I thought it was brilliant and inspiring, sucked me in from the start.
Great work David

Ovi, Ziggy, Jay Taylor and anyone else who voiced their concerns about the Open Show Audience reaction video. I think Rohit (Above) explains it quite well, and that you guys are forgetting the simple admiration and ‘joyous jealousy’ that comes with a peer animation student screening. There were also audible gasps and “oh no!”s in there alongside all the hollering. I’m not saying that you have to like it yourself, but understant that this is a room full of young film makers and friends watching the numerous works that they’ve each toiled over for the past semester or more. Having shown this to groups of my friends, mainly non animators and most of them around their early twenties as well, there is a clear contrast in their reactions to the film and that of the Open Show audience. So please don’t take the audience reaction video as a testament to a “Where in the world is our society is going?” debate. I can assure you that there is nothing wrong with the minds and ethics of those Cal Arts Students or the rest of generation Y.

PS: David Ochs, thank you for working as hard on this film as you did. I hope it will start a fires under the backsides of students and Indie animators who see it. Congrats!

“If the open show didn’t start at like 8pm and goes until 4am then I would attend, ’cause the party that goes on with the show is awesome”

Ed - for the last couple of years, the Open Show has started at 2 PM Saturday afternoon (in the Main Gallery), then runs until about 6 PM for the first half. The second half starts at 10 PM, and finishes up just about 1 AM. The split is due to a conflicting event in an adjacent space, but the show still ends at a much more reasonable time than before, and it’s worth the inconvenience to hold it in the Main Gallery. We had over 300 people there watching films this year.

I made a few attempts to contact Cartoon Brew about The Open Show in the weeks leading up to it, but apparently never got through.

brilliant! must have been great to be there to watch it too. great rage face on the murderer! FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

“It’s a heightened atmosphere that you don’t see amongst a regular audience.”

Quoted for agreement. I dont think the audience reaction should be viewed as a societal representation per say, it’s more of a “proud of your peers/classmate” moment for accomplishing something that creates SUCH a visceral response. That alone is a huge accomplishment

“I heard he’s quite a humble chap as well. Yes. Quite humble indeed.”

lol!

Amazing and disturbing and different. Incredible acting with the little girl. I’m envious of young David’s skills. Well done!

Disturbingly dark indeed.
{didn’t expect this 1st thing in the morn, lol}

With no time wasted, David Ochs hooks the viewer in from the start.
It’s exciting to see this level of film making at college level!

As far as audience reaction goes, it should also be noted that most of those kids hadn’t slept for the previous two or three months and were mostly roaring drunk.

Just to add some perspective I’ve been working on my current animated short for a long time. (Mostly mornings before work and weekends) and this piece puts me to shame. I have two small children and I do find the subject matter a little disturbing but I enjoyed it immensely.
Watching the audience reaction was great, I was right there with them.
Really nice work!

That has to be one of the best shorts I’ve seen in ages. Genuinely entertaining and great craftmanship. The expression of the boy from 3:40 is gold!

Awesome work.

I can’t help but wonder if David feels a little like Orson Welles after completing “Citizen Kane.” Do you spend the rest of your life trying to be that good?

Not to worry. I’m sure David has a great career ahead of him.

Wow! Great to see such a fully-realized vision from a student. Having attended Cal Arts myself, I’ll bet that David is still sleeping after months of sleep deprivation.

One of THE best animated shorts I’ve seen in a while.. student, professional or otherwise. This is timed so well, the simplistic look of something out of one’s sketchbook caught my eye first. Great recreation of a Grimm fairy tale. Awesome! Just awesome. This was definitely a creative jolt for me today.

:)

We’re not worthy… lol.

Wow. Amazing storytelling choices. The pacing was perfect. The choices to NOT show certain things proved highly effective in ratcheting up the tension. And for such a dark piece, David managed to keep a certain level of charm to it, thanks in no small part to keeping the girl pure and innocent, even throughout her ordeal (she never goes all action hero crazy, thank God.) Bravo, David. I can’t wait to see more!!!

Jesus Christ, I’m raging with envy. Bravo! Brilliant, amazing, superlative, incredible film!

Brilliant animation. Well-timed and while the gore is well… gory… its surprisingly not gratuitous. By that I mean, its not drawn out or violent for its own sake. It matches the tone of the story, bringing this fairy tale adaptation back to its eerie roots. Great character designs, great staging, great, great, great, great.

The fact that anybody’s disturbed by the kid-in-a-blender scene is just a testament to how good the scene was set up. David Ochs, congratulations. You gave parents the heebie jeebies.

The visual tension and sound design grabbed me and held me. I wish I could say the same for anything I paid a movie ticket for in recent times.

Really nice job David. Now you just have to do it again, and again…

Masterly! Beautiful!

All the devices employed - such as the simulation of camera drift - were used to good effect.

The bad taste issue is perhaps key to the whole concept - this is Hansel and Gretel for the Slasher Movie generation.

What I was shocked by was the heroine’s immediate decision to bury a meathook in the villain’s skull rather than try to sneak her brother out unseen. We root for it because he’s a monster and she’s innocent - which shows how much movies have warped our idea of ‘innocence’!

Of course, Gretel saved the day by pushing the witch into the oven - similar to the fate that finally befalls the ice cream man.

As to the idea that the boy’s eating the human ice cream should foreshadow the continuation of the cycle - yes, I had the same thought.. and perhaps that was enough? To have heavily underlined the idea might have cheapened the film rather than strengthening it, by making us too aware of the formulaic movie cliches that the film references. I wonder if David made a conscious decision NOT to follow that up?

Look how he has made us care about the characters and their situation, and the film structure as well! Supurb storytelling!

And I LOVE the angle and timing of the shot of the girl running for the blender button when she sees her chance! I’d love to see the storyboard for this film - it is SO well developed.

Show this cartoon to a child, and they’ll never go near a Mister Softee truck again! (heeheeehee)

“You gave parents the heebie jeebies.”

Indeed!

Well done movie, absolutely excellent. But disturbing as hell for me.

WONDERFUL. Man. Can’t say anything good about it that hasn’t already been said here.
(It’s very inspiring, too. Makes me want to push the humor and looseness in my work more, even though my style is more conservative than this).

Just want to say, though, that I agree with Ovi and others about the audience reaction to Frozen Boy’s fate. Despite what Matt “Taco” Bell said, I see this kind of thing too often to just write it off. The increasing callousness and desensitization of our society REALLY bothers me a lot, especially since people seem to take such delight in celebrating ugliness.

But enough of that. This is such a great little movie that I downloaded it before it was even halfway through playing.

Here’s an other thought to add to what I said earlier, in that ending someone proposed should have happened, I kinda see the girl grabbing the brother’s hand one last time before the credits show up. In some way, that was a symbolic image I’ve had from seeing this show only one time! That should be the closing for the film too, since I felt it stated a very good message about cooperation or teamwork, if only to stay well with what the main point behind these stories were in the first place.

Super awesome, regardless of his year at the institution- lets not forget that he’s 23, probably already went to school, maybe already had animation classes…