Still Slatousky had a mysterious spot on his arm.
In the short film “Still and the Spot,” Slatousky becomes progressively more distressed, visiting doctor after doctor trying to figure out where the spot came from and how to get rid of it. Meanwhile, a pestering neighbor repeatedly knocks on his door while the occasional hamburger mysteriously appears on the sidewalk, furthering his confusion.
On Thursday, “Still and the Spot,” a five-minute film dealing with the theme of anxiety, won the Audience Choice Award at the Shorttakes Film Festival organized by the Undergraduate Students Association Council Campus Events Commission.
“(‘Still and the Spot’) was striking because it was more abstract than the other submissions we received,” said former Campus Events Commissioner Greg Kalfayan.
Avi Glick, a graduate student in film and television production at the University of Southern California, wrote and directed “Still and the Spot” as a class assignment two years ago. In the class, he worked with two peers, switching roles to make three short films. USC alumna Alix Spence served as producer and editor of Glick’s film.
“I was immediately impressed. I almost felt out of my element with the script because I just thought it was so poignant,” Spence said.
Before coming up with the premise for “Still and the Spot,” Glick said, his original project idea dealt with the darker subject of rape. Six weeks into the semester, however, he said he decided against it, wanting to make something lighter and fun.
Then, while walking to school, Glick said he came up with his new idea for “Still and the Spot” after spotting an avocado.
Every now and then, Glick said, he would find avocados on the ground outside the same apartment, and he had always assumed people were dropping their groceries.
“It took me two weeks to realize there was an avocado tree in that exact plot,” Glick said, paralleling his own experience to Slatousky’s realization in the film that the hamburgers outside his house are actually from a hamburger tree.
Glick said he also based his film on a story he heard from a doctor about another man who had a mark on his arm that he couldn’t get off. After the man had gone to about six different doctors, Glick said, one finally took a closer look, cleaned the arm, and figured out the mark was actually just a little dirt.
“It’s different subjects, but all the same thing – it’s about people finding problems where there are none,” Glick said.
As one of the first films he directed, Glick said “Still and the Spot” was a learning experience, attributing the film’s short form as helpful for storytelling.
“I think doing a short film (that has) limited time makes you really pay attention to what you’re telling and makes the story move faster,” Glick said.
Spence said the class in which they developed the film was an intense environment, and they only had a five-minute time frame to create their story.
“I personally think short films are so important and arguably much harder than a long-form film,” said Spence. “Because it’s like, how do you tell a complete story in such a short amount of time, cutting away all that excess.”
Kalfayan said during the judging process, they look for films that make the best use of their short time frame with succinct and creative storytelling. He said Glick’s film stood out among the mix of submissions due to its originality and tight cinematography.
“It was really well shot. … Everything was put together perfectly,” Kalfayan said.
Now finished with his third year at USC, Glick said he enjoyed participating in Shorttakes for the opportunity to build a network among student peers and learn from his past work.
“Student films versus professional films, I mean, I think the distinction is getting less and less, especially with technologies becoming more accessible for everybody,” Glick said. “And a lot of student filmmakers are improving as well.”