Algoshorts 2018
Festival Director – Alexis Kirke
This is the second edition of Algoshorts, the first being in 2013. Both editions have been part of the PACMF festival. Algoshorts is the world’s first public festival of short fiction films on the topic of algorithms. Having had 400 submissions to consider, we will be presenting a number of short films from around the world, sometimes embracing PACMF’s theme Decoding Life, and sometimes focusing on algorithms.
Since Algoshorts 2013 there has been an explosion of algorithmic filmmaking, the most famous of which are collected together here. Algoshorts has two halves lasting about 1 hour each, with a 15-minute interval in between.
Timeslices – Greg Biermann (2017) 7:11
A sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey is sliced into 40 vertical bars each moving at a slightly different rate while coalescing in the centre of the piece for a single frame. The result allows for fascinating spatial-temporal distortions as the viewer experiences various instants in time simultaneously.
Zenman in Love – Klaas Diersmann (2018) 12:00 WORLD PREMIERE
(With a script by Alexis Kirke’s Zenman software) For this experimental film, a purpose-built AI program (a rule-based system called ZenMan) was challenged to write something both original and funny… After being fed with Romantic Comedy scripts, the AI was asked “What is love?” In response, it created a story of two city workers attempting to rescue their relationship after their previous attempt at courtship ended in disaster. All dialogue and two stage directions were written by the AI, with the creators providing further stage direction based on the script.
The Tunnel – Ross Scott (2011) 25:00
Ross Scott is probably the best known maker of Machinima on the internet, thanks to his classic Half Life-based series “Freeman’s Mind”. Machinima is the use of computer game engines to tell stories. This film is part of Civil Protection, a comedy series based in the game Half Life 2; and in this award-winning episode, the protagonists investigate some strange noises.
Do you love me? – Chris Wilson (2013) 3:26
Cleverbot.com has been touted as one of the most advanced artificial intelligences ever. The website allows users to chat with the A.I. Cleverbot. But how good is it, really? Chris Wilson sat down with Cleverbot and collaborated on a movie script. This is the result.
Interval – 15 minutes
Hyper-reality – Keiichi Matsuda (2016) 6:15
Hyper-Reality presents a provocative and kaleidoscopic new vision of the future, where physical and virtual realities have merged, and the city is saturated in media. Our physical and virtual realities are becoming increasingly intertwined. Technologies such as VR, augmented reality, wearables, and the internet of things are pointing to a world where technology will envelop every aspect of our lives. It will be the glue between every interaction and experience, offering amazing possibilities, while also controlling the way we understand the world. Hyper-Reality attempts to explore this exciting but dangerous trajectory. It was shot on location in Medellín, Colombia.
Algorithmic Recovery – Anonymous (2017) 2:33
An unusual perspective on an all too common problem: alcoholism.
Sunspring – Oscar Sharp (2016) 9:03
In the wake of Google’s AI Go victory, filmmaker Oscar Sharp turned to his technologist collaborator Ross Goodwin to build a machine that could write screenplays. They created “Jetson” and fueled him with hundreds of sci-fi TV and movie scripts. Shortly thereafter, Jetson announced it wished to be addressed as Benjamin. Building a team including Thomas Middleditch, star of HBO’s Silicon Valley, they gave themselves 48 hours to shoot and edit whatever Benjamin (Jetson) decided to write.
It’s no game – Oscar Sharp (2017) 7:43
In this day and age, just how useful are “writers” anyway? The filmmakers behind ‘Sunspring’ have come back with a new short starring David Hasselhoff, Tom Payne, Tim Guinee, Sarah Hay, and Jake Broder. Once again, they’ve enlisted the help of “Benjamin,” an A.I. programmed by Ross Goodwin to write screenplays.
Discussion: Algorithms versus Humans