I get so sick of the idea that short films should have to follow the three-act structure.  It makes sense in features, usually, that your audience has to feel committed, to feel like things are progressing towards some ultimate conclusion, for them to invest their time and energy in following the story.

But there's so much potential in short films.  They can go anywhere and explore anything: a mood, an atmosphere, a character, an idea.  Sometimes they have a thesis to prove, and sometimes their purpose is simply creation: to arrange a sequence of shots like a bouqet of flowers, a painting or a poem.

Yeah, I know, I'm a sissy.  But I'm telling you: people's lives rarely change that much in five minutes.  And, a snappy punchline is not the be-all end-all of the short film format.

"The Stabbing of Janet Leigh" is a terrific example of what I'm talking about.  It takes the form of a documentary, but it's more than that.  It's much bigger and vaguer, it's a sort of portraiture, incorporating the life of the character, the history of music, and the perspective of the filmmaker, in an effective, pleasing composition.

The camerawork is beautiful in an understated way, and the texture of the color super-8 film adds a lot: this film is better, I think, on super-8 than it would be on 16, 35, or video.  The headphone cord works perfectly as a hook: it draws the film outside of realism and keeps you curious.

And, in the end, the simple, unassuming sweetness of the metaphor is really satisfying; it just feels nice.  A feel-good movie.