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A few weeks back, we took a look at production video from director BenDavid Grabinski's short scifi movie Cost of Living, which stars Bret Harrison (Reaper) and Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) as two night-shift security guards with terrible existential malaise. More »
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For his time-lapse movie of the South Dakotan night sky, photographer Randy Halverson recruited Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary (who we recently chatted with here) to supply an original soundtrack. The result is Temporal Distortion, a short film that will make you feel like a Cylon sleeper agent staring at the stars. Explains Halverson: More »
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We adore the animated adaptation of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, so we almost passed out from charm overdose when we saw this real-life take on Phil Lord and Chris Miller‘s movie. It's simply superb. This short was submitted to the Virgin Radio Fake Film Festival. If you loved this 60-second take on Cloudy, vote at the Virgin website. Also check out the enjoyable one-minute Harry Potter. More »
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If someone forced you at gunpoint to condense the Harry Potter series into a minute, you could do way worse than this yell-happy rendition of the Boy Who Lived's foibles. This frenzied synopsis is currently in the running at the Virgin Radio Fake Film Festival, so vote if you enjoyed it. I appreciate how the filmmakers devoted way too many precious seconds on that gross Voldemort baby. Big ups to Avery. More »
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Remember when the Man of Steel died and came back in the 1990s? Well, this is the closest we're going to get to a live-action Death of Superman movie. And it's kind of amazing. More »
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In the spirit of such cartoons as Silverhawks, Thundercats, and Wheeled Warriors comes Space Stallions, a pitch-perfect tribute to the flamboyant animation of yesteryear. Space Stallions was made by a group of Danish film students — here's the synopsis to this keytar orgy: More »
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Much in the same way Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica have received the RPG remix from College Humor, AMC's "chemistry teacher turned meth cook" drama Breaking Bad has also been given the clever 16-bit treatment. More »
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In Sirenia Shadows, a short film by video production house Built By Wildman, a submarine cameraman captures the endangered West Indian manatee placidly gliding through Florida's Crystal River. It's a marvel seeing these sea cows serenely traverse the riverbed (without the risk of getting skimmed by some gaudy cigarette boat). More »
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Hats off to YungHan Chang and Kimberly Knoll for directing this poetic short animation — titled No Robots — as a student project at San Jose State University. In this vignette, an anti-robot shopkeeper must deal with an unexpected clanking visitor. I'm absolutely loving the city design here — the animators deserved to pass in flying colors. More »
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It's been a long time since a zombie movie has made us laugh. Zombieland was the last great zomcom, but perhaps the undead indie A Little Bit Zombie can make us laugh while the main character falls to pieces. More »
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The Aaron Sims Company has designed such celluloid creatures as the aliens from Green Lantern, the simians from Rise of The Planet of The Apes, and the samurai with the chain gun from Sucker Punch. Now, as a labor of love with no funding, Sims has directed Archetype, a short film about a battlefield robot whose programming is on the fritz. It's an absolutely stunning nugget of cinema. More »
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You've seen the painting, now watch the film! And what's more, it's a musical! Sebastian Cosor has filled in the backstory for the oft stolen expressionist painting with this surreal little tableau. Here's how Munch described the inspiration for the painting in 1892: More »
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For their latest X-Mas film, design firm 39 Degree Studios has put together a 5.5-minute homage to the buddy cop genre in the vein of Man's Best Friend. If you're going to run with a single insane visual gag, run with it until you see the whites of the audience's eyes. More »
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From Ben Richardson and Daniel Bird comes Seed, a handsome stop-motion animated short about two devious, surreal consumables drunk on technology. Here's the synopsis from the filmmakers: More »
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In this heartstring-tugging short, singer and Star Wars fan Darren Hayes recalls the Christmas of 1980, when times were lean for his family. When you're eight years old, an Ugnaught can mean the world. Hayes grew up to be the lead singer of this band, so things worked out pretty well for him. Hat tip to Jeff Newelt. More »
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When it comes to fan films, people love making movies A.) based on Valve properties; and B.) fairly nonsensical character mash-ups. This movie by Adrian Picardi and Northern Five Entertainment slaps these two flavors together. You can watch a making-of video here. More »
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If my parents had shown me this video when I was five, I would have broken my habit of leaving the lights on whenever I left a room much sooner. More »
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Walt Disney may not actually be frozen underneath Disneyland, but that hasn't stopped a group of Brazilian animators from creating this creepy short film just in time for Walt Disney's 110th birthday (which was yesterday). In D. On Ice, the animation mogul returns to the present day, only to find himself at the whims of a singing corporate stooge. Me, I'd just wish Disney would make more propaganda films about giant omelettes nowadays. More »
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For their second year at The Utrecht School of Arts, the folks at Colorbleed Studios Consurgo put together Consurgo, a snazzy 4.5-minute short about a little girl who loses her ball in the street, which leads to the appearance of a heaving clockwork abomination. What does this creaking being want? More »
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Watch the first trailer for the gorgeous hand-made puppet movie from Kevin McTurk (the FX artist who worked on just about every film we've ever loved, from Tank Girl on down) and produced by Jim Henson's daughter, Heather. Titled The Narrative of Victor Karloch, the handmade short takes its puppet to the ocean floor, where the Wendigo Demons live. It's truly beautiful — but we bet you'll flinch. More »
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For Utrecht's 48 Hour Film Project, filmmakers Jeroen Houben, Tim Arts, and Stefan van den Boogaard created Page 23, a bizarre little gem about the secret lives of those condemned to dwell in furniture catalogues. I don't want to over-explain this creepy four-minute short, so here's the synopsis: More »
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The Monkey King is one of the oldest legends in all the land and is the main character in the epic Chinese novel Journey to the West. Even though his tales were penned in the 16th century, the Monkey King remains beloved by many. And now, a fellow io9er needs your help getting his new post-apocalyptic take on the saga finished. Check out some behind-the-scenes footage from a project worthy of your coin, Rampage In Heaven.

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We've seen some awesomely abstract Soviet science fiction cartoons before, including adaptations of the works of Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. More »
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What happened to all your Happy Meal toys from years past? The new Toy Story short, "Small Fry" shows that life isn't easy for the old plastic food toy, even if you do transform from a steak into a robot. Watch a clip right now! More »
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Stop whatever it is you're doing right now and plug into this amazing new short film The Gate. The CG creatures are horrifying, mesmerizing, and should really be the high water mark for all computer-animated beasties. Plus, fairy genocide! More »
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In the spirit of such tripped-out films as Donald in Mathemagic Land comes Peter Peake's Pythagasaurus, an approximately four-minute short created by the folks at Aardman Animations. In sum, a 232 seconds well spent. More »
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We've been loving the Midnight Archive's series of macabre web shorts (previously: 1, 2). One of their more recent installments is a short documentary on the late Dr. Robert White, a neurosurgeon who successfully transplanted the head of one monkey onto the body of another. You can also watch the Midnight Archive's most recent segment — on the ossuaries of Europe — here. More »
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If and when the dead rise, some of us will inevitably be wearing some pretty silly outfits. In this haunting short film by Chris Russell, a costumed aquarium coupon hawker begins his journey around a crumbling world. It will definitely make you sympathize with the ambulating vitality-deprived. Hat tip to Bruno. More »
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Being John Malkovich director Spike Jonze — who recently directed that action-figure extravaganza for The Beastie Boys — has now collaborated with designer Olympia Le-Tan's and director Simon Cahn to animate 3,000 pieces of felt. More »
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I'm not sure what filmmakers Olivier Campagne and Vivien Balzi were attempting to achieve with their atmospheric short movie 5:45 am, but it certainly should appeal to those who were partial to the opening scenes of 28 Days Later. More »
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Or at least the trailer for it. Destined to play at a dollar theater doubleheader with Talibannosaurus Rex, Zombinladen: The Axis Of Evil Dead imagines the unfathomable world where Barack Obama has a French accent. Or something. I may have overlooked some key plot points. More »
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We're pleased to host the online premiere of award-winning short film Cockpit: The Rule of Engagement, which just showed at Comic-Con this morning. It's the action-packed story of warfare at the edge of the galaxy, where an alien enemy can mess with human minds — as well as blowing up ships. More »
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Not Working Films has re-envisioned the arcade classic Pac-Man as a ride down a bleak stretch of highway. It's like if Namco directed Vanishing Point — the only Pac-aphernalia more surreal than this is the 1982 Pac-Man Christmas Album. More »
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Still waiting for that Luke Cage movie? Well you might be getting a taste earlier than expected — in short movie form. Because Marvel is getting into the short film business! More »
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Watch as "a young filmmaker obtains a mysterious device that unleashes the full force of cinema on his front lawn," in the short film Plot Device. From zombie jerks to irritating Garden State banter, no plot device is left unscathed. More »
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This short film, called "The Gift," is about a box whose contents seduce both humans and robots. It's directed by newcomer Carl Erik Rinsch, a Ridley Scott protege, and [update] several studios are bidding to make it into a feature film. More »
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Many moviemakers have tried to recreate the weirdness of HP Lovecraft's horror stories on film, but few have succeeded. Steve Daniels tried a novel approach in his short Dirt Dauber, using paper cutouts and half-seen imagery. Behold Shub-Niggurath! More »
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This summer has brought us both 9 and District 9, two movies that started life as short films. Are there more to come. We look at some of the shorts we'd like to see on the big screen. More »
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Is the way your wallpaper feels classified information? For Andy Lipman, Sensory Archiver, it might be. The paranoid British short film And I Refuse To Forget follows a man as he struggles to hold on to memories that are being displaced from his head by government secrets stored in his senses. Directed and written by British filmmaker Nuru Rimington-Mkali. The short was entered into a competition at Filmaka. Nuru's short won the entire contest and he'll be entrusted with a budget anywhere from $1 to $5 million in order for him to create a feature-length movie. More »
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