Short Film Showcase: 'Thunder Road' Demonstrates the Subtle Power of the Oner
The single take, the long shot, the oner – whatever you call it, many cannot help but marvel at the directorial prowess on display when a scene is filmed as one unbroken moment, while others loathe how the blatant showmanship overshadows character and story. Recently, Academy Award-winning auteurs like Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity, Children of Men) and Alejandro Inarritu (Birdman, The Revenant) have pushed the technique to its limits with the help of digital effects. Their oners are showy and, admittedly, amazing, but they are huge in scale, and they belie the power a simpler long take can have on an audience. The best long takes are often the ones that you might not even notice. For those, Spielberg is the master. He often shoots an entire scene, orchestrating the movement of the actors and the camera in a way that draws you into the momentum instead of drawing you out with its blatant theater (For more on the Spielberg oner, check out this fantastic video by Tony Zhou of Every Frame a Painting). The short-film "Thunder Road" takes a deceptively simple long take and maximizes it for both drama and comedy.
First off, let me just say that if writer/director/star Jim Cummings weren't such an amazing performer and keen observer of the subtleties of character, then this film wouldn't work at all. His heart-breakingly hilarious performance anchors the entire piece and fills the frame with authenticity. I know this character. I've met guys like him who are so stunted emotionally that they don't know how to properly express themselves. Cummings' small tics and gestures feel so incredibly real that when the absurdity builds, the reality of the world is never broken.
Putting the amazing performance aside, though, the camera work, although minimal, is extremely effective. Cummings uses the zoom to increase and decrease tension within the scene, essentially signaling to the audience when its okay to laugh or cry. In one moment, Cummings uses the edge of the frame for a clever joke that's easy to miss, but nevertheless illustrates his sharp awareness of what the camera is capturing. What really makes this thing sing, though, is the single-shot technique. The camera pulls the audience along with it, trapping us in the main character's agonizing humiliation, forcing us to feel his embarrassment and his sadness. If Cummings were to cut away at any point, then this becomes a straight comedy short. It loses its heft. By allowing the moment to linger and charting the main character's emotional transformation in real time, the tragedy layers over the comedy in truly unexpected ways and turns this seemingly straightforward short film into a complex portrait of the comedy of drama.
Watch the 2016 Sundance Jury Prize winner "Thunder Road" for yourself below:
