Bric-a-Brac Mountain

The heat was rounded off in balmy style with this year’s offering from The Otter. This team have developed a bit of a cult following in Christchurch 48Hours circles, due to their unique approach to storytelling, humour and, well, logic (although I hope they don’t feel obligated to keep making the same types of films due to these expectations). This year didn’t disappoint, giving us a touching cross-species romance story as only Otter could provide. The eponymous house is filled with kitsch ornaments and other assorted bric-a-brac (although given the title I found myself wishing that there could be more of it on display, and for it to perhaps be a bigger part of the story). A cat answers an ad for a new flatmate, and man and feline become close over time. When the cat offers a little white pill to the guy, things turn ever weirder (tripping sequences in most 48Hours films tend to look like the normal bits of an Otter film, so Otter-tripping is another level entirely – pro-tip: if you’re stuck for a way to incorporate the prop element, just have it hover and talk). I think there was a bit of body-switch thrown in there for good measure too. And when the cat’s owner (wow, what the hell was that thing? My mind couldn’t quite process what I was seeing) arrived to collect it, we knew for sure that the man/cat bond had grown strong, truly inspirational stuff. One thing I love about Otter is their preposterous use of voice-on-a-microphone sound effects, such as the “bing! bong!” doorbell and the mariachi musical meows when we first met the cat. So yeah, this film was easily the biggest and most consistent generator of laughs from the audience in the heat, and not surprisingly became winner of Audience Favourite. (EDIT, TWO DAYS LATER: Ha, I only just got the pun of the title. Sorry, a bit slow here. :) )

A man and his new feline flat mate give in to their instant attraction and begin a romance. The cat has drugs and so trippiness starts in absolute spades as we are treated to an extreme set of wild imagery. Towards the end, conflict arrives in the shape of Nicky Brick - the cats owner/former lover. This is the usual style of madness from The Otter. I would love to attend your planning sessions to record exactly how these concepts are conceived. This looks like an Otter film too with it's low frills resolution and audio that sounds like it's been pumped through the noise removal filter of Audacity half a dozen times. Funny stuff though and I loved the "Why no. Wainoni Road" line for one. Eastern suburbs joke… The Otter is an acquired taste, but for me, always a real highlight of the competition.

The heat was rounded off in balmy style with this year’s offering from The Otter. This team have developed a bit of a cult following in Christchurch 48Hours circles, due to their unique approach to storytelling, humour and, well, logic (although I hope they don’t feel obligated to keep making the same types of films due to these expectations). This year didn’t disappoint, giving us a touching cross-species romance story as only Otter could provide. The eponymous house is filled with kitsch ornaments and other assorted bric-a-brac (although given the title I found myself wishing that there could be more of it on display, and for it to perhaps be a bigger part of the story). A cat answers an ad for a new flatmate, and man and feline become close over time. When the cat offers a little white pill to the guy, things turn ever weirder (tripping sequences in most 48Hours films tend to look like the normal bits of an Otter film, so Otter-tripping is another level entirely – pro-tip: if you’re stuck for a way to incorporate the prop element, just have it hover and talk). I think there was a bit of body-switch thrown in there for good measure too. And when the cat’s owner (wow, what the hell was that thing? My mind couldn’t quite process what I was seeing) arrived to collect it, we knew for sure that the man/cat bond had grown strong, truly inspirational stuff. One thing I love about Otter is their preposterous use of voice-on-a-microphone sound effects, such as the “bing! bong!” doorbell and the mariachi musical meows when we first met the cat. So yeah, this film was easily the biggest and most consistent generator of laughs from the audience in the heat, and not surprisingly became winner of Audience Favourite. (EDIT, TWO DAYS LATER: Ha, I only just got the pun of the title. Sorry, a bit slow here. :) )