The Hedgehog live action short

[GeneHF]

I'll be blunt: I thought it was shallow and pretentious, while also running off a stereotypical theme for smaller indie movies. Trying to sell it as a message of video game addiction despite doing a pretty poor job of conveying that doesn't work either.

 

There's one thing that gets annoying about the depiction of game addiction as alarmist. Not everyone that games a lot has an addiction, nor do they become so consumed that they lose all social skills, become a loner, then kill themselves in their bathroom while weeping into a Sonic doll. It's the same kind of misunderstood thing that also causes those that are a little more introverted to be considered psychotic, even though it's been shown many times they're normal people.

 

I get you wanted to use the Sonic icon as more in your face imagery, but the topic you claim your movie to be about could have been approached much better. As it stands, it feels more of a "Man, Sonic fans are manchildren (not a wrong statement, but that's beside the point) soon they should just off themselves for liking him so long!"

 

Further, not understanding the power a silent movie wields may show the weakness of the creator. If anything, reading that made me think either this is a film student eager to try and "express their vision" without really comprehending the medium they work in or just amateurish work without consideration until it was seen that... hey, maybe people don't just mindlessly stare at moving pictures?

 

tl;dr

 

[Sami]

Hobbies and passions are valuable, but not a valid substitute for genuine and worthwhile human interaction. I think certain posters in this thread acting overly defensive about the value of video game culture or the corellation between loneliness and investment in gaming as a hobby are doing some hardcore projecting, too. 

 

If I were to suggest a change to the film, I'd say it would have worked better had the kid been younger and more energetic. There's nothing wrong with devoting all of your passion and energy towards some kind of media you feel strongly about when you're young and don't know better. It's a thing children do - they're defined by what they like because their personalities have yet to fully develop. It's a part of growing up, and it only becomes a problem when arrested development prevents people from growing out of their shell and forming connections with other human beings. Creating that dichotomy between the boy and the old man would have strengthened the theme I assume you were going for and given the viewer a bit more room to breathe before getting hit by the meloncholy tone you get from the old man.

 

It's a simple message, and it's been done before, but bar that one complaint I thought you did a good job. I'm definitely not offended by it like some people seem to be because I think it's pretty obvious you're not trying to paint all Sonic fans as lonely hermits or whatever. Good work on the cinematography in particular.

[Barry the Nomad]

The Critic did it first:

 

[McGroose]

After a few more days since I first watched this, my opinions have changed to being more critical than accepting as previously.

 

The more I watch this, the more the missed opportunities involving the kid become more apparent. The older mans involvement in the film was handled very well and I really do think that he is probably the sole reason I like the movie. Watching the kid just leaves me with too many questions that I think needed to have been addressed in the film.

 

-Why would the kid seem so depressed at that young of an age while trying to imitate what I'm guessing is his favorite character?

 

-What happened during the period from his childhood to his adulthood? Going from a free roaming child to a suicidal man who seems to have ruined his life needs some more back story. Simply being a fan of Sonic isn't enough.

 

-Is the idea that his close attachment to his childhood, which didn't even seem that happy to begin with based on how the kid looked or acted, caused his life to spiral downward? If that is the case, why use Sonic the Hedgehog to represent his childhood and not some other character? What makes Sonic stick out here? You could have made the kids room filled with Sonic toys and games, but instead it's filled with a wide variety of generic toys from He-Man action figures to race cars. (I'm surprised you didn't make him rip of the cords from a bunch of old Sega consoles instead of whatever we see instead).

 

I really think you have something great going on with the scene were the old man is in the park and the scene not to long after that which had him reflecting on his life, but the rest needs more context and certainty. Without it, the rest of the film seems depressing just for the sake of being depressing and the kid dressing up like Sonic feels completely unnecessary. There's no reason why he couldn't have just dressed up as some other video game character or be seen playing with action figures on a playground instead while wearing normal clothes. 

 

My original opinion about some of the other positives of the film still stand. Your cinematography and atmosphere are still excellent. 

[Spooky Mulder]

I don't think this is about not being able to grow up or how being a "super fan" is a bad thing.

I think it's about loneliness—lifelong loneliness—and the ways we handle it. The child isn't lonely because he's a Sonic fan (we don't see why he's lonely but that's really besides the point) but being a fan of something makes him feel less lonely. It's not saying that fictional heroes are going to destroy us or that they're going to save us. It's just saying that these are things we look to for comfort in our darkest moments.

[FriendBot]

So I've finally had the time to see this short film and I've gotta say, it's a pretty nice one at that. Had some very nice shots and the atmosphere of it all is very nice with the additional punch that there is no dialogue.

 

Granted, see the man commit suicide is rather grim but I wouldn't say it came out of nowhere. The overall feel of the film was rather depressing actually, seeing the boy just run in an empty neighborhood.

 

Since this film is suppose to address the issue of video game obsession, it sort of gives the message that video game obsession is bad or atleast unhealthy to the individual.

 

I can sort of see it since with personal experience, I've found myself feeling very isolated due to the fact I have a strong liking to Sonic and mostly every other person I meet face-to-face doesn't exactly share my views as much though it is nice to find someone who likes talking about it atleast. So the loneliness and isolation I personally experienced were portrayed rather metaphorically in this film with the first few scenes of the boy just doing his own thing with nobody around.

 

In my interpretation of the ending, it does look like the man and the boy are the same person. The film portrays the man as someone who just seems to have lost any purpose in life due to the fact he realized he spent all of his time being obsessed with this one character and not seeing all the future potential he could've had at the past.

 

But the boy still has hope that he can break this obsession and put his life back in perspective. But of course, that doesn't mean he still can't love the character but you know there's more important things in life than that. 

 

It's a nice short film that looks nice and has enough vague points to provide some sort of discussion.

[BlueArms86]

Would've been better if the Sonic costume had blue arms.