MartinHafer
This film is a very short film--even for an animated short. Despite only being about five minutes long, it was nominated for the Oscar for this category in 2006, though it lost to THE DANISH POET. The film is very simple and consists of a robotic arm that applies makeup, provides drinks and completely takes care of a cute little bird. You don't exactly know why all this is occurring but it all makes sense at the end of the film.Now for the first few minutes of the short, I thought to myself that the CG animation was decent but not especially eye-popping compared to many of the shorts that are out there. This isn't just referring to Pixar, Fox and Dreamworks, but even to some of the smaller studios such as Blur Studio (who made the wonderful A GENTLEMEN'S DUEL). However, I am glad I didn't give up on the film, as the punchline was well worth the wait and very, very clever.This film is one of the bonus shorts included with the wonderful DVD "A Collection of 2006 Academy Award Nominated Short Films"--a must have for fans of the genre.
ccthemovieman-1
We first witness a robot, in the form of a expanding metal arm, mixing a drink for the "maestro" who is sitting in front of a mirror in his dressing room apparently preparing to perform somewhere.The expanding arm also reaches into a top drawer and brings out selected items for the man. It's his makeup, which the mechanical arm puts on him, along with other chores such as dusting his top hat so he is totally ready for his performance. Meanwhile, the man gets his voice ready with some notes, so our guess is that he's an opera singer.Two things stood out for me in this animated short: the direction and the ending. The "camera" roams 360 degrees around the little room so we see what's going on from all angles. The ending I can't give away but it was a stunner and made me smile with appreciation for the cleverness. Rarely have I seen an ending so good.
terrellholmes
I attended a screening of the Oscar-nominated shorts yesterday and if I had a vote in the Academy it would go to "Maestro". At the beginning I wasn't quite sure of what kind of world it took place in. On the surface it looked like a backstage peek at an impennate opera singer preparing for a show. But why was a mechanical arm doing all of the grooming, drink mixing, and other tasks? The interesting thing I noticed about "Maestro" was that as the camera circled around, the perspective changed at one second intervals. This technique recalls the motion of a second hand and hints strongly at the film's wonderful punch line.
Skeeter700
This short animated film shows a great performer preparing to take to the stage in the last few minutes before the curtain rises. With the help of a mechanical arm, a feathered "Maestro" is groomed and exercises his voice. "The Maestro" was directed by The Hungarian film maker Géza M. Tóth and it competed in over 40 international animation competitions and gained a nomination for an Academy Award. The Maestro is well-animated slowly builds for its five minute run up to one fantastic joke. The animation is solid and the technique of having the camera circle three-hundred-sixty degrees around the characters helps build the suspense towards its funny finale. The sound is well dubbed and matches the tone of the images being presented. Overall, "The Maestro" is a short of great quality.
AD
