Hundreds of people crowded the ASU Art Museum plaza with their lawn chairs and blankets Saturday to watch 24 short films underneath the stars at the 11th Annual ASU Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival.
Industrial design senior Beth Arnold sat with friends near the front of the venue.
Arnold said she has attended the festival for about three of four years.
"It's refreshingly different than anything else," Arnold said.
The films ranged from 52 seconds to about 11 minutes and were a mixture of comedy, serious issues and live-action and animation.
John Spiak, ASU Art Museum curator, said the festival received 333 entries this year from 22 countries.
One of the goals is to select quality works "to create a well-balanced festival," Spiak said.
This year, there were more animated films shown than in years past, Spiak said. The festival included 15 animated shorts this year.
"We received a high number of quality animation-based works, so that is reflected in the program," Spiak said.
A couple of examples of animated films receiving laughs from the crowd were "Oop Fiori os Khank" - in which robots compete for prizes on "The Price is Right" - and "Beautiful" - in which a clay animation character pays a price for smugly decrying his beauty.
"Guide Dog" - about an eager, good-natured and overly expressive guide dog who tries his best to serve his clients but accidentally and repeatedly gets them killed - was a favorite for many in the crowd.
"'Guide Dog' was very funny," said justice senior Brandon Anthony. "I'm going to look for it on YouTube."
There were also more seriously themed animated entries such as "Rising Water" -- about the Katrina disaster and Iraq war - and "Delivery," where a man is able to change his polluted environment.
In addition to more animated entries, this year's festival added something new - one of the filmmakers, Brent Green, performed spoken word during his animated films.
Green played guitar and narrated, and sometimes cried out in a 'Dylanesque' style while his films, "Carlin" and "Hadacol Christmas" flew across the screen.
"There is a star quality to him," said Shan Askin, a Tempe resident. "He was very intriguing."
Jeff Johnson, of Glendale, said he was "blown away" by "Carlin," which was about Green's experience of living with his aunt, who suffers from severe diabetes.
Johnson added he believes "Carlin" is in the top two or three films in his 11 years attending the festival.
A diverse group of live-action films were also presented throughout the two-hour festival.
"Kemosabe Version 1.0" showed old clips of "The Lone Ranger" with heart-pounding, rave-type dance music playing in the background.
No ASU entries were chosen for the festival this year, but Mesa resident Donovan Montierth put together "Relocation" - a film about the FBI having difficulty placing circus clowns in their witness protection program.
Filmgoers were able to vote on their favorite film shown, and the results will be posted on the festival's Web site on April 18.
Reach the reporter at: jeffrey.mitchell@asu.edu.
