NOW CLOSED: Exclusive Preview of a Short Film – Baseball
Adam Humphreys and Zachary German have produced a short film called Baseball, which was available to stream right here on HTMLGiant for 3 hours Aug. 7, 2013.
Zachary German, who co-wrote the film, stars as a cheating lover who must recall the opening of The Great Gatsby from memory to placate his suspicious girlfriend.
The link below is now dead, contact Adam Humphreys (adamphump@gmail.com) for more information.
Baseball is America’s pastime. Everybody loves baseball. This film has nothing to do with Baseball. They’re playing with you.
Two apartments and one hotel room. A young couple in different time zones. A young guy (Brad) drinking a bottle of Fiji water. A phone call comes through. It is from his girlfriend. A brief exchange establishes they live together. He’s lying to her. She asks him if she left a book on the side table, “The Great Gatsby,” which results in a genuine and convincing look of concern on the part of Brad. It goes from there.
Everything you see and hear in this film is important. The background is important. A cat is important. Brad’s pompousness, in their interaction with another couple, when he quotes from The Great Gatsby in flashback, is important. In very few scenes, the film manages to flesh out the characters pretty well. These are real, believable people in a somewhat wrenching but not unfunny scenario.
I feel a similar cosmic humor in Humphreys’ other two films. And a similar uncanny and profound feeling of disconnection as in German’s earlier literary efforts. Little details, like the cat, the cat’s water, and the couple’s conversations lead inexorably to a muted emotional breakdown. The opening passage of The Great Gatsby, quoted by Brad three times in the film, proves meaningful on multiple levels.
The first time through, it’s funny. The second time it’s not so much. Pain is a big part of comedy. Baseball is a tight little film that will reward multiple viewings.
Tags: Adam Humphreys, baseball, zachary german
First time through was pretty sad for me ):
Really enjoyed this. And loved how well produced/shot/lit it is, too. Nice fucking work.
solid
kept thinking ‘i swear to god…’
is that an actual edition of Gatsby (which one)?
like this a lot
most professionally-edited-seeming video i’ve seen on this site (that was user-created)
mad crush on zg reactivated
zg is like the rich man’s paul dano or something
really liked this
I wondered that, too.
and the wind cried… mary
starting at 1:28, the inside looks blank. (this is how conspiracy theories get started)
Maybe it’s always been blank? Maybe no one has ever read this “Great” Gatsby?
hey guys this is Adam my login isn’t working. It’s a design I made in photoshop based on the Melville House Novella series. But the book inside is Stories V by Scott Mclanahan (it was the right size)
“jack I swear” in brokeback mountain ;) that movie is so good
-Adam (logged in as Dave)
Ken, I’m really glad you like it. Will give your compliments to my DP. We should make a gritty movie together :)
-this is Adam (my login isn’t working so I’m on David’s)
nice, was just replying to your comment. i initially thought it might have been a MH book, but realized they only do the non-Gatsby.
subtle film, watched it again, props
This is a boring comment, I just wanted to express that I liked this a lot and felt impressed with how tightly structured it is. Thanks for making this and sharing it
That’s a comment that makes me feel good. Thank you Chris. You’re cool :)
-Adam
:)
lol
is this supposed to be a movie adaptation of zachary’s formspring circa late 2012? either way i really liked it
zach just told me you used to paypal him 0.69 out of the blue? Is this true? That’s funny.
yeah they’re related. This evan? Haven’t seen your avatar in a long time. We should catch up :)
-this is Adam
yeah sometimes, for a few weeks i was really cray-cray for him
it’s so fucking amazing, is it not? “I wish I could quit you!”
he’s not home… (sorry if this is unclear, something we worried about a lot). but the idea is that when you see him reading on the bed with Laura and the cat… that’s their apt. The other apt is differently arranged… it’s another girl!
I read somewhere that the odor of a person in their clothing lasts like a couple of weeks so the jacket scene is bullshit – bad writing
That’s interesting… very interesting flirt technique
but Ennis doesn’t know that!
i like the Virginia Woolf thing Zach’s doing with his hair
yeah, i also contributed at least half of his formspring questions i think heh
he sent me a paper turkey hand thing in the mail once, his handwriting was really bad. when he blocked me on twitter i threw it away, i really wish i still had it now though
one time i went through his twitter timeline and like.. favorited almost everything
and paid for that “album” with that teen pussy… teen pussy… teen pussy… song
and bought EWYFS obvs
i said he could use my resume to apply for jobs too but i don’t think he did
for more about what’s wrong with me,
Postitbreakup presents … Borderline Personality Disorder
or the corpse of whoever he murdered!
that’s sweet and endearing, and I don’t mean this sarcastically… I read this post you’re linking before. If you want a refund on that Fishkind album email me. Your attention at that point probably meant a lot more to him than you might know.
refund, fuck no… just put album in quotes b/c it was short. i like the teen pussy song a lot actually heh.
and thank you for saying that
cool moobie i guess but i sayin Was the weirest thin u ca think of? lul tha dude is 2013 marshall faulk mccluhan i sayin
nah u is ca see her les move bru
That’d be fun.
Watched this three times! Again: nice work.
u fuk
we did a show at NYU… not sure how it went :)
really awesome. so concise/tight/sad.
this was good dot gov dog
I really liked Eat When You Feel Sad.
The person in this movie has read Marie Calloway as well as Lipsyte.
I have read both, but Zach I think has never read Sam. (I think Sam’s great).
-this is Adam
Screening is over. Thanks all for watching and for your comments.
-Adam
would like to see more of holong in future films but this is a good start, thank you videospa
(for real enjoyed this a lot)
<3 u meg
for sure. i’m moving to the east coast in 2 weeks and will definitely be in NY a lot. we’ll have to meet up and stuff.
lul re having read all his books except most recent collection lul
bro cinema