Doodlebug

Plot synopsis:
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The depths of insanity are explored by a man chasing something in his apartment with a shoe.
The man attempts to catch the object that is moving around the floor of his apartment. The object appears to be a pair of fast moving boxer shorts. He makes several attempts to catch it and fails. He finally succeeds, lifting the boxer shorts off of the object. He reveals a miniature version of himself looking up fearfully as he lifts his shoe to crush the miniature. Grinning, he squashes the miniature with his shoe. As he grins, an enormous face appears above/behind him. It is a giant version of himself lifting a giant shoe. The original man gets squashed.

Tags: alternate reality

Review:
Rather obvious but effective enough for the short running time.
A man is trying to catch some sort of bug running around his room.
However as he slowly begins to track the bug down and trap it, things chance dramatically but the man continues his course of action.
Before Nolan hit the big time with several successful motion pictures, he made this short while studying English at University in London.
It is rather atmospheric and is enjoyable for that reason.The plot is interesting at the start and has a nice twist at the end which is pretty obvious once you see it being set up, but this isn't too much of a problem because there are only a few seconds between set up and delivery, so you're not wasting time being led somewhere you have already arrived.
It is very much a student film as it thinks it is cleverer than it is and it seems like the sort of idea you have when you think that nobody else would ever think the same way  but this is just an observation, not so much an attack.In terms of atmosphere the majority of the film really works; grainy black and white, dark rooms with bright intrusive light spread sparingly across the room and 'things' moving rapidly around our main man.
It does just enough to feel like it is building to something but not so much that the ending will be a disappointment.Overall it is worth seeing mainly because of what its director has gone on to do since this.
As a short film in its own right it is atmospheric enough and with an interesting premise to the point that it is worth a few minutes of your time; but the ending is not as 'out of the blue' or as clever as Nolan must have thought it was at the time  happily he has gone on to much bigger and better things since!.
Good film short with insights into the human mind..
I think anyone reading this knows what literally happened as far as the storyline goes.
In a dingy apartment, a guy that looks possibly insane, carries a shoe as a little black figure scurries across the floor.
Who is the man?
I think the man represents the human condition.
Man is constantly at battle with those who are lesser than us.
The man hitting the small version of himself with the shoe shows abstractly the very thesis i just said.
Watch this movie straightaway without reading anything about it.
Most of the plot summaries you'll go through will mostly end up ruining the movie for you.
Its incredibly short (about 3 minutes) so even if it ends up sucking for you, it wouldn't have in any way hurt to devote 3 minutes to what I find a great start for a by now famous and master craftsman Nolan.
Heck even a visit to the loo takes more time so giving 3 minutes to this movie without any second thought shouldn't be hard enough.
Let the bug surprise you.Doodlebug came to my attention when doing a bit of research (that isn't the right term but I'll stick to it anyway) on Christopher Nolan now that his final movie in the Batman trilogy is about to hit out.
It appears he made two more shorts before this of which one named Larceny, I've heard a lotta praises about but sadly couldn't manage to get my hands on it anywhere.
So I decided to started my Nolan filmography with this one.
For the meager amount of money, this movie is quite a watch.
Excellent camera-work, nice editing which keeps the movie flowing smoothly (and not much like Nolan's later non-linear works), good effects for a short (that's just me though) and a decent performance make this worth a watch.
Now I don't exactly know what messages this movie wished to convey but I do know that those were some entertaining and insightful 3 minutes into what was to come in the future from this guy.
Calling "Doodlebug" as being Christopher Nolan's baby steps into filmmaking would be an outrageous act.
This isn't a baby trying to walk, this is a kid already walking and aware of everything around him, skipping part of the evolution but ready to do anything.
Light years from making us dream within a dream within another dream and way before of resurrecting the Batman franchise or twisting Leonard's memory, Nolan made this wonderful short about a man who hunts something unknown with his shoes to later find out he's hunting himself in a different way and form.
What comes after might not be all surprising but it certainly leaves a great impression on you, to make you frozen thinking what the hell just happened.The constant themes present on his works such as sanity loss (or the fight in discovering if you are sane or not) are there.
He intrigues us in less than three minutes by showing this man (played by Jeremy Theobald) that seems disturbed by this moving thing he starts to chase, and even though he sees that this thing is him in a alternated version he kills it.
And that never ends.It's really delightful to watch it, you can sense Nolan's incredible sense of style filming in a scary black and white and using some incredible special effects.
The student knew exactly what he was doing, a real professional.
Many of us, and even the man himself couldn't possibly imagine than in matter of just a few years he would be directing names like Guy Pearce, Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio and Scarlett Johansson in outstanding pictures.
Well, here's a positive proof of why this man is one of the greatest directors in activity at the moment and why he deserves all the recognition.
A real fun to watch.
Creative Short from Nolan.
Doodlebug (1997)*** 1/2 (out of 4)Christopher Nolan's directorial debut was this three minute B&W short.
The film starts off with a man on the floor bouncing around trying to kill a bug with his shoe.
He tries and tries to kill it but soon we realize something else is going on.DOODLEBUG was a highly effective short that reminded me of the early work of David Lynch.
The B&W cinematography perfectly captures a rather dark and moody atmosphere and I thought it certainly helped the film and its nightmare like quality.
I'm not going to spoil the twist for those who haven't seen the film but I found it to be very good.
Technically speaking this is a very impressive short and especially when you consider it was the first one Nolan had made.
It certainly shows that there was a talent behind the camera.
Fans of his should get a kick out of this film..
A Kafkaesque by Nolan.
I never heard about someone, who after watching this short by Nolan didn't have smile in his face.
This movie is just masterpiece among the short movies (I watched plenties) and very inspiring according to fact that on the scene is just a man with a shoe and he's trying to catch something.In this movie Nolan shows us that, he can really grab our attention.
And play with our emotions like he does in many other movies, like a true genius and all he needs is just 3 minutes.Interesting fact is that Nolan was also behind the camera which is very rare according to the Following which was the last movie he shot.
And I personally like his camera.Yet I would also mention that the soundtrack is made by David Julyan who made soundtracks for another Nolan movies Following, Memento, Insomnia and The Prestige.So I would recommend Doodlebug to everyone who is Nolan fan, who likes Kafkaesque movies and basically to everyone who likes movies, cinematography and dynamic short movies..
interesting movie.
a very good idea from the Christopher Nolan, man who creates legendary movies like BATMAN BEGINS, THE DARK KNIGHT or INCEPTION.
don't watch this for special effects !!
This "movie" is a short one, 3 min long, but original in style and screenplay.
Look at FOLOWING or any other movie made by Nolan, this man likes to play with human emotions and fears.Waiting the next movies of Nolan :)PS: you will find this one on the internet.
Nolan it's a genius of words and original ideas.
I didn't know his movies are so original until i saw PRESTIGE, this and BATMAN MEGINS, a few years ago.
Without spoilers, i have to say this is the most refreshing short movie..
Christopher Nolan at his beginning.
The short film isn't amazing but the idea is so terrific.The idea is clearly original.This is about a man pursued by himself.Very short but intense and powerful!.
With a Lynchian atmosphere, Nolan created an ambitious short film that relies on visual metaphors to represent a familiar, yet important, moral message.The editing in general, and the sound editing in particular, is very exquisite, and intensified the moody and dark atmosphere that matches what the short film indicates very well.Above all that, Doodlebug proves that Christopher Nolan is a risk-taker from the get-go.
Christopher Nolan is hands-down my favorite director so I had high expectations for this film.
I was immensely disappointed with the confusing story that seemed to have no answer.
It was interesting, but unfortunately not a masterpiece like much of his other work..
I'm cutting this film some slack....for what it was, it's pretty good.
The film begins with a guy chasing what you assume is a bug or perhaps a mouse in his apartment.
When he smashes this creature, a chain of events follow and the movie ends.Every director needs to start somewhere.
You don't start your career with a mega-hit but work up to it.
Despite having some big name films to his credit, such as MEMENTO and BATMAN BEGINS, Christopher Nolan was still a nobody when he made this short film a little over a decade ago.
In fact, it's his very first film and so I think it's important to evaluate it as an experimental film done by a student.
In this context, it's a pretty good little film--though I agree with Bob the Moo that what will happen in the film is a bit obvious.
The style is excellent and the film is only three minutes long--perfect for such a film.By the way, this film is part of the CINEMA 16: European Shorts DVD.
On this DVD are 16 shorts.
Most aren't great, though because it contains THE MAN WITHOUT A HEAD, COPY SHOP, RABBIT and WASP, it's an amazing DVD for lovers of short films and well worth buying..
An early short from Nolan.
This is a very interesting short film made by Christopher Nolan, who is famous for not only reviving the Batman series, but for The Prestige, Insomnia, and my favorite Memento.This film doesn't require much thinking or anything, which caught me off guard because Nolan is famous for making me think.The entire running time is very enjoyable.
A man tries to exterminate an annoying doodlebug.A lot of directors had to start somewhere, but unlike most filmmaker's early years, Nolan's short film is fascinating.
The only thing that people complain about is that it becomes very predictable within a minute or so into it.
It's a very enjoyable short that makes me wonder one thing.
Where did Nolan get this idea?.
A Short Film That Will Do No Harm.
Christopher Nolan's short film informs the audience of his mindset towards films in Doodlebug.
This short film has no particular special qualities to it besides the fun plot.
It is a very quick watch and for the duration I couldn't expect much more from it.
The thing that fascinates me about this short film is that it shows the motivation for movies like Inception and Memento.
Even the Following delves a bit in this direction.
The addition of a killer killing a bug paradox has extended similarities to story decisions in the Following as well.
I recommend this short film to any Nolan fan.
It is very short, and a very convenient watch during any time of the day..
Christopher Nolan's first short film "Doodlebug" is a subtle masterpiece.
Probably the first conception of inception, a reality in a reality in a reality in a never ending cycle.
Filmed in black and white with the perfect scenario, music and constant noises like ticking clocks that give a strong sense of paranoia and insanity.Perhaps there is a philosophical point to the film in which the doodlebug is his own God, ending his life again and again all through eternity in a parallel reality.Well done Mr. Nolan.
It is a very good way to start a film career, something to be proud of..
An excellent recommended short film for all film and Nolan fans!Duddlebug is an unique short film that with only 3 minutes makes you think outside of the box.
This is of course what Christopher Nolan is known for, his unique one-of-a-kind films that go beyond a normal imagination.
Duddlebug is the beginning of Nolan and you can see where this idea of a dream within a dream (Inception), a journal within a journal (The Prestige) or a flashback within a flashback (Memento) comes from.
In this short a man runs around chasing a bug trying to smash it with his shoe.
In the end as he finally succeeds defeating the film's conflict, a man appears in the same position with the same shoe right above him ready to smash him.
Above that man is another man in the same position ready to smash him, and so on.
This scenes shows Christopher's Nolan's major idea that he has used in some of his films, for example: in Inception there's the dream within a dream , a journal within a journal (The Prestige) or a flashback within a flashback (Memento)..
More Of A Student Experiment Than A Real Short - But It Is Indicative of The Maverick's Style of Filmmaking.
A distressed man has been trying endlessly to squash a bug that's bothering him.
This chase continues till we find out that the bug is a tinier version of himself.
When he kills it, a larger version of the man kills him in turn.Christopher Nolan's effort doesn't amount to a brilliant shot in the sense that it's obvious (and Christopher isn't to blame) that the maverick had made this just to experiment with camera, lighting, sound and special effects.
But it is indicative of the themes he has brought to his feature film: insanity, narcissism, never-ending cycle and twist endings.
It would be rather futile to over-analyze this work because it is what it is; the first thing that you understand is what it is.My Rating: 6.5 out of 10.
Nice idea, but that's it.
This three-minute black-and-white film is famous director Cgristopher Nolan's very first work.
Nolan cast him again after this one, also for a very small role in "Batman Begins".
Anyway, the story seems to be about a man with some kind of disorder (why else would he destroy a phone?) who has a very strong desire to kill a bug in his apartment.
There is one flaw with this movie though: There are no telephones so small that the "bug" could actually use them.
The final revelation about the bug is one that fits Nolan in terms of his ideas in movie such as "Inception".
Pretty forgettable short film (with over-the-top music) though and it probably would be completely unknown if it wasn't by one of the top directors these days.
An okay watch at three minutes, but nothing one has to see..
As real as a nightmare.
A good, eerily effective short for a mere three minutes..
I just see it as a great little flicker of darkness that takes you on a brief surreal journey that plays off of the senses.
To me this short's like a dark joke with the end being the punchline.
You see a rough-looking man, he's hopping around a dank room, swatting at something we can't see, which soon turns out to be himself, which is needless to say, odd.
Than you see that the miniature man is attempting to squish some kind of micro version that is smaller still.
You notice that all three(and very possibly more)are all making the same gestures, and that those gestures are happening closer and closer together, just as a startling realisation enters the mind-POP!
Short's over.
Those were my exact reactions when I first watched this-although I did actually watch it years ago but completely forgot all about it.(not good) I mean, the man: you have no idea if he's mad, a junkie having a bad trip(he was all sweaty and ragged), or is it his nightmare that we're seeing?
I believe it's a nightmare becomes of how everything seems to culminate and converge just as it ends.
Because, many times in my own dreams and nightmares,(of which I am eternally grateful to whatever unknowable forces there may be) I've felt a very strong and lucid sensation of my own scattered self and consciousness rushing together just as I wake up.
So why was the guy trying to kill himself?
Maybe he was just trying to kill the little parts of his personality that he subconsciously couldn't stand, and some bigger, deeper subconscious part of himself from the dark depths of his mind had a desire to swallow-up and erase himself...
It was a kaleidoscopic effect, all was one and one was all, and a kind of visual sleight-of-hand.
You're so busy looking at the little thing on the floor that you're not looking at where the magician's hands are going.
Not seeing the bigger picture.
I thought this short was a pretty cool, mind -bending idea that was very well done.
I've seen far better shorts-but never one quite like this.