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   Short Film Critique: 
   The Christmas Conspiracy

   Director: Jennifer Clary
   Expected Rating: General Audiences
   Distribution: None
   Budget: $500
   Genre: Children’s/Animated

   Running Time: 9 minutes 42 seconds

   Release Dates: December 7, 2008
   Website: http://christmas.jenkev.com
   Trailer: Click Here
   Review Date: December 1, 2008
   Reviewed By: Monika DeLeeuw-Taylor
Final Score:
8.7
Newly-widowed Mrs. Duckett and her two children are facing their first Christmas without their father. Mrs. Duckett is trying her best to make it a good experience for the children, but when she overhears them expressing their disbelief in Santa Claus, she is distraught. She mobilizes the town to action, and they concoct a plan to restore the faith of all the children. But when the plan goes awry, it seems that only a miracle will bring a happy Christmas to Bedsbottom.
When Mrs. Duckett's kids
express disbelief in Santa Claus...
...She mobilizes
the town to action.

Content
This film is a short claymation piece, definitely geared toward children. It takes place on Christmas Eve in a make-believe town, with characters that would probably be appealing to children. The film is not without a few adult references too – Van Gogh’s painting “Starry, Starry Night” is used as a backdrop for the sky, and music from Tchaikovsky’s famous “Nutcracker Suite” provides the soundtrack.

It was a very short film – as claymation movies often are, since there is so much time and effort that must go into making them. Although, I would have liked to see a bit more going on in the way of character development – such as what happened to Mr. Duckett, which could have been done minimally with a series of quick flashbacks. In addition, it was only Mrs. Duckett’s children who expressed a disbelief in Santa Claus, so it was a bit confusing when she told the other adults that all the children had lost their faith. Either way this ought to be addressed somehow – whether by scenes that show her overhearing other children, a conversation with other adults whose children are expressing similar sentiments, or even some sort of montage.

They concoct a plan to secretly
restore the children's faith...
...while the rest of the town
goes about its business.

Visual Look
Even for a claymation film, The Christmas Conspiracy had a nice visual look. There was a nice “smoke” effect made for one of the characters who always had a cigarette in his mouth, the opening credits sequence with snow falling in the background while the credits themselves also fell like snow, as well as the use of rack focus and split screen effects.

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