Blog A mixed-media fairy-tale

Who titles a movie The House That Jack Built here in 2009? Well, director William J. Meyer, a local artist screening this half-hour short film Friday at the Orpheum Stage Door. Like the old nursery rhyme, it feels very tightly contained and restrained by its form. The movie's trailer ("INSIDE EVERY MAN.... IS A SECRET") and poster nearly suggest a horror flick, but THTTB is more of a mixed-media fairy-tale in movie form, very much off in its own little world. The storytelling and dialogue take themselves a tad seriously and have their flaws (near the end, there's one line that could potentially be a Far Side caption). Yet with a film this short, it's more important that Meyers and director of photography Jeff Lyon plunge into that world. Visually speaking, they offer a stimulating, color-saturated mix of things to get wrapped up in.

The House That Jack Built - Teaser from William J. Meyer on Vimeo.

In short: Jack (Christopher Karbo) and Liz (Cerissa Chaney) are in love, they enjoy a beautiful house, and their lives are as adorably magical and brightly photographed as a Lunesta commercial. But one day Jack heads out into the garden (clad in his white chinos, red suspenders, and denim shirt, of course) and finds himself pursued by a strange being that might be some kind of bark-being or some kind of squid monster. It's not clear at first, and I won't spoil it, but Jack lives between the human universe and one that's entirely different. Early on in the film, the couple come upon a finely crafted dollhouse in the middle of a field, and, well, from then on, you sort of have to float along on the imagery.

There are scenes where Jack is tortured by some mysterious corrosion in his skin, but also a scene where he and Liz eat cake in bed together. Gleaming, sweeping shots of the sky and misty waterfalls, but also a particularly crafty sequence in which real life comes to parallel a bizarre black-and-white sci-fi film on TV—which is also a well-placed break in the glossy, hyper-rich photography, animation, and digital effects, and adds a much-needed dash of humor. This being a fairy-tale, it helps to go in with a somewhat childlike, fanciful frame of mind. The House That Jack Built is a bit disorienting at first, but by the time you've seen everything on Meyers' and Lyon's little cinematic palette, you might end up in the right mood for it.