The short film form restricts the storyline of a film, making it very intense and preventing huge amounts of plot detail. To be effective the director Anthony Lucas has to be very creative, and The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello does this remarkably well. The silhouette style creates a perfect Gothic, industrial feel and is very effective in transporting you immediately to a distant but still familiar world of huge lumbering airships, cogs and smoke, and mysterious creatures. It is a fantasy that is also very real; it draws on the 'what-might-have-been' of steampunk, blending the genre's idea of advanced Victorian society with the dark imagery of Lucas' Shadowlands.
The extras on the DVD are also very good - included are other short films by the same director and his commentary about the making of the film (very interesting). Well worth it.
The extras on the DVD are also very good - included are other short films by the same director and his commentary about the making of the film (very interesting). Well worth it.