Artistic License (I) (2005) User Reviews

Why isn't this on TV yet!!!???!!!

[Slinger56-1 · 10/10 · 4 November 2005]

I saw Artistic License at the New York Television Festival and I must say.. of all submitted, this was by far.. Top Notch!

I love the character development! I love the banter between David Milken (played by David Lago) and his boss Brianica Vincent!

I can't wait to get to know these characters even more! This short could easily develop into a series. I was left wanting to know more about several of the characters.

Hats off to the Director and production team. The quality shows! David Lagos' performance was great!

It conquered NY TV Festival.. Next stop France maybe??? Artistic License is a 10 in my book!!!!!

Seemed very familiar

[pjaffe · 16 September 2006]

I saw this film at the 2006 DC Shorts festival in Washington, DC. The movie was very enjoyable, but it bore a strikingly resemblance to another short film that I had seen from the 2004 48 film festival, also in Washington DC. It was titled "Snapshot" (2004/I). Though "Artistic License" clearly had a higher budget and more time for shooting and editing, I think the original is still better. The similarities are uncanny, from the plot, the main character, the central conflict, and the use of driver's license photos of the actors in the credits. I can't say "Artistic License" was deliberately ripped off of "Snapshot", but I am suspicious.

Film Threat 4 1/2 Stars!

[Rex-316 · 10/10 · 28 March 2007]

David Milken is more than a photographer. He is an artist. He paints with the acrylic lens of his camera, striving for perfection in each shot, struggling to create masterpieces out of the faces he portrays in his work. Each day, he must overcome the challenge of exploiting what little light his studio offers and using it to his advantage. His dream is to have a window installed behind his station, so he can channel the sunlight and enlighten every picture. But the higher-ups won't allow. Oh no, bureaucracy wins again. David is the man responsible for taking photos at the DMV, tired of those dreaded pictures that usually appear on licenses, he seeks to transcend the bland photograph and transform every license into a work of art. But his boss stands in his way. She doesn't want art. She wants him to take pictures as fast as possible, one every seventy five seconds. But when his boss has to renew her license, he is assigned to take her picture and, he knows, nothing good can come of it.

"Artistic License" is a masterfully executed comedy about one man who lives and thinks outside the box. The direction is spot on, subtly milking the script's laughs and charm in lieu of exploiting it by hamming everything up. The actors are top notch, David Lago, who plays Milken, is a professional caliber actor and hopefully this will garner him work in larger projects. And the same can be said for every actor in this film, from Jennifer Echols, who plays the boss, to Heather Fox, who plays a bitchy co-worker; these are just fantastic performances all around.

Shot in 2.35:1, the cinematography is the most effective part of the short. Beautifully lit, the style faithfully recreates the overexposed, fluorescent lighting of a DMV. And the compositions of the shots, not to mention the fluid, often professional level, camera movement is the best this reviewer has seen thus far in a short film. Hopefully, the men and women involved in "Artistic License" are working on a feature in some capacity—be it for a studio or independent of Hollywood—because this reviewer would love to see how well everyone works in a project three times as long as this wonderful short.