Short of the Week

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Documentary Liam Saint-Pierre

The Reinvention of Normal

A profile of artist, inventor, and designer Dominic Wilcox and his quest for new ideas.

Play
Documentary Liam Saint-Pierre

The Reinvention of Normal

A profile of artist, inventor, and designer Dominic Wilcox and his quest for new ideas.

The Reinvention of Normal

Directed By Liam Saint-Pierre
Made In UK

Considering the sheer amount of short profile documentaries online, sometimes it takes a bit of personality to stand out. Well, in this portrait of London-based artist and inventor Dominic Wilcox, director Liam Saint-Pierre delivers personality by the bushel full. Saint-Pierre’s film is a quirky, playful look into the mind of a man who looks at the world just a wee bit differently than everyone else. Quite simply, Wilcox is a great documentary subject—a man who crafts odd doohickeys and thingamabobs with an energy that might seem crazy if it wasn’t so infectious. Granted this may not be the deepest cinematic experience in the world, but it’s just so much damn fun—7 minutes of unadulterated joy in the visual form.

There’s a stereotype of the madcap inventor in popular culture and Dominic Wilcox doesn’t fit it in the slightest. He doesn’t wear a lab coat and doesn’t have wild hair (actually, he’s bald). This visual contrast between such a seemingly “normal” guy and the zany products in which he creates is somewhat fascinating. Granted, Wilcox’s creations might not exactly be useful in a practical sense, but they’re the type of thing guaranteed to make you smile—a sort of “smart-dumb” that essentially works like prop-comedy. Carrot Top, may have found his newest joke-writer. As such, this profile doc breezes by—expertly shot and edited, interspersed with whimsical, gag-filled animation segments. A “reverse bungee” was my personal favorite.

So what? Let’s do the ridiculous! Something else might come of it.

At it’s heart, this a film about the joy of the creative spirit. Dominic’s attitude and offbeat way of looking at life is somewhat infectious. Why do we create? Where does that desire come from? And, what gets in the way of it? These are all questions that director Liam Saint-Pierre addresses in this bite-size piece of whimsy.

Be sure to check out more of Liam Saint-Pierre’s work via his website.