By In his short film, “Unarmed Robbery,” senior film and electronic arts major Seth Craven includes a character who robs a store single-handedly – literally.
Craven’s short film won three awards at the Cal State University Media Arts Festival, and he left the festival with $1,500 for himself and $750 for the Cal State Long Beach Film and Electronics Department.
“It’s a really great feeling [to have won so many awards], because as a film major, you work on so many projects that you kind of know are good,” Craven said.
Craven began shooting videos when he was 18 years old. At the festival, he won the Rosebud Award, the Audience Choice Award and tied for the Best in Show Award.
Of the awards, Craven said the Audience Choice Award is his favorite.
“The rewards are great, but the audience’s enjoyment is better,” Craven said. “What’s more rewarding is people watching the movie.”
“Unarmed Robbery” begins with a man loading a gun with one hand, using his elbow, knee and foot to help finish the task. The next shot shows the same man walking into a store and pointing the gun at a clerk, who is distracted by a magazine.
Once the clerk sees the gun, his eyes go from the robber’s gun to his missing arm. The clerk is more appalled by the robber’s arm missing than the gun pointed at his face and proceeds to take pictures of the stump and help the robber pick up his bag on the way out.
The concept of someone robbing a store single-handedly, which the main character literally does with one arm, was the main inspiration used, Craven said. Usually, a robber has to have more power over the victim; however, Craven liked the idea of someone who had to be powerful while overcoming a disadvantage.
Craven said he hopes to use “Unarmed Robbery” to advertise for his upcoming film about the recent loss of his father. The new short film, “A Dog’s Life,” will be based on the tension that resulted between Craven and his mother, who tried to overcome his father’s death by buying a dog while Craven tried to hold on to the memory of his father.
“This project [‘Unarmed Robbery’] is the first of many to come,” Craven said.
“Unarmed Robbery” will be entered in the International Film Festival of Cinematic Arts in the Los Angeles Arts District at the Aero Theater on Saturday and the Santa Monica Film Festival on Dec. 8.
“Unarmed Robbery” can be viewed at vimeo.com/51179003.
