"Strayed Outta Compton", without actually watching it brings to me memories of my Facebook newsfeed. If yours was anything like mine, it was constantly bombarded with MEMEs proclaiming they were Straight Outta... some place or another. This went on for a while, completely turning myself, and many I know against the now familiar graphic. So, my first look at Matt Clifford's comedy short didn't fair all that well. I'm glad to write however, there was a purpose to this ever invasive title. One that actually fits and makes perfect sense. "Strayed Outta Compton" revolves around a group of work buddies, and their significant others, who meet for a good time away from work ending up watching everyones favorite gansta movie. This "accidental screening" sets the pace for a short film that is actually quite funny, although a little forced at times. For the average viewer, it would be difficult to not laugh at least a few times during the short 12 minute runtime. Full of comedic chiches, and a good nose for direction from Jim Whipple, I'm happy to write that this is a short film that you'll not regret taking a look at. At least... I didn't. The technicalities of this short film leave very little room to comment on. All in all, "Strayed Outta Compton" presents some nicely rounded production and post production work. The shots themselves appear sharp and nicely lit, and even the audio (Thankfully) is clear and on point. The visual gags and dialog, for the most part work well although as I wrote above, can come across as a little forced or awkward. At times, this awkward approach works nicely, framing the uncomfortable situation that makes up the film. Other times however, things come across as just wonky and off. This could be an editing issue, but because this film uses an awkward atmosphere as a gag... it's really hard to tell for sure. The editing of this film, as I wrote above, goes from feeling perfectly paced to severely un-balanced. As I also wrote above, it's really hard to finger out the exact reasons, due to the content of the film itself. There are pauses in the dialog that "could" have been on purpose, or "could" have been an edit that needed tightening up. Sometimes, the conversation between characters came across as spaced, or as if some invisible metronome had to have been heeded during conversations. Sometimes this perfectly conveyed an awkward feeling. Other times it just felt scripted. It just so happens however, that the characters themselves, and the cast who portrayed them, did manage to infuse a nice sarcastic nature into the characters. Especially the woman who had this personality type nailed. The one bothersome thing I noticed however, was that everyone came across as the same person. Same personalities, same sarcasm. By the conclusion of the movie this is to be expected... all things considered and given the nature of the film. Having everyone feel like the same person socially, from the very start however, was very noticable to me. This was a very small gripe that not many people would look for. Unless of course, you went out looking. In the end, "Strayed Outta Compton" was a fun little film that manages to take a stereotype and have some fun with it. With no problem passing that mediocre mark on the rating scale, and at only 12 minutes, this should be a quick little diversion the majority of us should check out. A little laughter goes a long way, and this little movie is full of it. Why not treat yourself and check it out. It's a freebie and the link is over to the left-- Yo. -JT
