With heartbreak, wizard rock, a love story, fun editing, and great direction, this 2014 short by Yulin Kuang has everything! That is, if by “everything” you mean those five things I just mentioned. Watch and then subsequently fall in love with: I Ship It.
The short, owing its name to the fan-fic term “Shipping“, stars Mary Kate Wiles–who some may remember from the Emmy award winning web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries—and Sean Persaud as the equally heartbroken Zoe and Charlie. Having both been recently dumped, they find solace in their friendship and are able to wallow side by side venting about their exes and sharing their respective plans to get over them. Charlie intends to give away mementos on Craigslist that meant a lot to him in his relationship while Zoe plans to defeat her ex-boyfriend/band-mate in an upcoming battle of the bands.
With several nods to Harry Potter and wizard rock in both dialogue, set design and wardrobe, this short is chock full of fandom from beginning to end. Kuang’s direction and cinematography by Zack Wallnau seem to take several pages directly from Edgar Wright’s style of filmmaking. The fast paced scene transitions, unorthodox framing, and comic book panel closeups that offer a greater depth of storytelling remind us all of Wright’s work, especially 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.Â
Check out the behind the scenes footage of the film here and you can also see the full version video of the Potter-inspired song, “Honeydukes.”
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What do you think of I Ship It? Have you found your respective Harry or Ginny? Does it remind you of your current relationship? Perhaps your former breakups? Did I just ask for people to share breakup stories? Man, that’s dark. Well, share your heartbroken tears in the comments below!