TheOneManBoxOffice
You might be familiar with the Christmas TV special "Olive, The Other Reindeer", produced by Matt Groening. If not, you might also be familiar with Matt Groening's other project, the mildly raunchy sci-fi comedy series "Futurama". If you stuck around after the end credits of either one of these, you saw the a logo with the words "The Curiosity Company", which is Mr. Groening's production company. It also featured a rather odd image of a rippling water reflection, complete with a dripping water sound. If you wanted to know where all those weird sound effects and visuals in the logo came from, here is your answer."A Study in Wet" is a 1964 short experimental film by Matt's father, Homer Groening, consisting of water reflections, surfing footage, and the sound of water dripping into a bathtub, as he points out around 50 seconds in. We aren't given a rather logical reason as to why he filmed this, other than the fact that some of us "haven't really listened to water" or really observed its behavior. Regardless, what we are left with is a somewhat mesmerizing and trippy experience for a whole six minutes, and I can't help but be reminded of a David Lynch short film while watching this.There are filmmakers who only want to tell a story or take you on a unique experience that will change the way you look at life. Then there are filmmakers who only make certain movies, simply because they can. "A Study in Wet" would most likely fall in the latter category. I'm pretty sure there's a deeper meaning behind it all (if there even is one) but I can't find it. All I can say is, it's a memorable piece with unique composition fit for an art museum.