Short of the day. Ecstasy, starring John Malkovich.

Ecstasy—Contains Adult Content from CarbonVFX on Vimeo.

Director/photographer Sandro once again enlists John Malkovich for his latest short film “Ecstasy.” A long-standing subject of Sandro's work, Malkovich has been featured in several of Sandro's portrait series as well as starring in his award winning short film "Butterflies," which won Best New Director Award at the Saatchi & Saatchi Showcase at Cannes in 2011. The latest piece is a gritty vignette featuring the beloved actor as the feral character Vinny. With Sandro’s camera playing a two-way mirror, the viewer witnesses an unsettling one-on-one moment with Vinny spouting vicious invective to his own craggy visage, leering and mugging in a filthy club bathroom.

Frenetically arresting editing by Whitehouse Post’s Josh Bodnar perfectly mirrors Vinny's frantic persona, as the cross-eyed user dips into his stash and becomes increasingly more agitated. Carbon VFX helmed the film’s post production, creating unnatural visions of ripping skin and teeth morphing into chiseled fangs that give the drug-addled performance an even more unnerving effect. Sandro’s final moving image, a close-up of Vinny inserting a razor blade in his mouth before exiting the frame, is a fitting end to the nightmarish soliloquy to remember him by.

Credits:
Vinny: John Malkovich

Created and Directed: Sandro
Production: One Eye Shut Productions
Wardrobe Stylist: Leslie Pace
Hair and Makeup: Randy Wilder

Editorial Company: Whitehouse Post
Editor: Josh Bodnar
Sr. Producer: Kristin Branstetter

Post Production: Carbon VFX
Creative Director/Lead Flame: Chris Noellert
Executive Producer: Matt Thunell
Sr. Flame Artist: Pete Mayor
Flame Assistant: Christopher Brown

Sound: Eleven
Mixer: Scott Burns
Assistant Mixer: AJ Murillo
Producer: Caroline O'Sullivan