''3 Minutes'' is an action-oriented

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

that was released on January 10, 2011. Production on the film commenced in 2010, with director

Ross Ching Ross Ching is an American filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California. Early life and education Ching grew up in San Jose, California. He started making skateboarding videos as a teenager. Ching went on to study film at San Diego State Universit ...

at the helm, alongside producers Don Le and George Wang. The film stars Harry Shum, Jr., Stephen "tWitch" Boss,

Katrina Law Katrina Law is an American actress. She is known for playing the roles of Mira on the Starz television series '' Spartacus: Blood and Sand'' and '' Spartacus: Vengeance'', Nyssa al Ghul on The CW television series ''Arrow'', Karen Beach on the ...

, and Thaine Allison Jr. The

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...

work was provided by David Adametz and the score composed by Paul Dateh.

Plot

The film centers on the unnamed main character (Harry Shum) receiving a handgun from an old man (Thaine Allison Jr.) and being told he has to complete an unspecified task within three minutes. Shum's character then rushes into a storage yard in pursuit of "Steve" (Stephen Boss), who evades Shum's gunshots and hides. Steve finds a dead body (Nicholas Acosta) holding a

lightsaber A lightsaber is a fictional energy sword featured throughout the '' Star Wars'' franchise. A typical lightsaber is depicted as a luminescent plasma blade about in length emitted from a metal hilt around in length. First introduced in the o ...

, and uses the weapon to disarm Shum, who draws his own lightsaber. After a short battle, Shum

decapitates Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

Steve and runs back to the old man, where he is told that his time was three minutes, eighteen seconds. Shum panics and runs away. A fourth unnamed character (Katrina Law) comes forward and receives a pistol from the old man who repeats his "three minutes" instruction. Law's character then leaves the garage, presumably in pursuit of Shum. The project is part two of a projected trilogy of short films including a prequel and sequel. The film was originally designed as a vehicle to showcase a wider range of acting skills for the two leads, Harry Shum Jr. and Stephen "tWitch" Boss, especially outside of the singing and dancing sphere. ''3 Minutes'' has received coverage from the official Star Wars site,

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

.com, and Gizmodo, as well as the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'', '' Seventeen'', ''

Audrey Audrey () is an English feminine given name. It is the Anglo-Norman form of the Anglo-Saxon name ''Æðelþryð'', composed of the elements '' æðel'' "noble" and ''þryð'' "strength". The Anglo-Norman form of the name was applied to Saint Aud ...

'', and ''

Hyphen The hyphen is a punctuation mark used to join words and to separate syllables of a single word. The use of hyphens is called hyphenation. ''Son-in-law'' is an example of a hyphenated word. The hyphen is sometimes confused with dashes ( figure ...

''. It was also featured on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software a ...

's Staff Pick of the Day on its debut day.

References

External links

"3 Minutes" on Vimeo
* {{IMDb title, id=1819443, title=3 Minutes 2011 short films 2011 films African-American films American science fiction short films 2011 science fiction action films American science fiction action films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films