I attended a screening of the Oscar-nominated shorts yesterday and if I had a vote in the Academy it would go to "Maestro". At the beginning I wasn't quite sure of what kind of world it took place in. On the surface it looked like a backstage peek at an impennate opera singer preparing for a show. But why was a mechanical arm doing all of the grooming, drink mixing, and other tasks? The interesting thing I noticed about "Maestro" was that as the camera circled around, the perspective changed at one second intervals. This technique recalls the motion of a second hand and hints strongly at the film's wonderful punch line.