Best Of The Web: Cardboard Cadet

When I was a kid, cardboard had just been invented, but video cameras hadn’t been so there’s no record of my kid-size paper airplane constructs quite so entertaining as this brilliant film by Chris Castor and his son, Kai. The 2017 two-minute short has won numerous awards and when you watch it—which I’m sure you will several times—you’ll see why.

Father and son used a DJI drone and a home green screen—plus a lot of creative shooting and editing skill—to pull off a kid’s fighter pilot fantasy flight that joyfully captures what most of us should immediately recognize: an early fascination with airplanes and flight. Not all kids have it, but it’s universal enough to provoke an infectious grin at the first sight of the completed aircraft. It even has propping done correctly.

The seamless editing and convincing visuals show what’s possible with today’s readily available video technology. It also shows something else: an uplifting and inspiring father and son project of the sort we should all celebrate.