2016 Election in a Nutshell is a short film directed and edited by Ryan Bowman. The film was made several weeks before the 2016 election in accordance with their high school mock election. The film's purpose was to encourage people to go out and vote, while also incorporating a rather humorous tone. The film follows a Trump and Hillary supporter as they confront one another, before being attacked by a third party candidate - Gary Johnson - forcing the two to settle their differences and join forces against him . The film stars Gabe Sagherian, Alex Fanelli and Austin Brinser, with director Ryan Bowman making a cameo appearance towards the end.
The film was released on October 27, 2016, around a week before the actual election took place. Though he wasn't involved with the making of it, Scott Pincus enjoyed the film very much, and put it on his YouTube channel.
Plot
A Donald Trump supporter (Alex Fanelli) sits with a Hillary Clinton supporter (Gabe Sagherian). When the Hillary supporter realizes who his acquaintance is voting for, he flips out, and asks how anyone could vote for him. The Trump supporter asks him the same question, to which he says that unlike Trump, Hillary has respect for women. The Trump supporter argues that Hillary took donations from Saudi Arabia, where women are oppressed. The Hillary supporter claims there's no evidence of that, to which the Trump supporter takes out a gun. In response, the Hillary supporter takes out a garden hose nozzle. The Trump supporter gives him a pistol, which he runs off with; the Trump supporter shoots as he retreats.
The Hillary supporter hides behind a shed as the Trump supporter sneaks up on him. The Hillary supporter shoots away at the Trump supporter, wasting all his bullets in the process. As the Trump supporter approaches him, a car drives up, with a well-dressed man stepping out. The Hillary supporter believes it's Richard Gere, but the man identifies himself as Gary Johnson (Austin Brinser). Upon realizing that neither supporters have heard of him, Johnson pulls out a gun and starts shooting at them. Both supporters retreat to the other side of the shed; at the Trump supporter's request, the two agree to put aside their differences and ally against Johnson. Both supporters move to either side of the shed and corner Johnson, who surrenders immediately.
The Trump supporter orders Johnson to drop all his guns, to which he puts nearly ten firearms on the ground. The Trump supporter then asks what they were fighting over in the first place, to which the Hillary supporter says they were arguing over who they're voting for. At that moment, a citizen (Ryan Bowman) walks over to them and says he's not voting for anyone - to which Johnson and both supporters gun him down.
Trivia
- Scott designed the film's logo and credits; the original version of the film, which was meant to be shown at the high school, did not feature credits.
- The film features homages to several other LordStarscream100 films. The scene where Johnson drops all his guns is reminiscent of the scene from Tea-Eee where Captain Jumpa drops all his guns.