The Ellington Boy- Short Film (Post 1)

The Ellington Boy

Mise En Scene:

In the introduction you are presented with someone scraping knives together. Straight away the audience can make the assumption that the scene has been set in a butcher’s or a café. Also you are shown person wearing a red and white striped apron, this backs up the idea that they are in a food place. It also lets you know that the man is the chef and in charge of making or cutting the food in preparation for the customers.

The outfits that the boys are wearing are casual everyday clothes. This tells us that their has been no disruption and that they are carrying on with their day as normal. A boy is wearing a leather jacket, which is a bit big for him, and a pair of jeans, suggesting that he cares more for his appearance and likes to look representable. One of the boys is wearing a vibrant jacket with matching tracksuits and an adidas hat. This could imply that the boy is chavy, living in a ‘rough’ area.

The boy that has been stabbed is seen in a grey hoodie and tracksuit. When trying to get away he puts his hood up, this is to disguise himself from the people after him. The boy is shown to be constantly looking over his shoulder, emphasising his fear and desperation to find someone for help.

When the teenagers enter the café, waving their knives at the owners, to get the boy that has collapsed on the floor the camera focuses on the men’s faces. The expressions are emotionless and then broken with a smile. This tells the audience that they don’t fear the boys, instead they should be fearing them. There character’s seem incriminating at this point as the smirk.

Editing:

The editing to this at the beginning raises questions for the audience. When showing the introduction it is said to be based on a true story, however the next slide is bracketed as ‘kind of’. This is unusual for the audience to see. It conflicts to what it said before and now is confusing the viewers by making them question what is real and what is fake. Makes the audience think whether the story that is about to be told is just a rumour or maybe only parts of it is real.

When the boy is telling the story he heard from his other mate there is a jump cut. This is to emphasise that it is a flashback rather then what is happening now. The abruptness of the flashback plays on the fact that what happened was quick and dangerous, the attack was unpredicted.

There is a j-cut later in the short film when showing the story, to remind the audience that it is being told. It emphasises on the fact that it is not very known, so wasn’t released on the news. This could link to the beginning of the words ‘kind of’ when saying it was a true story. The real story could have been twisted.

Sound:

The sound at the beginning is the sound of the man sharpening his knives against one another. Already I know that the genre of this short film is going to be action with a bit of thriller. The sound is sharp and aggressive, letting the audience know that the owner’s of the shop are intense and show no emotion. This is creating tension for the audience and has caught the audiences attention. This is then followed with a man hitting a butcher knife through some meat. When the knife hits the table it makes a thud, this is continued three times, to make the audience jump and unsteady.

Dialogue is used to create a story unlike the first short film. The use of dialogue is important in this short film as we are able to understand the characters and what kind of people they are. The audience are also able to gain a narrative on the story that is about to be told.

When the boy is running from the boys that stabbed him everything goes quiet except his breathing. It is heavy and panicked. This shows his losing his breath, however from his wound rather than from his running- which his limping also helps to back this up.

When the boys run into the café and the man starts walking towards the door, the music starts to gradually fade in and gets louder and louder.

Cinematography:

A wide shot is used to show the area that the café is in, which gives the idea of what kind of place it is. By zooming out and allowing the audience to see the surroundings we know that the café is a family business.

Camera then does a two person shot  inside the café. This introduces us to the characters. This shot allows the audience to interpret the relationship between the boys. The boys seem very comfortable around each other and have the same friends, as shown when they talk about another person who they both know. We can determine how close the boys are when one of them grabs the other boy’s fries. This suggests that they’ve been friends for a while and like to whined each other up.

Another camera shot they use is a 180 turning shot, which brings the focus on the boy who’s about to narrate the story. Drawing the audience in like this we are able to know that something bad has happened, replaying the past. However, it is abruptly interrupted by the other boy, who seems fed up with his friend talking to him. This implies they may have a bad history with him, may have a dislike to him or a certain reputation that makes him untrustworthy when it comes to knowing the details to a story.