The Ellington Kid - Short Film Review

The Ellington Kid (2012) - Dan Sully

Genre: Social realism, dark humour

Narrative: In a typical South London kebab shop, Nathan explains to Beefy why he really shouldn't eat the burgers.

Representation: Shows a typical representation of a gang (stabbings), and the kebab owners are not British, and automatically presumed they're 'from some war torn country'.

Audience: We're not involved in being told the story, and are actually just placed as an onlooker. We are left confused as it is not explicitly stated that the story is true or not. 

Notable Micro Elements: 

• The close ups of the sharpening knife, chopping meat and frying chips with loud non-diegetic sounds included with the title, to add a sinister tone.
• Slow motion when the kebab man closed the door.
• Worms eye view of the man seeing the stabbed kid laying on the floor.
• Clear difference between day and night - indicating the cuts from the two boys to the gang.
• Leading tunnel lights towards the stabbed kid.

My response to the film: I think the film is good, I like the dark humour aspect to it. And even though it is a common story line it was well made. I liked the cuts between showing the boy telling his friend the story, and actually seeing the event taking place, I actually thought it gave a good visual aid to the film and was more interesting than just seeing someone just telling a story. The use of characters was well done, and I didn't think there was anybody out of place.

What could I use? 
I may consider using a voice over for my short film, as I feel like I could use it on parts where I want to focus more on what's being shown. Or to help with flashbacks if that is something I end up doing.

What could I develop?
The idea of using day and night to show two scenarios. I could also use it in the context of good vs evil.

What could I challenge? 
To perhaps not have such a linear narrative structure, and this could make the film more interesting and unique.