Treatment

 Act 1 – set up  

The first act begins with a woman, dressed smartly transporting a famous piece of artwork in a bag for her boss, an art collector, shot in a comic book style. She is on the phone to her boss, stating she will be arriving soon, [and walks past posters of the art she is delivering, announcing it had been bought for millions]. As she speaks to him, she realizes she is being followed by a gang of people, likely trying to steal the expensive art in her bag. As she turns back around, she also realizes they have cut off her path to the meeting place. She diverts into a nearby cafe, where a teenage boy is working, cleaning up the shop before closing. He wears his work attire, and snacks on a chocolate bar. Seeing her walk in, he smiles, grudgingly admitting he decided to close up early, and asks if she wants her regular. Comprehending that she will not be able to get the art to her boss without being intercepted, she recruits the boy working in the cafe to deliver it for her, hoping he will be able to slip past the gang for her. She promises him money, to which he agrees. She tells him to take it to the meet up point, which is just round the corner from the cafe. She then leaves the cafe, explaining the change of plans quietly to her boss. The boy picks up the bag and leaves the cafe.  

Act 2 

We watch the boy, walking with the bag to the meeting place. As he walks, various gang members pass him, clearly following after the woman, and the boy watches them uneasily. As he looks behind him to watch them go, he accidentally bumps into another gang member, and drops the bag. The man looks down at him menacingly, and he tries to push past the man, not realizing he’d dropped the bag in the commotion. There is a tense moment as the man stops him in his path, looking down at him. He looks back up at the man, fearfully, but the man simply passes him the bag back from the floor, telling him to watch where he was going. The boy hurriedly thanks him, before rushing to the meeting place 

 

Act 3 – resolution  

The art collector boss, is still on the phone to the woman, saying he's been watching the boy approach the meeting point and hes almost there, just as the boy rushes into the shop. The boy passes him the bag, and the boss thanks him, giving him more money for his trouble. The boy thanks the man before leaving. The art collector opens the bag and withdraws the item inside. His face falls, and the camera dollies to his hand clasping an empty chocolate bar wrapper. The camera cuts to the boy in the cafe who looks down at something on the table in front of him. It is revealed that the famous artwork sits in front of him, unwrapped from its packaging. The camera zooms out to reveal the gang stood around him. There is a quick series of flashbacks where we see him watching the woman first approaching the cafe, him nodding at the man he later bumps into, and him smiling slightly after bumping into him, where it is shown that during the interaction the bags were switched. It cuts back to the present, where the boy holds the money to his face, examining it. He stands and walks through his gang members, telling them to get the artwork to the buyer  

 

Echo - Lewis Arnold

 Echo is a short film following a girl who receives a phone call from the hospital about her dad being in an accident. It is quickly revealed that she had not in fact been on a call, leading us to understand she had been running a scam. However, as the story progresses, we begin to see that she is grieving for her father who had actually been in an accident. The plot is ambiguous, not giving the viewer total understanding her character and how she is acting. We do not know if she is intentionally using her grief to gain money or if she is simply grieving to the point she keeps reliving the experience of learning of her dads accident. Our response to her character also varies greatly over the course of the film: at the beginning we feel bad for her as we believe her dad to have just been in an accidence but a few moments later we believe her to be a scammer, and start to feel more negative about her. However, by the end of the film, we can see that she is grieving and it is suggested that she has actually been through the experience she is acting out, making us feel more sympathetic towards her. 

The structure of the narrative is important in creating this ambiguous storyline.  The film leaves us with no answer on how the order of the events took place in the plot, making the film more compelling, as we do not know if the final scene was her actually getting the phone call for the first time, or simply her doing the scam again. The use of close up at the end, still suggests there is something more going on then just as scam, as it puts emphasis on her expression. The long take on this shot allows us to see just how much grief she is feeling, showing her emotions are real, even if the call isn't. This creates an open ending, not allowing us to see what happens next, or even understand the truth within the story. 

Slap - Nick Rowland

 

Slap is a short film following a boxer, who likes to express himself through wearing dresses and make up. It explores themes of identity, masculinity and expression, following him as he tries to navigate the reactions of his friends and families. Set in an northern, industrial town, the location gives the sense the man lives in a more conservative atmosphere, adding to the sense of tension for the viewer as we understand it to be more likely for him to encounter negative views on his actions. Mise-en-scene is also important for establishing the atmosphere of the mans environment, with often drab backgrounds and colours, adding to the dingy feel of the scene. This also helps to show how the man stands out against the rest of the town, as his make up stands out with its colourful nature against the drab backdrop. 

Performance is also important throughout the film, allowing us to understand the characters and emotions of each scene. It also gives the film a further sense of realism, with its psychologically credible performances. For instance, in the scene where Lola confronts Connor in the party, she repeats the words "is it mine?". This feels more realistic as we know she is actually angry about Connor lying to her, but the writers chooses to make her express her anger through the object that supposedly belongs to her. The actress acurately portrays these emotions, making us see that her anger is actually beyond the stolen object, and is much deeper than that. 

Characters

How characters are defined in film

Costume

Dialogue

Actions 

Example: Zane [Ninjago]

Zane does not drive at the start of the series and instead rides a dragon to get around. In later seasons, he drives an ice themed race car to match his elemental ability of ice. At a restaurant he would likely order his steak well done, as he wouldn't like the idea of eating his steak partially raw, as he is not very adventurous. He would listen to classical music to calm his worries as he tends to overthink about their actions and potential consequences. His favourite colour would be white or blue as he likes ice, because it is his elemental power. His favourite song to do karaoke to would be bad guy by Billie Eilish as it is ideal to do the robot dance to and he is a robot. His favourite film would be Ex Machina, as he would relate to the character of Ava and find it intriguing. His biggest fear is being afraid. 

Tight Jeans - Destiny Ekaragha

Tight Jeans is a short film about three boys having a conversation about what wearing tight jeans says about a person. The film is comical, and whilst it discusses some serious topics like slavery and sexual politics, its maintains a light, and comedic tone throughout. Although much of what the the characters discuss about the wearers of skinny jeans it satirical of what some men talk about in real life, Ekaragha also chooses to use them to discuss some elements of truth. For instance, on of the men talks about his dislike of being with white women, as they can sometimes use black men to create mixed race babies, as their "ticket" into the black community. Another example is when they talk about how people of all races have originated from Africa.

The use of mise-en-scene is important as it reflects the title and theme of the film. Whilst the white man who walks past them wears skinny jeans, accompanies by mostly black items of clothing, the three boys wear baggy jeans. This helps to cement their group status, which is further reinforced by the similarities in the rest of their outfits, such as their hoodies and shoes. This, paired with the fact they are all black-british boys, helps group them together, suggesting their shared opinions and the idea that they are similar. However, it also shows that, despite their similarities, they are different from each other. For instance, the colours of their hoodies, and differences in hairstyle. Their performance also establishes this, pushing them comfortably into personality types, with one being the funny one, one being the unintelligent one, and one being the clever one. This helps us connect to the characters even within the short space of time of the film.