Casting

In total our film has 5 characters, and is ultimately limited in dialogue, with the main feature of our film being the voice over.

Firstly, we have our protagonist, who I would label as an 'anti-hero' is a 'thirtysomething' investment banker who will be played by Dan Margerison. The concept that our protagonist is a male, mainly derives from the idea of living up to stereotypes, and after researching we have found that the dominant representation of investment bankers is mainly with males. In addition to this, considering that the actor portraying this role is only 17, it is necessary that we manipulate his costume, it is for this reason that we have him as a suave 'suited and booted' male. The idea of the architypal 'investment banker' can be supported through the props he will use, such as a brief case and also a broadsheet newspaper such as 'The Financial Times', which will play an integral part of the film.

What's more, our other main character is Robin, an urban young male who will be portrayed by Gary Salem. The main advantage of this is the fact that this will prove to be a juxtaposition to Alexander the banker, which ultimately indicates how much society is divided. Here we could say that our choice of actor does not meet the dominant representation as he is not black, however we don't view this as highly important, and plan to manipulate this by placing a greater emphasis on his costume. As expected, 'Robin' will be dressed in urban streetwear with a 'hoodie', jeans and trainers, which I feel inadvertedly complements our protagonist as it shows that clothing does not limit personality, and brings up the old saying 'Don't judge a book by its cover', largely what the film is based around.

Moreover, we have 3 more characters with a lesser role; Firstly, our homeless character is played by David Thomas, with this character we attempted to represent a certain section of a vulnerable Britain, as shown with the underclass in our country. Props used intensify the persona of a character, the fact that he walks around with a blanket and a sign indicates his standing in society. 

Secondly, one of our other minor characters a Pregnant women is played by Izzy Mclelland, I feel that her character is rather self- explanatory, however the presence of such a character is used in order to show morality or lack of within our film.

Thirdly, our final character we have an old woman played by Shelby Yearwood, similarly to the other two characters the old woman represents a forgotten side of British society, this is supported by the props she uses being her shopping bags and the fact that nobody helps her.

Storyboard

Our storyboard offers a variety of shots, which giving an insight to the audience in different ways,  most notably our many 'point of view' shots, that we aim to almost incorporate the audience into the film, making them feel as an integral part of the film, as they can ultimately see the narrative from the character at hand. As well as that, a key scene that I felt we have visualized especially well is that off the car crash where we managed to get around not having an actual car crash scene through the use of sound and quick cutting from a range of shots, has allowed us to display the same effect.

Script

[Establishing shot, shows a busy London street, landmarks establish the london setting e.g red buses ect.]

Voiceover: In ye old London town

                    A villain among his wealth

                   He wanders through the poor and down

                   No worry but for himself

[Alexander walks down the street, carrying as briefcase and umbrella, an angry look on his face, barging past the crowd as he walks. He encounters a beggar, camera focussed on him, looking desperate and scruffy, typical homeless person. Alexander ignores the man mutters 'get a job' and continues]

Voiceover: Along the same direction

                     Comes a hero, brave and good

                     Offering the weak his protection

                     Walks the brave bold Robin Hood

[Robin walks down an identical street, dressed scruffily, although looking happy and carefree, he stops at the beggar, shakes his hand and gives him money, the beggar smiles as he walks away]

Voiceover: Side by side, our do-ers of evil and virtue, 

                    One uncaring to a mother in her time of need

                    The other, her saviour comes to rescue

                   Offers to her and her infant, his mighty and noble steed

                    

[Alexander and Robin sit on a busy train, opposite each-other, both oblivious to each-other, Alexander is reading the paper, turning pages angrily, covering his face,  Robin reads a small book. A woman with a small child enters the train, looking anxious, obviously struggling on the packed train. Cut to Alexander, lowering his paper, looking disapprovingly at the woman, before returning to the paper. Robin notices the woman, smiles, and gives her his seat, she smiles as he gets off the train]

Voiceover: Our villain smirks at the needy, his dark sense of wit

                    Once again he ignores the meek and the old

                    Unknowing when one day he needs it

                    The needy and weak shall leave him in the cold

                   

[Alexander exits a train station, again identifiably british landmarks are shown. An old woman struggles with shopping bags, looking to cross the road, Alexander again ignores her, and continues on his way]

Voiceover: Our Hero helps those less able

                     Doing some good where he can

                    Little did he know in this fable

                    He would encounter this despicable man

[Robin walks past the same road, helps the old lady, carrying the shopping, she thanks him, they both smile, he walks on]

[Alexander walks down a quiet road, reading his paper as he walks, steps out to cross the road, he is clipped by a passing car. Obviously hurt he falls to the floor. The beggar, old lady and woman and child walk past, ignoring him. Robin approaches, helps Alexander to his feet hands him his briefcase]

Alexander: Thank you so much!

Robin: No problem mate. I'm sure you'd do the same. What's your name, pal?

Alexander: Alexander, you?

Robin: Call me Rob [the men shake hands]

[The men walk their separate ways, both turn a corner. Alexander pats himself down, finding something missing, before continuing walking. Robin is shown smiling, taking cash from a wallet before discarding it]

Voiceover: Our hero saved him from the Dark

                     Doing his act of good

                     Swiping his gold, he left his mark

                   The noble Robin Hood

                   

Commentary

Our script looks to capture a more traditional British style, the voiceover is written in the tone of a fable, particularly looking to emulate the traditional British story of Robin Hood. We still look to capture contemporary themes however, showing the class divide between the wealthy Alexander and the poor but  noble Robin. The morality of the Robin character is left up to the audience, an open ended aspect to the narrative, common in short film.

Film Synospis

Alexander is a deplorable self- centred business man, who seems to have no care or respect for anybody he doesn’t seem to be on his level of the status quo. On his daily commute, Alexander is in his own world as he sits reading his newspaper, isolating himself from the rest of society. Yet, it took one fatal day for his bubble to be burst and ultimately shake up what we know as the class system and ultimately leave him in a position where he needs help from the same people he shunned. Will ‘such’ people turn the cheek? Or do the morally right thing and help him?

As you can see the main issue this film entails is the idea of class and community. With regards to our short film, we in a sense will attempt to cover all aspects of the class system; ranging from the underclass to the more affluent upper middle class, and how there lives surprisingly intertwine, into a shocking and twisted end. What's more, we also delve in the issue of community or lack of community, which again is very central. It is for this reason, that we can even liken the film in some respects to fairytales such as Robin Hood, but giving it a contemporary revamp, this in turn leads to us editing in a unique and more complex way.

Short Film Analysis- 'Sold'

Sold is a short film directed by Nadia Attia, and has been publicized throughout the BBC network. 'Sold' is about the aspirations and hopes of a down on luck male, whose luck suddenly changes whilst watching a surreal shopping channel.

The film does well to convey the structures and techniques that we commonly associate with a short film. For instance, we have a linear narrative in the sense that it is in real time, whereas the main thing we see in the film is a circular narrative, something ever presemt in the films we have watched, as we see that the film ends where the plot started, being his neighbour coming ask for cookoing utensils, and ending with him buying the same cooking utensils she had asked for previously, this can be labelled as a narrative twist, which is also synonymous with the cult of short films. 'Sold' is also has an open ended narrative as ultimately it lacks resolution, which in a sense is an advantage to the author who is able to reach out to many different audiences with many different expectations on how they would envisage their ending in the way they wish it to, mainly being that the man ends up with the woman.

What's more, we see many cinematic technique, synonymous with feature length films in 'Sold'. Firstly, when in the main protagonists appartment, we see clear high key lighting which in a sense shows the realism of the communal spirit in Britain, the fact that he is secluded shows he is unwilling to live up to the communal spirit. The further contrast we see is with regards to the telivision screen which is a juxtaposition to the rest of the flat which is grey and dull, whereas the screen is bright and almost shows the 'promised' land. Equally, the idea is that 4th wall is broken as it seems the auctioneer is directly talking to the protagonist and the audience, which does bring a surreal element to the film.

The idea of this being a traditional short film is furthered by the simplistic way that titles are utilised in the film, they are used to open and close the film and are in black in white, which is something of low cost and ineffective, as well presenting the full credits.

In addition to this, we can relate this film to a variety of British theme, nominally consumerism and the cult it has, the fact that people sit down everyday to watch tv to buy arguably unimportant things, showing idleness. On a more contemporary scale we can see the lack of community spirit, shown through the fact that he was reluctant to even open the door to his neighbour.