"Shifty" An Independant British Thriller

Shifty!

"Shifty" is a British film that was made in 2008 under the Microwave Scheme that was funded by the UK film council (since replaced by the BFI). The aim of the scheme was to provide young London film makers with a platform to make a small independent film. 

The rules of the Microwave Scheme were that the film had to be made in 18 days and with a budget of less than £100,000. "Shifty" was the second Microwave film to be released. "Shifty" opened in 51 small independent cinemas such as the Curzon chain and on its opening weekend took £61,000. The final box office takings were £143,000. Most of the film's profits came from DVD and television sales.

"Shifty" was distributed by Metrodome. £50,000 was spent on making celluloid prints of the film, administration and advertising. The intention was to attract two different audiences. The first audience was the middle class audience that regularly sees small independant films at independent cinemas. In addition they wanted to attract a new, younger urban audience. The audience had made "Kidulthood" and "Adulthood" profitable.

In order to target both audiences, Metrodome produced different trailers. Interestingly the trailer targeting the youth audience had a soundtrack oh 'hip hop' music. there was no soundtrack in the actual film. 

In addition Metrodome ran adverts on a pirate radio stations, used Fly Posters (these are illegal posters that are put up) and gave out 'business cards' which depicted shifty as a drug dealer and directed the recipient to a website. A music video to promote the film was posted on Youtube and a website was created and promoted on social network sites. 

Most controversially, the film sent out viral emails that identified the recipient as a potential drug dealer. The Advertising Standards Authority received a complaint and the emails were banned. However, the ‘bad’ publicity   helped to promote the film. 

Finally, Metrodome targeted the youth audience through a competition offering £500 worth of studio time to young musicians. The lucky winner had the opportunity to work with Riz Ahmed - a musician who starred in the film. 

The Plot of the Film.

"Shifty" is a thriller that builds slowly. There are three interwoven threads to the story. Chris (Daniel Mays), a young man in his twenties returns home to visit his best friend who he hasn't seen in a long time. An enigma is set up. Why why did Chris leave? We suspect something awful happened but are not sure.

Quickly we learn that Shifty became a drug dealer. As he finishes his "rounds" the film shows us a realistic image of urban life. The second thread to the story shows Trevor, who is a drug addict and is desperate for drugs. The audience are dragged in to his desperate search for drugs, which becomes even more desperate.

The third and most important plot involves Shifty being placed in danger by Glen who lies and claims Shifty is short changing his supplier. Shifty fears for his safety and the film builds towards a climax of tension. The final resolution to the film takes the audience by surprise. 

My Reaction to this Film.

I really enjoyed this thriller as it was very effective in the way they present the characters to show life in the urban area. I think that the fast scenes, where the action was very fast paced, were the best parts. I also think that the part where Shifty and Chris were sitting by the window in Shifty's house,

i think this scene is particularly successful in this movie as after all the intense action there is a short scene, which shows Shifty and Chris laughing together about the problems they had all day and this takes the viewers attention from the problem for a bit until we see the car driving to someones house, which would make the scene intense again.

Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing

Continuity editing retains a sense of realistic chronology and generates the feeling that time is moving forward, it may also use flash-backs or flash-forwards but the narrative will still be seen to be progressing forward in an expected or realistic way. 

                                             

Eye-line Match

-> We see a character looking at something off screen and then we cut to a shot of what they are looking at.

Match-on-Action

-> We see a character start an action in one shot and then see them continue the action in the next shot.

Graphic Match

-> When two shots are linked with a similar shape or composition of an image.

-> The film maker can choose to place shots in a certain order so as to create a smooth visual transfer from one frame to the next. 

-> When two consecutive shots are matched in terms of the way they look is called a graphic match.

180 Degree Rule

-> The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline that two or more characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other.

-> If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line.

Shot/Reverse Shot

-> Shot/reverse shot is used to show conversations/arguments.

Film Noir

Film Noir

Film Noir is the term given by french film critics to a group of films made in Hollywood from 1941 to 1958.

These films are characterised by their pessimistic, dark themes that show the darker side of human nature.

They are filmed using low-key lighting to give the films a hard, sharp look with strong areas of contrast between light and dark.

Colour and Lighting

Colour and Lighting

The first use of colour was seen in films such as "Voyage a Travers l'impossible" by the Pioneer Georges Melies in 1904. Here the film was hand painted frame by frame. The next development was the introduction of two-strip-technicolor using only red and green, e.g. The Mystery of the Wax Museum. First full three strip technicolor was Becky Sharp (1935). 

From the 1930's to the 1940's black and white represented reality and colour represented fantasy and spectacle, to this day the opposite is true. The Wizard of Oz  is one of the movies that had a black and white/sepia reality and a colourful fantasy. 

Denotation & Connotation

Denotation - the literal description of an idea, concept or object.

Connotation - what we associate with a particular idea, concept or object.

Connotations for the following are:

Red - Warning - Blood - Danger - Romance

    - Hot - Love - Stop

Blue - Clean - Calm - Relaxing - Sad 

     - Sea - Peace - Tranquillity 

     - Cold - Death

Green - Natural - Nature - Peace 

      - Tranquillity - New Life

      - Rebirth - Sickness - Go

White - Cleanliness - Purity

Colour works on the subconscious to create mood.

Lighting

This is the standard lighting setup: 

Key Light - is the brightest and most influential.

Back Light - helps counteract the effect of the key light or creates an outline or silhouette.

Filler Light - helps to soften the harsh shadows that the use of key and back lights create.

Under Lighting

This is when the main source of lighting comes from below the subject. Used in Thrillers and Horror films.

 

Top Lighting

This is when the main source of light comes from above, highlighting the features, used to create a glamorous look.

High key & Low Key Lighting

Low key lighting is created by using only the key and back lights, this will produce a sharp contrast of light and dark areas on the screen as very deep, distinct shadows are formed. 

This is known as Chiaroscuro

High key lighting uses more filler lights and the lighting appears realistic.

Mise-en-Scene

Mise-en-Scene Exercise

 In this exercise we had to show the different types of emotions, for example, relaxation right at the beginning, we showed relaxation by having Diana put up her feet and the leaning back in your chair, expresses the relaxed atmosphere, next we did embarrassment, when i fall over walking into the room and the i get sympathy form Diana.
 In the next part we showed Viktorija(P)being agitated, to show this she tapped her fingers on the cupboard, this could also show that she was trying to intimidate us, to show that we were nervous we started to take away the relaxed atmosphere by looking nervous, Diana removed her feet from the desk to show that she wasn't comfortable in the situation, and we all try not to make eye contact with Viktorija(P). Then we see Viktorija(P) get angry by raising her voice and leaning in towards us in a menacing way.

Rope (1948)

Rope 1948

rope is a psychological thriller, it was adapted from Patrick Hamilton's play which appeared in 1929. The play was based upon the real life murderers Leopold and Loeb who killed an innocent man to see how it felt. The case became very famous in America. It was linked to the ideas of Nietzsche and his notion of 'superman' a morally superior being. Nietzsche's ideas influenced Hitler and the rise of the Nazis.

The film was made in 1938 and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The unique and interesting thing about the film is the editing. Hitchcock wanted to film the story as one long continuous take so that it was like watching a play and the audience felt they were 'living' the action. However, before digital, film came in ten minute rolls. Hitchcock had to compromise and each unedited scene is ten minutes long. changes between scenes appear rather 'clunky' to a modern audience.

Using this editing technique creates a feeling of claustrophobia. The actors and the audience are both trapped in the film. The fact that the trunk with the body in it is always present throughout the movie creates adds the the tension. 

Another fascinating element to the is the way homosexuality is portrayed. The strict censorship of the 1920s meant that the subject could be implied but not openly stated. Even though they had to try to hide the homosexuality there were some hints that gave the audience a hint of the gay relationship between Brandon (John Dall) and Philip (Farley Granger)were that whenever they spoke to each other they stood right next to or in front of each other keeping little distance from each other. Also there is some sensual tension between them. 

This movie had many conventions of a thriller but the most obvious were suspense and a cliff-hanger, the suspense was when we constantly wait for the body to be discovered in the trunk and the movie ends with Rupert Cadell (James Stewart) shooting the gun out the window and we hear sirens.