The Ellington Kid

Narrative

Equilibrium – Two boys are sitting in a café, one has a burger, the other just has chips.

Disruption – One boy notices that the other has a burger and begins to tell him the story.

Recognition – The boy realises that the other is implying that the boy who got stabbed the other day is in the burger.

Attempts to Repair – He spits the burger out.

New Equilibrium – He tells him it was just a joke, but the camera pans to a worker who is sharpening knives and has a smirk on his face, leaving the audience to decide for themselves if it was true or not. 

The boy who was stabbed is the princess as he is the one who needs saving.

The villains are the boys who stab him and come to finish him off.

It may seem like the café workers are the heroes at first, but it turns out that they may also be the villains as well. 

Lighting

The café needs to be lit as that is the reason the boy goes in, as he knows there are people inside that could help him. There are streetlamps that create an edgy feel.

Costume, Hair and Makeup

Everyone is wearing clothes from present day and, apart from the workers, it is all casual – possibly showing their younger age.

The gang of boys are wearing bandanas around their faces to protect their identities.

Fake blood is used to show that the boy is seriously injured and it pours out of his mouth.

Props

Props are very important in this film as they are integral to telling the story. The boys sit down to eat and only one of them has a burger, this makes the other one begin the story.

The knives and meat in the beginning create an ominous atmosphere, plus it sets the scene. The knives are used again in the flashbacks, so the shots at the beginning can be seen as foreshadowing. 

Setting

The majority of the film is set in a cafe. The film flashes between present day and a couple of evenings beforehand. It is daytime and the cafe is empty apart from two boys, this might be because a lot of people have heard the story and therefore don’t want to come to the diner anymore.

The flashback is set at night, making the events more dramatic and scary. There is a shot on the bridge where the boy is stabbed and then we see him staggering through an underpass until he reaches the cafe, which is empty apart from the workers, meaning that they are the only witnesses.

Character Expression

The shop owners have deadpan expressions to give off the impression that they are suspicious and could be hiding something ominous. At the end, one of them as a slight smile, implying that the story might be true. As none of them speak, they have to rely on movement and facial expressions. Not having them speak is very effective as it adds an element of danger and mystery.

The two boys at the table seem very comfortable with each other and you can tell they’re friends. They both seem enthralled by the story, which will make the audience more invested.

The boy being stabbed struggles to keep walking, staggering around so that we know he is seriously injured. 

Editing

There film cuts from flashbacks back to present day.

It cross cuts between the two boys as they talk.

There is a sort of invisible cut as the camera comes out from behind a wall.

A lot of the flashback shots are in slow motion to make them more dramatic. 

 

Sound

There is a soundtrack beneath the dialogue and action that has a big string arrangement, creating an eerie atmosphere, typical of the horror and crime genre that this falls into.

In the flashbacks the sound is mostly muffled as there is dialogue from the two boys, narrating the action and retelling the events. Some of the sounds are more clear, such as the bell ringing as the boy enters the shop. This helps bring the story to life for the audience.  

The sound of the knives scraping together are at the start of the film and the end, so the film is cyclical. 

Cinematography

The opening shots are close ups on the knives being sharpened and meat being cut. This gives the idea that the knives may be an important prop in the film.

There is a wide shot on the street where the café is to establish the setting.

There is a tracking shot, following the boy as he makes his way through the underpass and down the street.

There is a slight shift in focus as the café comes into view and we focus on that instead of the boy so we know that’s where he’s headed.