THE ELLINGTON KID - 2012 - DAN SULLY

THE ELLINGTON KID (2012) - DIRECTED BY DAN SULLY

The Ellington Kid, directed by Dan Sully in 2012 is a comedy/drama short film that takes place in a typical South London kebab shop. The film inter-cuts between the present and the past as Nathan tells his friend Beefy a story about the Ellington Kid, who was stabbed by a gang and found refuge in the kebab shop they are sitting in. With Rob Watson as the producer, the film was a 2 day shoot and the idea came to Sully after an artist he was working on a music video with told him the story about the Ellington Kid.

Expectations:

Before watching the short film, I made a hypothesis about what would happen, based on the title. I thought that this film would be associated with Gangsters and have echos of a Western about it, due to the idea of the… kid. 

Screen grabs and micro-element/narrative structure analysis:

The film starts with a close up, grabbing the attention of the viewer and creating tension. The knives hold symbolic meaning and become a recurring motif throughout the film (important prop).

Violence and a heightened sense of danger are  established from the first shot.

The close up of the meat being chopped is a hint to the story before any dialogue starts - foreshadows violence.

SOUND (diegetic) - food cooking and knifes chopping food - establishes environment - feels slightly sinister. Food is an important part of the story and becomes a dramatic device later on.

Establishing shot - we know where the story takes place (London) - KEBAB SHOP - ‘family’, ironic - as the events unfold, we learn that this perhaps isn’t a family friendly place.

The film has a complex narrative as it uses flashback. 2 stories are occurring simultaneously, which is effective - we can hear the narration of the present day over the flashback. The dialogue is important in creating rhythms and linking the stories together.

However, although complex and non-chronological, it is possible to identify 2, 3-act structures as there are 2 story’s going on at once. In the first story, plot point 1 is when Nathan tells Beefy about the Ellington Kid and the rising action and subsequent twist are when the story ends and Nathan tells Beefy that the burgers are made out of the gang members. The climactic point is when we see the knifes being sharpened. In the second story, plot point one is the Ellington kid is stabbed, the rising action is the Kid taking refuge in the kebab shop and and the climax is when the Kebab Shop workers hold knifes on the gang members.

The editing throughout the film is fast-paced, to create tension and keep the film exciting as the two stories occur.

This is arguably the most striking shot of the film (for me). The SOUND in the subway creates tension - we can hear the echos of voices - equally, the LIGHTING is very harsh and artificial (neon lights) and we can see the walls and ceiling, suggesting that things are closing in on him and he is trapped. The Ellington Kid is framed centrally, with strong diagonal lines framing him and he looks past the camera, creating the feeling that he is looking for an escape. The white walls and dingy but bright light makes the Ellington kid stand out. The shot highlights the actors performance as it is a medium close up and slightly low-angle, establishing the character’s dire situation.

This is another striking shot, particularly though the use of eye line,  a low angle and lighting. The dark alleyway evokes fear in the audience, but the use of light coming from inside buildings creates a sense of hope.

Here, Sully uses slow-motion to create tension. Even though he is inside, we still get the feeling that he is unsafe. There is a low rumble of sinister music working alongside this use of slow motion.

The high angle camera work here emphasises the Ellington Kid’s vulnerability and weakness due to his wound, which he holds and he stumbles through the Kebab shop (performance) - Sully uses slow-motion to drag this moment out, creating tension.

Close up - high angle - blood pouring out of his mouth - puts the audience on the edge of their seats - we wonder if he will survive. Mise-en-scene of blood is gruesome and disturbing.

This medium close up emphasises the lack of fear that you would expect from this character when the gang arrives. There is a smooth pan between him and his co-worker, showing their bond and trust in one another. They have an alliance. 

The red of the kebab shop workers T-shirts contrasts with the dark colours of the gang’s costume, setting them apart from each other. The use of red could be associated with blood and emphasise their potential for violence. The bandanas and dark clothing of the gang members is intimidating.

This shot puts the knife to shame, as the Kebab shop worker’s knifes are larger and his seems tiny, especially as his body takes up most of the frame. Unlike the worker’s he holds his knife awkwardly - the audience sense a fear in the gang member, which is satisfying as we are rooting for the Ellington Kid.

This shot is reminiscent of Westerns and how guns are normally portrayed in films - again bringing attention to the Western-esque title. This reinforces the myth-like nature of the story. Danger is emphasises due to the size of the knife in the frame. Focus is also used to compare the danger of the Kebab shop worker’s weapon in comparison to the gang member’s weapon.

This shot uses focus and framing to emphasise the vanishing power of the gang member. Although the Kebab Shop worker is out of focus, he is still a looming presence and pushes the gang member out of centre frame. We can divert our attention to his facial expression as he removes his bandana, and the paleness of his skin against the white wall, contrasted with the red of the worker’s T-shirt makes him look washed out and fearful.

This is the final shot of the flashback… we don’t see what happens between the gang and the workers but we are left with an image of the Ellington Kid. The grey of his tracksuit blends in with the greyish/blue colour grading of the shop, creating the sense that he is perishing away. The fact that the camera is eye level with him, makes the moment intimate and thus slightly more disturbing, but equally because we are positioned so far away, we feel that we cannot help him. The colour grading of the story is bleak and cold to reflect the sadness of the story.

Through the use of silence, when the story ends, we feel Beefy’s interest in Nathan’s story.

The clothing of Nathan and Beefy is typical London youth 2013 style - Beefy is wearing a matching tracksuit and cap and Nathan is wearing a leather jacket.

When Nathan delivers the punchline - ‘why do you think I’m only eating the chips’, the camera moves in on his face into a close up and lingers for a moment, before we get the reaction shot of Beefy, which creates more impact. - comic ending to a tragedy.

Up until now, the shots of Beefy and Nathan have been in mid-shot/close up mostly, but here they are shot in wide from the POV of the Kebab shop worker. We see that he was listening the whole time, and they were never in the intimate bubble we thought they were in - voyeuristic shot, evokes fear.

This is the final shot of the short film - sully chooses to pan and tilt up to the worker instead of cut, building tension as we wait to see who it is. His smile is sinister and the sound of the knifes being sharpened, the same sound that started the film, is dramatic.

The film is left with an open ending, so we can conclude, ourselves, whether there was truth to the story or not.

My response:

This short film was very impactful and I thought the cinematography was effective and it was a well-produced film. I think it dealt with a very serious topic well, emphasising the severity of knife crime but with a light-hearted tone, not to overwhelm the viewer. I found it very interesting that an entire story was made sense of in under 4 minutes. Although there was only 9 characters, representation was nonetheless very important. The gang members are portrayed as violent but also intellectually challenged as they do not realise the danger they are in. We are supposed to see them as arrogant. Although the kebab shop workers have the potential for extreme violence and are very powerful, we still side with them as they are heroic and protect the Kid and get back at the gang for the way that they disrespectfully barge into their shop. Nathan and Beefy are represented as typical London kids through their costume and accents, showing that they are rooted in their community. Beefy is the typical gullible, side kick, whilst Nathan drives the story. Finally, the Kid is presented as desperate and helpless, and through the cinematography we know that he is very vulnerable and we sympathise with him.

I watched Sully’s 8 minute film ‘I’m dead’ and like ‘The Ellington Kid’, it dealt with very serious topics… suicide, murder and crime, and also had a light-hearted ending. The colour grading and cinematography was similar in both films, establishing Sully’s aesthetic style.