The Ellington Kid

 The Ellington Kid 

General Points: 

- The focus on the butcher's knife in the opening shot implies some kind of violence will come into the story 

- The use of 'based on a true story' hints at something ominous but then it is followed up by 'kind of' which reflects the slightly more comedic overtones of the film and diffuses the tension slightly 

- The ominous atmosphere combined with the fact that Nathan's story is triggered by Beefy eating a burger suggests a disturbing theme of cannibalism  

- The ending shot of the kebab shop worker smirking whilst sharpening a knife introduces an element of ambiguity as to whether Nathan really was joking or if there was some truth to the story. However, the film ends there which leaves an open ending in which the audience doesn't know the true story. This links back to the titles at the beginning that tell us that it is sort of based on a true story. 

Representation:

- Nathan and Beefy are presented as relatively comedic characters- they are unthreatening and are essentially just kids 

- The gang is obviously presented as threatening. They are in a group and have their faces covered. Towards the end, we see one of them remove their bandana and show their face which creates a certain amount of sympathy as you can see the fear in his face 

Spectatorship:

- As the audience, we are situated with Beefy as Nathan is telling the story and we, like Beefy are hearing it for the first time 

- The initial shot of the two boys is at eye-level so it feels like we are in the cafe with them and could easily join their conversation

- As the story progresses, the camera gets closer and closer to Nathan and Beefy's table 

- When the film cuts to the shots of the kid being stabbed, we are once again positioned with Beefy as he imagines what Nathan is telling him 

- Later on, there is a POV shot from the kebab shop owner as he looks down at the boy who has been stabbed. We continue to be situated with the group of kebab shop workers during their conflict with the gang. 

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