The Ellington Kid by Dan Sully

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In class, we watched the short film 'The Ellington Kid' by Dan Sully. This was a dark comedy, which contrasted a bright and comedic kebab shop at day time with a dark thriller-like stabbing in London. The two plots are very much inter-woven, the twist at the end revealing how so- with the kebab meat being that of the boys who tried to stab the kid. Obviously the story seems completely ridiculous, but due to the darker tone of the story when we see it, it appears to be taken with the utmost seriousness. This short makes light of a serious issue in London, and so is very relateable for the youth who are growing up in that environment. However due to the comedic overtone it is also accessible to a wider audience. It can similarly be considered Social Realism as the language used by the two boys in the kebab shop is very much a reflection of modern English slang.

The representation is fairly standard, the two protagonists and the boys committing the stabbing are a mixture of races, so removes any potential claims of black people cause violence against black people or purely blaming these stabbings on white people. In this way it dodges most of its possible racial under-tones. However, the boy stabbed is black, linking in to the many stabbing incidents we see of young black males. Also, the kebab shop owners all appear to be Eastern-European which is very stereotypical. In the short, sound is exaggerated and syncs with the action. The camera work is mostly rigid and does very little revolutionary. Editing is very fast, to immediately contrast the bright kebab shop with the dark stabbing sequence. Lighting is similarly contrasted in the two, with the kebab shop being almost blindingly bright.

Over all I did enjoy this short, or at least I enjoyed the characters and the story it presented. However, I do feel it could have been a bit more impactful, or could perhaps have been a little more philosophical? However, I understand this was never the aim, it is primarily comedic, which it definitely achieves in being.

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