ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years ago - Mark Withers

I killed a child...in a film. It was made for one of those 48hr things and I was very surprised by the reaction it received. It wasn't done for shock value, that honestly never occurred to me, but people just seemed to view it at face value rather than think about the bravery behind the decision made. Perhaps I'm naive? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00tCxkhtae8

12 years ago - Claudette FLINT

Yeah but Trainspotting is genius...

12 years ago - Stuart Wright

Also look at how films like The Martyrs deal with something as blunt as torture in story telling terms... Even look at the baby death sequence in trainspotting - there's junkies and child abuse right there

12 years ago - Bob Eckhard

Hi Ben
Having watched the short I don't think it's as shocking as it might be. Yes, the death of any child is always seen as shocking but your decision to focus on the parents, negates that because we know from the start of the story what the outcome is - and then backward map to the night before to understand how it occurred. Had your protagonist been the boy and we followed a day in his life experiencing rejection, abuse and lack of care to the point of death, we would have been more shocked by the film. Bob

12 years ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc

I have just been watching the news on TV tonight (31st July) about a Polish mother and her boyfriend who starved and beat her 4yo boy to death. And this was real...

12 years ago - Stuart Wright

Sadly I never made it to the end because of many of things listed by Dan S above. I also think you you wd benefit from watching a few shocking films first to get a benchmark ... A Bafta winning short called About a girl (I think) and another award winner called Sis ... In features the list is endless: from human centipede to Vera drake to video drome to Texas chainsaw to hostel to hard candy to woodsman to the pilot episode of The Shield ... Check out the world of shocking film and tv and then consider your own movie, read case studies on the web of parental neglect and drug abuse and try and filter that into your writing. There are real depths to plummet with your idea but I'm afraid this film treads water.

12 years ago - Dan Selakovich

Hey Ben. You've posted this a number of times now, I guess in an attempt to get people to watch it. I did. And since you keep posting about your "shocking" film, I feel I can be frank; I didn't find it at all shocking. And not that well made or interesting. The structure is weak. The camera work and placement simply doesn't work. The editing causes me to wince. And I don't think the actors have been near a drug in their lives. It's just not a strong enough piece to rise to an emotional level of "shocking." Perhaps it was rejected because there are better films than this one. Perhaps a festival has rules regarding stories of the death of children. I personally would be shocked if any programmer found this film "shocking" and rejected it for that reason. I truly doubt that's the case--regardless of what they may have told you. The few programmers I know would actually love something shocking. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but these posts just seem a shameless attempt to get us to watch it. And on that point, you were successful.

12 years ago - Claudette FLINT

Franz, you're right.
Sorry but I didn't feel anything. It is a bold and sensitive subject. I can't really express what is missing in the film. Perhaps, because I taught for two years in a prison and heard some of the young inmates'stories, I can't be satisfied with just some 'arty scenes'.

I heard and saw some raw scenes at the prison and I think this film doesn't bring anything to the subject. In prison, the reality goes far beyond the imagination. You meet tragedy with humour! How about a mother baking a birthday cake with cocaine for a six year old? Ha! Ha! Then I met this six year old when he was 18, in the prison, with lots of self injury wounds.... and you're not allowed to help, only to teach. That is another tragedy. Try to make a film of it.