Concrete Angel
“Have you ever been abused? Have you ever abused? How would you feel if you woke up everyday dreaming it is your last?... Find out how and why children suffer at the hands of those who abuse them”
...Narrative...
Concrete Angel is a 2008 short film directed by a group of media studies students who went on to win the awards for Best Short Film and Best Actor at the Media Awards Evening 2008. After the death of his parents, 15 year old boy Curtis Kingston is left in the care of his older step-brother. Now you would imagine that a tragedy such as this would bring people closer together, especially those who are related but within this situation this is not the case. Constantly being abused by his older step-brother and juggling with the pressures of school, Curtis finds it hard to have a social life and therefore finds that he is alone.
Costumes = The costumes that are worn within the film symbolise education, with Curtis being 15 years old he is obviously a student and clearly has to go to school. In a lot of the scenes we see him in his school uniform showing that even after losing both his parents of who were probably the most important people in his life he has continued to get an education which in some way probably helps him cope with his older step-brother as he is not always around him. We mainly see the step-brother wearing a suit, some people will probably think that even though he is an abuser, he is still trying to do good by actually having a job and going to work which is probably what some people think due to his costume.
Lighting = Within the film there is a lot of bright lighting which is mainly seen when the actors are outside, but when the clips are focused on the step-brother the lighting seems to be very dim, this can lead the audience to think that the step-brother probably has a dark side to him and is probably not nice to others which includes his step-brother (Curtis). Near the end of the film the lighting becomes dark; this is when Curtis is getting abused by his step-brother, in this sort of situation the dark lighting can symbolise the seriousness of the film and the significance of what abusing does to someone making them feel violent and vicious.
Actors = As said before, Concrete Angel stars Curtis Kingston as a 15 year old boy being abused, it also stars Manish Rampal as the abusive older step-brother, with Curtis winning the Best Actor Award at the Media Awards Evening 2008 I think it was a very good choice for him to have played a part within this film, when starring in the film he showed his ability of adapting to his character which enabled him to show the emotions of someone who is actually being abused may feel. Manish Rampal played the part of the abusive older step-brother in which he was able to portray the actions of a real abuser; all in all I think it was an excellent choice in having these two actors star in the film as they were both able to really adapt to their characters and play them in a professional way.
Make-up = The make-up that was used within the film seems to have been very simple since most of it was bruises of which can mainly be seen on Curtis, but this shows the audience the main results of what being abused can do to someone. In association with this I think that it is very well done as they created the bruises with eye liner which just shows that you can use the easiest things to create something of which is very detailed.
Props = From what I could see in the film there weren't very many props used, but in the part where Curtis’ step-brother punches him in the head there is a popping sound in the background which gives off the affect that he did actually get punched, this popping sound may have been done by using a bottle either by squashing it or hitting it against something, this shows that the bottle could have been used as a prop within the film.
Setting = There are many settings within this film; they include a school, a house and a funeral home. With all the different settings it shows the audience how diverse this film is, with part of the film being set within the school of which Curtis attends it shows the audience how he interacts with the other students; there is a part in the film where he is sitting on a bench and one of his friends asks him if he is okay after having seen the bruise around his eye, he tells her that he fell over, knowing that he is not telling her the real reason as to why he has a bruise around his eye, she walks away. The house is where most of the abusing occurs, as the audience we realise that Curtis is very scared of his step-brother as we see him run upstairs as soon as his step-brother arrives home. The funeral home is probably the most essential of all three settings within this film due to the fact that it is the main reason as to why someone may continue to watch the film after having seen the beginning, I say this because at the start of the film we see Curtis in the funeral home laying inside a coffin; after viewing this part of the film, the audience may want to continue watching it to see how he ended up there. All in all each setting ties in together to form the narrative of the film and to let the audience know what the character is like in each setting.
...Representation...
Concrete Angel is about a 15 year old boy being abused by his older step-brother and the obstacles in which he faces with having to juggle school and trying to have a social life, the way in which the film is represented is that as the audience we are able to get an inside look into why some people are abused and the ways in which it can affect them.
...Language...
The language used by the step-brother plays a huge part in how his character is portrayed, being an abuser he is often seen as being very furious and infuriated with his younger step-brother as he blames him for the death of their parents, when he is shouting at his step-brother Manish often uses the word “prick” to describe him, this also tells us as the audience that they are from a middle class background as “prick” is known as being a common word.
...Appeal...
This film is mainly aimed at those who are either being abused themselves or have been abusing someone else, as you can see from watching the film it focuses on the serious issue of abuse and the results that it can have; this will most likely appeal to those who are being abused in some sort of way and may appeal to them in a way that they may want to seek advice or get help which can lead onto the end of them being abused. In my opinion this is a very good film in association with appealing to people who are being abused due to the fact that if they had not asked for help before this time they would probably not be alive.
...Sound...
The music used within this film gives a great emphasis on what it is about, there are some great moments where there is just music playing and no one talking; this occurs in the 2nd part of the film, at about 3:00 we see Curtis sitting down on the bench looking at the ground while other students are around him interacting with each other, this highlights the idea of him feeling that he is alone after his parents dying. Other uses of sound include when Manish is waking up and getting ready for work, we only hear music and the natural sounds, for example; alarms ringing, water running and curtain’s opening, we also hear a voice over of Curtis saying how his step-brother treats him; based on this, the audience may have started to get an idea of why his step-brother treats him so badly and may have already decided if they like the character or not. The music used really symbolises how the characters within the film are feeling at that moment in time, from 1:27 to 2:48 during part 3 of the film, we see Curtis walking home and entering his house, to me the music sounds very sad and sombre giving the impression that he does not really want to go home and is scared about seeing his brother which is why he walks around the house looking to see if he is there. The use of the voice over is very relevant to the story of the film, at the beginning of part 1 we see Curtis lying in a coffin, we hear him talking about the kind of life he had and if he really deserved to die at such a young age.
...Camera shots...
There are a mixture of shots that have been used within this film, during the beginning of the film when Curtis is in the funeral home laying dead, the camera looks at all the different areas of the home, when Curtis refers God there is a close up shot of a crucifix, there are also close up shots of Curtis' face which are especially focused on his eyes as we see more of his emotions and we are able to get some idea how he is feeling. Long range shots have been used to create the idea that the person walking up to the camera is the main character, it shows viewers that the narrative of the film is based on that character.
...Length of trailer...
Overall the film is 15 minutes long which has been divided up into 3 parts with each one lasting for about 5 minutes. In that time we get to see the full effects of what being abused can do to someone i.e. how it can affect them at school, at home and with friends. All of the scenes in the film lead us onto what might happen next and give us the story as to why Curtis may have died.
...Institutional values...
Concrete Angel is able to inspire many people of all ages whether they are men, women or children, the reason as to why I think this is because it gives the audience an inside look into why some people do get abused by others especially relatives as the case may be, it may urge those who are getting abused to come forward and ask for help or it may prompt them to do something about it before it's too late. It may even prompt students at a High School to tell someone such as a teacher or support worker if they think someone else is being abused, it may urge them even more if they know that the person isn't telling them the real reason as to why they may have bruises on their bodies. The overall message that this film sends out in my opinion is that you shouldn't be afraid to tell someone if you are being abused because it may end up being too late before you have enough courage to do so.
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