Sweatbox
Location: Youtube - CopperTreeMedia
Sweatbox is a short crime drama about one mans emotional journey in the back of a prison van; it won Dan Orrells the Young Director Award at an International Film Festival.
The film begins with a flash which cuts to a medium shot of the main character, it establishes that the main character's name is Kevin Murray, as he is having a 'mug shot' and holding up a placard which shows his name, the screen flashes again and cut's to the same shot, however the placard now says the word 'SWEATBOX', (title of the film) and the picture is more of a sepia colour, from here the camera shifts to a canted angle and slowly zooms in, then slowly zooms out to reveal that it is a photo part of a poster from Kent Police on a notice board, which establishes that he is a murder suspect. The background music throughout this scene is very eerie and slow, it sounds like police siren's have been blended into the piece of music, which adds to feel of a police/crime environment.
As the camera pans to the right, a voice over of a woman's voice comes on, the dialogue suggests that it is a judge making their verdict 'Kevin James Murray, you have been found guilty of the murder of Kenny Cunningham, I therefore have no alternative but to sentence you to life imprisonment'; it is distorted and echo's, which suggests that it may be going through the character's head as the camera continues to pan to reveal Kevin Murray sat down, looking calm and contempt. The eerie music stops and so does the voice over, as Kevin Murray looks down, a dark figure walks past in front of the camera. It then cuts to a shot of the character's hands in handcuffs holding a photo, the camera then pans up to his face, looking to the side. The camera then cuts to a staircase where two smartly dressed people walk down, followed by two officers escorting a man in a suit with handcuffs on, he starts to complain about the tightness of the handcuffs, it then cuts to different, hand held, medium close up's of the two police officers and the man who is established as 'Beerman' as he has one like last check. The character Beerman is seen to be a very 'cocky and arrogant' man as he back chats the officers and doesn't conform to the commands of the officers, more over it is suggested that he has been arrested before as one of the officers says 'you know the procedure.' Throughout this scene, the character Kevin Murray is sat down in silence looking down, when he looks up at Beerman, Beerman gives him a wink, it then cuts to them both being escorted out of a door, as the door slams shut it cuts to a medium close up of Kevin Murray sat down and looking down again, with only half of his face lit by a light, this can give the impression that there is two sides to the character, such as a dark side and a good side. Kevin Murray then looks up at a figure (Beerman), walks past him and the camera and sits down.
In this scene there are exchanges of medium close up's of the two character's, Kevin Murray and Beerman, in both shots the lighting is dark and looks like it is only lit by a single light, as on both characters, they are only lit on one side of their face. In the scene, the character Kevin Murray has his first piece of dialogue, it is revealed through their interaction that it is his first time he's 'been done,' however Murray doesn't want to reveal what he's 'done' to be there in the first place, but questions Beerman about his actions; Beerman reveals that he 'got caught with Charlie,' Murray questions who Charlie is as he doesn't understand, Beerman then says 'cocaine, you mug' and makes the assumption that he's 'one of these poncy types,' suggesting that Murray is of higher class compared to him, (however this is seen already as Beerman uses a lot of colloquial and slang language, as well as strong language to express himself), here Murray takes some kind of offense and tells him that he doesn't know anything about him or his family, Beerman's reply is calm and cool 'Alright mate'. Now it is established that the van in which they are in is now moving as they react to the shutting of the car door and starting of the engine.
The moment of silence between the two is broken when Murray asks if Beerman 'So what are you, a drug dealer?' he reply's 'Yeh, some people might call it that, I prefer to think of it from a business point of view,' in this scene the audience can see that Beerman is quite content in what he does, as he smiles and acts smug about his drug dealings. It is later revealed that Murray used to work for the VAT branch, a tax man, here Beerman finds this funny he thinks its a coincidence. When Murray turns the subject of conversation back to Beerman, he reveals that he ended 'up in here' because someone 'grassed on me.' A noise of clashing metal makes the scene cut to a flash back, where it shows fast passed, close up's of Beerman taking, sorting/counting bags of drugs in some kind of room, it is illustarted by a voice over of Beerman. In the flashback, the scene again is very dark and seems to be only lit by one light, when the police knock on his door, the audience only see the dark side of his face as he frantically tries to hide the bag of drugs, when the police break in the door, the light is shone onto his guilty face (MCU) and the camera quickly zooms into a close up to show his stunned expression, it then fades out to white to bring us back to Beerman in the van.
The scene in the van now reveals that Murray is from Maidstone, Beerman says that's he's been there once but said it 'was a weird turn out', this interests Murray and questions him more. Beerman starts to tell a story of a guy who he was dealing to, it then cuts to a flash back. In this flash back, Beerman illustrates his thoughts with a voice over; it cuts to an underwater shot of a girl swimming towards the camera, then coming out of the water to meet a man sitting at the side of the pool drinking from a bottle, the scene is dark again, lit by an orange light, which could a represent a romantic but sinister feeling. It then cuts back to Beerman in the van, continuing to describing this girl and the guy to Murray, Murray becomes more interested when Beerman names the guy as 'Kenny' and starts to throw names out, in trying to remember her name, 'Anna?, Anita?' Murray corrects him and says 'Angie,' this is suggested to the audience that maybe Kevin Murray has some kind of connection with this girl, or knew her, as he has been convicted for murdering a guy named Kenny. It then flashes back to the flash back as Beerman continues his story, later it is revealed that he hears a scream when at the bathroom and that the girl somehow angered the man who she was 'romantically' inclined with, as it shows her being punched and pushed under the water to drown her - this includes close up shots, under and out of the water, however the underwater shots are unclear as it is a dark setting, and the audience can just see bubbles and the muffled noises.
It then flashes back to Murray's close up in the van as he looks concerned and asks 'So what did you do?' Beerman reply's 'Nah, no way was I gonna get involved in that, ha...', it cuts back to Murray's expression then cut's back to the flash back of Kenny still beating up the girl, and Beerman watching from a distance. Cuts back to the van where Murray asks 'So you could have stopped him then?', 'Yeh, there's one way of looking at it, but fuck me, we've all to learn for ourselves,' when Beerman says this he seems uncomfortable and looks like he trying to fight something back, it suggests that he is having withdrawals from the drugs as there is shots of he's hands fiddling about.
Cut's back to the flash back as Beerman continues his story - here the eeire music starts again - it shows him taking a full rucksack of drugs slyly away as Kenny is still trying to kill the girl. It cuts back to them two in the van, again Beerman looks uncomfortable and in pain, it cuts to a medium close up of Murray looking confused, the shot then cuts to a medium close up of Murray's hand digging into his jacket's inside pocket, (as before it showed him putting the photo he had away in his pocket,when Beerman asked to look at it,) and pulling out the photograph and turning it round to show the camera, the audience and Beerman a photograph of two girls, (one being Angie.) The scene then flashes and cuts to the flash back of Kenny forcing the girl under the water, it cuts back to a medium close up of Beerman in the van looking at the photo and then looking up at Murray, cuts back to Murray as he asks 'She look like that by any chance?', it cuts back to Beerman looking at the photo again and then shows a shot of him fiddling with a pill bottle which has been stashed up his jacket sleeve, Murray watched him struggle, Beerman then accidentally drops the pill bottle out of frustration, as it rolls to towards Murray and he catches it under his foot - the eerie music then stops - Beerman looks down at the photo and up towards Murray, it then cuts to Murray holding the photograph towards Beerman, the camera then pans upwards toward Murray's face showing a sinister impression as half of his face is lit, however the shadow's cover most of his face, the screen then fades to black.
Throughout the film it seems to have used a black and white tone to make the atmosphere more eerie and mysterious, this is strengthened with the lack of light, as the light which has been used, looks natural and just highlights important moments such as the expressions on character's faces.
Location: Youtube - CopperTreeMedia
Sweatbox is a short crime drama about one mans emotional journey in the back of a prison van; it won Dan Orrells the Young Director Award at an International Film Festival.
The film begins with a flash which cuts to a medium shot of the main character, it establishes that the main character's name is Kevin Murray, as he is having a 'mug shot' and holding up a placard which shows his name, the screen flashes again and cut's to the same shot, however the placard now says the word 'SWEATBOX', (title of the film) and the picture is more of a sepia colour, from here the camera shifts to a canted angle and slowly zooms in, then slowly zooms out to reveal that it is a photo part of a poster from Kent Police on a notice board, which establishes that he is a murder suspect. The background music throughout this scene is very eerie and slow, it sounds like police siren's have been blended into the piece of music, which adds to feel of a police/crime environment.
As the camera pans to the right, a voice over of a woman's voice comes on, the dialogue suggests that it is a judge making their verdict 'Kevin James Murray, you have been found guilty of the murder of Kenny Cunningham, I therefore have no alternative but to sentence you to life imprisonment'; it is distorted and echo's, which suggests that it may be going through the character's head as the camera continues to pan to reveal Kevin Murray sat down, looking calm and contempt. The eerie music stops and so does the voice over, as Kevin Murray looks down, a dark figure walks past in front of the camera. It then cuts to a shot of the character's hands in handcuffs holding a photo, the camera then pans up to his face, looking to the side. The camera then cuts to a staircase where two smartly dressed people walk down, followed by two officers escorting a man in a suit with handcuffs on, he starts to complain about the tightness of the handcuffs, it then cuts to different, hand held, medium close up's of the two police officers and the man who is established as 'Beerman' as he has one like last check. The character Beerman is seen to be a very 'cocky and arrogant' man as he back chats the officers and doesn't conform to the commands of the officers, more over it is suggested that he has been arrested before as one of the officers says 'you know the procedure.' Throughout this scene, the character Kevin Murray is sat down in silence looking down, when he looks up at Beerman, Beerman gives him a wink, it then cuts to them both being escorted out of a door, as the door slams shut it cuts to a medium close up of Kevin Murray sat down and looking down again, with only half of his face lit by a light, this can give the impression that there is two sides to the character, such as a dark side and a good side. Kevin Murray then looks up at a figure (Beerman), walks past him and the camera and sits down.
In this scene there are exchanges of medium close up's of the two character's, Kevin Murray and Beerman, in both shots the lighting is dark and looks like it is only lit by a single light, as on both characters, they are only lit on one side of their face. In the scene, the character Kevin Murray has his first piece of dialogue, it is revealed through their interaction that it is his first time he's 'been done,' however Murray doesn't want to reveal what he's 'done' to be there in the first place, but questions Beerman about his actions; Beerman reveals that he 'got caught with Charlie,' Murray questions who Charlie is as he doesn't understand, Beerman then says 'cocaine, you mug' and makes the assumption that he's 'one of these poncy types,' suggesting that Murray is of higher class compared to him, (however this is seen already as Beerman uses a lot of colloquial and slang language, as well as strong language to express himself), here Murray takes some kind of offense and tells him that he doesn't know anything about him or his family, Beerman's reply is calm and cool 'Alright mate'. Now it is established that the van in which they are in is now moving as they react to the shutting of the car door and starting of the engine.
The moment of silence between the two is broken when Murray asks if Beerman 'So what are you, a drug dealer?' he reply's 'Yeh, some people might call it that, I prefer to think of it from a business point of view,' in this scene the audience can see that Beerman is quite content in what he does, as he smiles and acts smug about his drug dealings. It is later revealed that Murray used to work for the VAT branch, a tax man, here Beerman finds this funny he thinks its a coincidence. When Murray turns the subject of conversation back to Beerman, he reveals that he ended 'up in here' because someone 'grassed on me.' A noise of clashing metal makes the scene cut to a flash back, where it shows fast passed, close up's of Beerman taking, sorting/counting bags of drugs in some kind of room, it is illustarted by a voice over of Beerman. In the flashback, the scene again is very dark and seems to be only lit by one light, when the police knock on his door, the audience only see the dark side of his face as he frantically tries to hide the bag of drugs, when the police break in the door, the light is shone onto his guilty face (MCU) and the camera quickly zooms into a close up to show his stunned expression, it then fades out to white to bring us back to Beerman in the van.
The scene in the van now reveals that Murray is from Maidstone, Beerman says that's he's been there once but said it 'was a weird turn out', this interests Murray and questions him more. Beerman starts to tell a story of a guy who he was dealing to, it then cuts to a flash back. In this flash back, Beerman illustrates his thoughts with a voice over; it cuts to an underwater shot of a girl swimming towards the camera, then coming out of the water to meet a man sitting at the side of the pool drinking from a bottle, the scene is dark again, lit by an orange light, which could a represent a romantic but sinister feeling. It then cuts back to Beerman in the van, continuing to describing this girl and the guy to Murray, Murray becomes more interested when Beerman names the guy as 'Kenny' and starts to throw names out, in trying to remember her name, 'Anna?, Anita?' Murray corrects him and says 'Angie,' this is suggested to the audience that maybe Kevin Murray has some kind of connection with this girl, or knew her, as he has been convicted for murdering a guy named Kenny. It then flashes back to the flash back as Beerman continues his story, later it is revealed that he hears a scream when at the bathroom and that the girl somehow angered the man who she was 'romantically' inclined with, as it shows her being punched and pushed under the water to drown her - this includes close up shots, under and out of the water, however the underwater shots are unclear as it is a dark setting, and the audience can just see bubbles and the muffled noises.
It then flashes back to Murray's close up in the van as he looks concerned and asks 'So what did you do?' Beerman reply's 'Nah, no way was I gonna get involved in that, ha...', it cuts back to Murray's expression then cut's back to the flash back of Kenny still beating up the girl, and Beerman watching from a distance. Cuts back to the van where Murray asks 'So you could have stopped him then?', 'Yeh, there's one way of looking at it, but fuck me, we've all to learn for ourselves,' when Beerman says this he seems uncomfortable and looks like he trying to fight something back, it suggests that he is having withdrawals from the drugs as there is shots of he's hands fiddling about.
Cut's back to the flash back as Beerman continues his story - here the eeire music starts again - it shows him taking a full rucksack of drugs slyly away as Kenny is still trying to kill the girl. It cuts back to them two in the van, again Beerman looks uncomfortable and in pain, it cuts to a medium close up of Murray looking confused, the shot then cuts to a medium close up of Murray's hand digging into his jacket's inside pocket, (as before it showed him putting the photo he had away in his pocket,when Beerman asked to look at it,) and pulling out the photograph and turning it round to show the camera, the audience and Beerman a photograph of two girls, (one being Angie.) The scene then flashes and cuts to the flash back of Kenny forcing the girl under the water, it cuts back to a medium close up of Beerman in the van looking at the photo and then looking up at Murray, cuts back to Murray as he asks 'She look like that by any chance?', it cuts back to Beerman looking at the photo again and then shows a shot of him fiddling with a pill bottle which has been stashed up his jacket sleeve, Murray watched him struggle, Beerman then accidentally drops the pill bottle out of frustration, as it rolls to towards Murray and he catches it under his foot - the eerie music then stops - Beerman looks down at the photo and up towards Murray, it then cuts to Murray holding the photograph towards Beerman, the camera then pans upwards toward Murray's face showing a sinister impression as half of his face is lit, however the shadow's cover most of his face, the screen then fades to black.
Throughout the film it seems to have used a black and white tone to make the atmosphere more eerie and mysterious, this is strengthened with the lack of light, as the light which has been used, looks natural and just highlights important moments such as the expressions on character's faces.
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