The Beachcombers

Created by Chris Croucher and Mark Beynon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L_wgw0cr2I

Running time: 10:00

Synopsis

• Divided by the banks of the river Thames, and both afraid to make the first move. Two shy and quiet individuals, Simon and Claire are united through their passion and obsession with beachcombing the riverbanks in search of rare antiquities.

• But when Simon finds a rare coin hidden in the sediment, this gives him the ideal opportunity to finally cross the divide.

About the film

Funded by film London from The Lewisham Film Initiave (shown in the opening credits)• This short film was also crowned the winner

of The Film London Best Of Borough Audience Award 2009, it was also presented at BAFTA and it was chosen by ITV viewers.

• The film was shot over two days in January of 2008 on the River Thames.

Titles and institution reference's

The titles and the institution references, are mainly in black font, the lettering is also quite simple to go with the black background and white writing.

the film references to 3 institutions that have supported the film, emphasising that it had a lot of backing from mostly independent companies, and that it was supported by local film councils

Opening scene

The camera does a close up of one of the characters, who also fills most of the frame, from this we can tell the personality of the character through the fingerless gloves and also the head phones, this shows that the character like old things as these items are not popular today.

The establishing shot of the water, shows us to the location of where the film is set, from this the reflection of the sunset on the water gives off a warm feeling as though it is set ion the beach in a foreign country

Location/ Mise-en-scene

The close up of the metal detector, gives an idea as to what one of the main narratives of the film, searching for something that is lost, it also emphasises the element that unites the characters.

The main emphasis in these two shots, show the location of the film and also how both character's are similar, in their passion for looking for artefacts and also as they wear similar clothing to each other. The bright lighting in the scenes also show that it is a very calm relaxed and quiet moment in the scene.

CameraIn the film, the director has favoured many close ups and extreme close ups shown in these pictures here. In the first shot, the scene is quite dark and suppressive, as the rooms is full and crowded with the many trinkets that he has collected, in the shot the scene portrays the thought that the character is still searching for something special. in the second shot, the extreme close up of the old rusty piping emphasises that these are the sorts of things that he finds regularly while looking on the river banks, old discarded items that no one wants but he can make use of.

Fraaming

These two shots have been perfectly framed, the position of the characters look as though they are meant to be sitting side by side. The lighting in each is especially effective as in the first shot, we see the playful silhouette of the female character sifting through her finds of the day, she is illuminated by the sunset and bright background. In the other scene of the guy in the frame, it seems to be a noddy shot as you focus on the character also logging in his finds, the background of the building and the river emphasise his location and the clothing that h is wearing shows that he is comfortable in his clothing.

Representation

In this scenes, the characters are reflected into the windows while looking out onto the river and the city. From this we could also say that they are looking out or looking for each other. Having the camera allow us to see into the reflection allows us to connect with the character and how they long to just both be down by the river side looking for discarded things, and how even though they don’t know it….they are looking for each other.

SoundThrough the film there is no spoken dialogue, thins is what make this film so unique, this is emphasised by the dived of each of the characters, they contact each other through sign boards which adds an extra edge to the film. The most of the sound that we hear in the film is diegetic such as the flow of the river and the beeping of the metal detector, and some of the sound is non diegetic, such as the traffic- these sounds also emphasise the setting of the film as traffic sounds are typical of city areas through out the film there is also a backing track which really complements the film.. These are also contrasting of the calm river and busy traffic.

Representation/Narrative

Here the biggest representations are given thought these scenes. The two swans represent the relationship of the two characters, as swans as typical symbol's of love and, as there are two of them in the scene they represent each character. the scene of the female character digging up the box shows that she had found what she was looking for, love. As it was hidden.

Themes/messages

The most reoccurring themes and messages through the film are treasure-hunting, love and friendship. And each theme is slowly developed and combined as the film goes on. We see that the two become friend's then as time goes on, even though they don’t speak to each other, they still start to bond as they share a passion and an obsession for the same hobby.

Editing

The editing in the film has been carefully done to allow for the development of the characters story's. As the characters begin to run to each other, the background of the characters are faded out to allow for you to focus on the characters and their facial expressions as they meet each other face to face for the first time. through the film, a lot of fast cutting has also been done to allow for the fast transition of looking into what one character is doing on one side of the river then what the other character is doing , to then be cut again so that they are able too communicate with each other using the chalk and wipe boards. I think that the editing in the film has been fantastically done to allow you to follow the developing story between the characters.

Audience

I think that the audience of the film is most likely 12+, as there are no explicit scenes and it is a really simplistic and easy film to follow., as you see the relationship between the two develop, you become connected with the characters, especially when Simon finds the coin and decides to hide it, from then the whole atmosphere of the film changes as they decide to meet up and as they run to each other, it is as if the crown parts to make a clear path for them to follow.

Who was involved?

• Created by- Chris Croucher & Mark Beynon• Producer- Michael Berliner• Director of photography- Anna Valdez-Hanks• Production Designer- Catrin Meredydd• Executive Producers- Geoff Cockwill & Sunny

Varky• Actors:Simon- Rasmus HardikerClaire- Charity Wakefield

My opinion

• One of the main elements that I think really emphasise the simplicity of the film, is that there is no dialogue , and the only form that the characters can communicate with each other is through using the chalk and wipe boards- this adds a sweet touch to the film, connecting the audience with the characters.

• Also I think that by using the backing song and the sound of the river, it helps to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere throughout while the location is set in the heart of busy London.