Thursday, 5 January 2017

Shifty



Shifty is a British film that was made in 2008 under the Microwave Scheme that was funded by the UK Film Council(since replaced by the BFI).The aim of the scheme was to provide young London  film makers with a platform to make a small independent film. However they had certain rules in order to make this film. Firstly, the had a budget of less than £100,000. Shifty was the second Microwave film to be released. Shifty opened in 51 small independent cinemas such as Curzon chain and on its opening weekend took £61,000. The final box takings were £143 ,000. Most of the film's came from DVD and television sales.




Shifty was distributed by Metronome. £50,000 was spent on making celluloid prints of the film, administration and advertising. They wanted to attract two types of audience. The first audience was a middle class audience that regularly sees small independent films at independent cinemas. In addition to that, they to attract a new, younger urban audience. Also, Shifty was very smart when it came to advertising. They ran adverts on pirate radio stations and used fly posters and gave out business cards which depicted Shifty as a drug dealer and directed the recipient to a website. There was also a music video on YouTube.

Shifty is a thriller that builds up slowly. There are three parts to the story, Firstly, Chris, a young man in his twenties decided to return home and visit a best friend, he has not seen for years. This causes an enigma to be set up. We the quickly learn that Shifty becomes a drug dealer. As he competes during the film, it gives us a realistic picture about urban life. The second part of the story shows that Trevor is concerned who is a drug addict and is desperate for drugs. The audience becomes more intrigued about his problem. Finally, the last part is when Shifty is placed in danger by Glen who lies and claims Shifty is changing his supplier. Shifty fears for his safety and the film builds towards a climax of tension.Overall, I enjoyed this thriller because it was based on our lives which made it exciting. This film was very effective as it had a build up of tension at the end when we didn't know how Shifty was going to get out of his situation, which for me was the best part. I would recommend this film to anyone that enjoys thrillers and is in thiller teenage age and understands our society.



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