Set Research Film No. 7: Tight Jeans
Tight Jeans; dir. Destiny Ekaragha, 2008
Perhaps the most idiosyncratic piece in substance and style was Tight Jeans. With the simple premise of three friends bantering as members of the public roll pass, a surprising amount of commentary is achieved as to the typically unheard voice of young black men. Scripting, as you might imagine, is key to such an effect. The clearly minimal budget and resources have wound themselves into an intriguingly minimalist piece, but this serves as a wonderful example of a director harnessing such limitations to the charming benefit of their piece rather than struggling against it, to detrimental effect; something absolutely essential to the success of my own film.
That isn't to put it without fault, however. There certainly exists the nagging issue of poor acting, unfortunately especially prevalent in a film so focused on its quality of language... perhaps it is the familiarity with the speech of young people that makes it irk me more. Similarly, the representation of the three protagonists, whilst great to the effect that it is a group relatively unexplored, do tread into stereotype - for better or worse - grating against the messages that the film wishes to present on occasion. Addressing gentrification, social status and morality is no small feat in just under 9 minutes, and whilst hardly revolutionary Ekaragha cannot be blamed for exploring such themes in such a novel and entertaining fashion.
I would be lying if I said that this inspired be to a literal degree - the thematic and stylistic substance just isn't attuned to my own ideas. But Tight Jeans serves perfectly to illustrate what a filmmaker can do with some savvy dialogue and a single filming location - it's smart, informed and deliberately confrontational where it needs to be on matters clearly pertinent to the director. That passion, regardless of means or resources, always translates to a final product that one cannot help but enjoy.
Perhaps the most idiosyncratic piece in substance and style was Tight Jeans. With the simple premise of three friends bantering as members of the public roll pass, a surprising amount of commentary is achieved as to the typically unheard voice of young black men. Scripting, as you might imagine, is key to such an effect. The clearly minimal budget and resources have wound themselves into an intriguingly minimalist piece, but this serves as a wonderful example of a director harnessing such limitations to the charming benefit of their piece rather than struggling against it, to detrimental effect; something absolutely essential to the success of my own film.
That isn't to put it without fault, however. There certainly exists the nagging issue of poor acting, unfortunately especially prevalent in a film so focused on its quality of language... perhaps it is the familiarity with the speech of young people that makes it irk me more. Similarly, the representation of the three protagonists, whilst great to the effect that it is a group relatively unexplored, do tread into stereotype - for better or worse - grating against the messages that the film wishes to present on occasion. Addressing gentrification, social status and morality is no small feat in just under 9 minutes, and whilst hardly revolutionary Ekaragha cannot be blamed for exploring such themes in such a novel and entertaining fashion.
I would be lying if I said that this inspired be to a literal degree - the thematic and stylistic substance just isn't attuned to my own ideas. But Tight Jeans serves perfectly to illustrate what a filmmaker can do with some savvy dialogue and a single filming location - it's smart, informed and deliberately confrontational where it needs to be on matters clearly pertinent to the director. That passion, regardless of means or resources, always translates to a final product that one cannot help but enjoy.
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