Location Scouting for a 'Shane Meadows' inspired short film

We went out today to do a little bit of location scouting for our up and coming 'Shane Meadows' inspired short film. I have watched films such as 'This is England', 'Somers Town', and 'Dead Man's Shoes' all directed by 'Meadows' and the style of the cinematography is something I got a lot of inspiration from for our own short film. The song I used in this video is by 'Gavin Clark and Ted Barnes' and is used in the opening of 'Somers Town' which has similar shots used in my location scouting video shown below. Static wide shots of someone walking is used quite often in 'Meadows' films and this is something I want to incorporate into the short film. So far I have no real idea of the narrative for the short film, all I know is that I want it to be really simple, with minimal acting and dialogue and cinematography. I have people who are willing to help out and act for the film, who can also provide all of their own costumes and props; which are going to be 'skinhead and mod' style clothing such as Doc Marten shoes and Harrington jackets. There is even going to be a 'Vespa' scooter involved and I really want to do a cinematic tracking shot from the back of a car as the scooter goes down the road shown in the image for the first shot in the short film. I will be posting with updates whenever there is anything interesting enough to write about throughout the whole production process of the short film.

Paddy Considine & Shane Meadows - Short Films

Shane Meadows award winning director of 'This is England' and 'Dead Man's Shoes' and British actor Paddy Considine have worked together quite a lot, and years ago produced a series of zero budget short films for the fun of it. I think they are a fine example of independent short films and the fact that they were directed and acted by well known people is even better. The films are all really simple, with no real narrative which is why I really enjoyed them. They have all inspired me to make some really simple short films, and to stop procrastinating about making films. They all show off Paddy Considines great acting and the variety of characters that he can pull off well.

My favourite film in the series is the sixth short film 'Three Tears for Jimmy Prophet' which is a mockumentary style short which follows Jimmy's story about a fight he had in the boxing ring. We hear his regrets for what happened all those years ago. It's a very comic short film, with some simple yet effective cinematography. Another thing I liked about it was the soundtrack, I am not too sure but it sounds like 'Gavin Clarke' who produced the soundtrack for 'Shane Meadows' film 'Somers Town'. You can view 'Jimmy Prophet' below or click here for the full list of shorts.



Currently 'Meadows' is one of my biggest inspirations for filmmaking, his films have been some of my favourite British releases and I really like the style that his films have. I am currently planning a short film which has been inspired by 'This is England', with the 'Skinhead / Mod' style, and it would be great for 'Meadows' to see it when it is done.