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MACCA'S MEN
A kind hearted football fanatic helps to build confidence and
team-work skills in a group of young lads by holding regular football
training sessions in his spare time.. He hopes that one day his
training and his belief in the kids will help him to fulfil his
dream of creating a local team.
"I was the first kid in Liverpool to have titanium braces"
The idea for Macca's Men arose from Paddy Considine
trying out different wigs , false teeth and outfits that Shane
had bought from a local charity shop.. When a large set of ugly
false teeth were tried out by Paddy, the character was born..
With the teeth in place, Paddy began improvising a character and
within a couple of hours, the film was being made at the local
park.. Only an hour or two before this, there was no idea at all.
THE MAN WITH NO NAME
A documentary film-maker ventures into local woodland to meet
up with a mysterious man that claims to have been living in the
woods for three years.
"The trees don't judge. The foxes and spring rabbits, they
don't judge me."
The idea for this film was to create a mysterious character and
a somewhat spooky atmosphere by using a mock documentary style..
Shane Meadows plays the film-maker (who is only heard from behind
the camera) who is drawn deeper and deeper into the woods by the
slightly unnerving character played by Paddy Considine.
At one point during the filming of this short, Shane and Paddy
encountered members of the public rambling in the woods.. Instead
of cutting this unplanned encounter with members of the public,
they decided to incoporate the footage and use it to help tell
the story they ended up making.
THE POPPA SQUEEZE AFFAIR
Italian-American Toni Moroni comes over to the MIdlands in the
UK to help his Uncle Poppa Squeeze turf out the 'student pricks'
that are hanging around his coffee shop.. While he is in the UK,
Toni learns about the Student Loan scheme, and turns it to his
advantage.
"You think you can hide from me moving in with your Grandmother..?.."
With Shane being a big fan of Martin Scorcese, this film features
a smalltime, Italian-American gangster as a kind of homage to
Scorcese's gangster films.
In this film, Shane also demonstrates some different techniques
for stylish camera shots, fight scenes and contrasting character
traits.. Not only that, but it succesfully demonstrates how you
can combine inspiration from your favourite films with your own
unique voice to create something completely new (rather than simply
ending up with a rip-off).
THREE TEARS FOR JIMMY
PROPHET
Jimmy was a promising young boxer, but a past tragedy still haunts
him.
"Whatever it takes, I'm gonna let her know that I'm her father
and I love her."
The plan for this film was to have a single character telling
their story straight to camera, accompanied by gentle music and
black and white filming.. Shane had discovered the dramatic power
of this technique whilst filming Twentyfour Seven.
With simple camera work and the black and white imagery, there
is nothing to distract the viewer from the focus of the film,
which is the story being told by the main character.
For any budding film-maker, Shane believes that pulling off an
engaging film with a single charcter telling their story to camera
is great way of learning what you are capable of as a film-maker..
Of course it goes without saying, that your actor will also be
learning a great deal too.
TANK'S TOP TIPS
As well as the four short films, there is also a series of three
short film-making guides called Tank's Top Tips.. Shane has enlisted
his good mate Tank Bullock to host proceedings from his own farm
with the help of his farmhand named Shag.
Tank takes you through three distinct sets of tips.... Cheap Tips,
Shooting Tips, and Career Tips in his own inimitable style.
"Oh my God! Shag.. what have you done with me Mungo Cola?!"
Between sections of genuinely useful film-making tips, we get
to see Tank dish out a number of kickings to Shag, as well as
Tank accusing Shag of calling his Mrs a fat bitch at the chippy!
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