A Container

A short story about the effect a skip arrival has on the local residents.

Not wishing to give away the ending I will leave it at that, but to say I enjoyed this little tale, and found it quite amusing. Its a cleverly thought out piece, and suitably directed.

An empty skip is placed in the middle of a Glasgow housing estate and left. After being the source of play for a small group of children it is an immediate source of dumping and scavenging for the local residents.

This was one of the short film entered into the orange Short Film Award 2002 and was the final of the six finalists to be seen. It was also one of the three that had a great imagination even if the plot or story was a little basic (it is a short after all). The initial shots of the children playing is very good with the camera giving the feel of being in a plane or (even better) rolling in a tank.

This is replaced by the scenes of dumping and scavenging although this in itself isn't the point. The shots of the residents returning to the skip to take each other's rubbish is interesting enough and I assumed that this was the `point' or the end. However the punch line to the short is much cleverer and comes out of nowhere – I won't spoil it but it's really good.

The cast feel very genuine and do well however the real focus is on this skip. Overall this is a simple premise but a very imaginative one that has a good ending. It has good direction, good editing and, despite some shots that look more TV than film, this is a very enjoyable few minutes.