Son of a Pitch

An intriguing short film from the ambitious and up and coming Running Legend people. You can sense film makers flexing their muscles with this production and I liked the tone of this one very much. It worked well as a debate about the nature of the business and well acted and put together.

I have seen other work by the same team and they are developing all the time and I look forward to their first full length feature film.

The direction had a sure hand and the lighting was perfect and made the most of the sparse set. The ending was a surprise but one we would all agree is how we would feel in such a situation. I wonder if an LA audience would see parallels with the business there?

I'm invited to see a lot of short film screenings. Often the film makers are young and inexperienced, but full of confidence and keen to carve out a future in the industry. Sometimes that confidence isn't justified! Son of a Pitch had a smaller budget than even the majority of short films made for this purpose and yet it demonstrates an immensely superior understanding of how to engage an audience. Budgetry limitations impact on production values, but not to an extent that detracts from involvement in the on screen tussle between two well-developed characters brought to life by convincing acting, perfectly paced direction, and enough menacing atmosphere to leave the audience always unsure who has the upper hand and just which of the many possible outcomes will result. Fyn Day isn't as young as many new film makers, but life experience pays dividends, and I'm looking forward to his efforts when given a bigger budget and a bigger canvas. This offering shouts "potential".

The dialogue and original score from this enterprising short would not be out of place in a much larger budgeted production. You'll need to watch it several times to keep up with the verbal wrestling, and hopefully a wider audience will be given an opportunity to do this when the film's successful festival run is brought to a close early in 2012. It falls to the actors (in what is largely a two-hander) to maintain the pace and tension. The considerate direction of Fyn Day encourages both players to turn in decent performances, notably Robert Lockhart, but with tremendous support from the unpredictable Bryan Hands. Also watch out for a cameo appearance from legendary 80s actor Steve Longhurst. Truly excellent.