The Ellington Kid

A short film telling an urban legend in visuals . Two men sit in a café and discuss the legend with the legend itself being intercut with the discussion . That's it and it only lasts a grand total of five minutes but seems much longer . I don't mean it's overlong in the way that some short films or indeed a lot of feature films are overlong but director Dan Sully seems to bring a bit more to a very short film than just padding out a story . He makes good use of editing and the film works very well due to the simple cross cutting technique . He also manages to evoke a strong sense of time and place by using a sort of techno dub soundtrack that seems well suited to an inner London location . He also resists the temptation to use the characters some streetwise innit guv chav speak . Okay if you're a grammar Nazi you might not like the use of double negatives it's recognizably English and natural sounding . THE ELLINGTON KID isn't a great short due to being limited by a very simple premise but it is a very good one

This is a GREAT short film! I don't understand why it is only rated 6.7/10. Maybe the people who gave it 4/5/6 stars simply didn't understand it.

The language is sometimes difficult to understand but the storytelling is almost flawless. The shooting, the editing and the soundtrack are very well managed too.

Above all, there is some suspense and a few things are left untold so the viewer is left with a strange aftertaste.

You guys deserve my 10/10 and I'm looking forward to watching your next gem!