Tight jeans

 

Director Destiny Ekaragha's short film, Tight Jeans, is nine minutes. Three teenage boys are talking as they wait for their friend who is getting changed while watching and judging bystanders on a street outside a council estate. We hear their comedic conversation.

cinematography

We see a closeup from a slightly low angle when we first meet the boys. We are drawn to their hands, clothing, and their skin tone because their faces are not in the frame. The mise en scene effectively foreshadows the two subjects that the teenagers talk about for the entire nine minutes. The boys' fidgeting and kicking of their feet give us the impression that they are impatient with their slow friend. This opening shot establishes the scene by highlighting the surrounding council flats.

 

 

editing 

As the conversation begins, the editing becomes less and less, drawing us in with the lengthy pauses between scenes as they talk about white girls and black girls. The sudden cut to an incredibly close-up of one of the boys' faces shows him reacting to something ridiculous that one of the other kids just said. In order to highlight the reactions, it then cuts to the other boy on the right while maintaining the 180-degree angle.

mise en scene 

The red clothing worn by the self-assured and determined individual on the left suggests that he is an angry and confrontational person. The boy on the right, however, who is wearing a chilly blue hoodie, has the opposite viewpoint and advises them to wait for their friend. The boy in the middle, who differs from the other two in that he makes more unexpected and humorous remarks, is finally represented by his distinctive orange hoodie with stripes.