'Shifty' Case Study

SHIFTY Case Study

We did this case study because 'Shifty' is a social-realist drama , which is the same genre our film will fit into and so we analysed 'Shifty' in order to find out which shots were used , the way that characters were portrayed etc.

Profile

Writer/Director:  Eran Creevy

Producer:  Ben Pugh

Budget:  £100,000

Distributor:  Metrodome

Their funding came from the microwave scheme and as a result they had to make the film in 18 days without spending over £100,000. As a result they had to use a super 16 shoot, this means that they had to record on actual film. This has a nice effect however it is more expensive. Finally they shot the film in 18 days over 3 consecutive weeks

Shifty had one of the highest overall ratings amongst thousands of films on Rotten Tomatoes, with a total of 96% fresh reviews.  Many claimed that despite a very low budget, the film's actors and storyline was of the highest calibre . In addition the film seemed very realistic due to Chemistry between the two protagonists

The film was distributed by Metrodome who marketed the film in the following ways: Spent about £50,000 on prints, administration and advertising. They felt that the film was similar to Kidulthood/Adulthood and wanted to reach a similar audience – known as Urban Genre, a young, urban audience

Interestingly Metrodome  produced three trailers all tailored to appeal to different audiences as it felt that the film could also appeal to the middle-class Guardian reading audience, the trailer targeting this audience featured a more classical style soundtrack whilst the ‘urban’ trailer featured a hip-hop style soundtrack that didn’t actually feature in the film

Furthermore additional funding for distribution came from the UK Film Council’s P and A Fund (£200,000) allowing for 51 prints to be distributed. Social class remains a key narrative theme as with many British films with additional themes of friendship, loyalty and family values underpinning the storyline.

Shifty’s production company was Film London working in conjunction with BBC films suggesting an agreement has been made on TV distribution, similar to first time director Saul Dibb’s Bullet Boy (2006).