slap- Nick Rowland

Slap follows a young boxer as he explores his sexuality and masculinity. Throughout slap we are constantly present with both representations of masculinity and femininity. The main character is a boxer, a typically masculine sport. But he also wears makeup, which shows his feminine side. The duality represented through his performance, acts as good commentary on sexuality. It does show how damaging and oppressive toxic masculinity is, as in the film the idea of him wearing makeup and being a boxer is a paradox. In this society hes in, he cannot be both, and he will be condemned for being himself. There is a particular scene of him in dress and makeup, where it cuts between him dancing and boxing. This highlights his inner conflict of how he wants to express who he feels he really is. He then hears his gay friend banging on the door asking him to be let in. He cannot bring himself to do it, as he is wearing make up. I believe this shows that he feels so ashamed because of societal expectations that despite his friend (who is oppressed by society as well for being gay), being in danger, he cant yet show himself to the world. This short film does accomplish an in depth character arch which i find to be very impressive, as its only 25 minutes long. I really like the way it has a strong theme that it sticks to and explores it in such a detailed way. I would like to somehow incorporate this into my short film. I like the idea of having a really good moral/tough question/concept as the back bone for my film. This is because I think its a really good starting place and way to make my film unique.

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About Me

My name is Evan, I am studying film studies, business and sociology  at Hills road. Some of my interests include; rugby, swimming and sport in general. I chose film studies because It's an interesting and diverse subject, that I am passionate about. Some of my favourite films include; John wick and the Cornetto trilogy. I am particularly fond of action and comedy films, because I have a short attention span, therefore I need to be either constantly laughing or in awe of action set pieces. However I often enjoy an intense thriller with a complex plot like Inception. As part of my course work, which is to write a screen play, I have to keep track of my journey with these blogs. I will be looking at pre-existing short films, and developing my own ideas. My previous experiences with short films is very minimal, I've only really seen short films on you tube by independent creators. I don't have much experience with professionally made short films, or at least none memorable en...
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