3. ETHAN
This is the outfit that I will be wearing to play
Ethan.
We decided that wearing predominantly black
clothes was the best option for Ethan’s outfit
so that he seems different to everyone else,
also it makes him elusive and shows that he
wants to remain hidden away from people.
The clothes are very ordinary (iconography of
his working class background which is
conventional for the genre), something that
you would see on a day to day basis which
reflects the harsh times he has been through.
Not to mention that whoever has been in care
for him for this long has either not had the
money to buy him new clothes or he has just
had hand-me-downs for the majority of his life.
The black also has connotations of the
judgment society places on him, because of
his background.
4. BUSINESSMAN
This is the outfit that Nick our
businessman is going to be wearing.
He has to look like he is actually a
businessman and the same as all
stereotypical businessmen, he will be
wearing a black suit. This shows his
upper class status, and indicates to
the audience that will be working at a
high end job.
His costume establishes a binary
opposition with Ethan between
privileged and unprivileged. However
that is ironic because the colour
black of his suits connotes how
Ethan's situation can easily happen to
anyone.
6. PHONE, LETTER, AND
BRIEFCASE
The phone is going to be used by the
businessman when he is shouting, showing
that he is angry at a potential client or
colleague.
The letter, the most significant prop, is held
by Ethan throughout the opening sequence,
it is the letter that he got from his father
which is the whole reason for him being at
the station in the first place.
The briefcase is also used by the
businessman when he falls up the stairs
and all of the papers come out of it.
The briefcase and phone act as
iconography of the businessman’s wealth
and status, whereas Ethan only has the
letter, opposed by the technology
represented by the businessman’s phone.
The papers and the letter also allow for us
to use a graphic match.
7. TRAIN TICKET, BEER
BOTTLE, SUGAR GLASS
The train ticket is bought by Ethan so that he
can get the train to where he wants to go, as
he grabs the ticket out of the machine it
sparks the flashback of his dad getting the
beer bottle. The train ticket also represents
freedom ironically he is going back to his dad.
conventional in social realism films to lack
new equilibrium or for characters to be
trapped by their experiences/ upbringing/
class.
The sugar glass will be used when the parents
are arguing in one of the flashbacks, it will be
either thrown against the wall or thrown at the
foster mum by the foster dad. The breaking
class can connote the violence which
characterizes Ethan’s life. This is conventional
in social realism to see men trying to assert
masculinity through violence, as they often
feel emasculated.
The beer bottle is used by the dad as part of a
flashback. It is a key reminder to Ethan that he
never had the parents that he wanted similarly
that this was the reason why he didn’t live
with his dad after his mum died in the car
crash. We got the idea to use alcohol from our
focus group as they said it was more realistic
to a modern day society.
8. WATCH, PAPERWORK
The watch is worn by Ethan when he
is checking what time the train is
going to depart, however it could
also be used as a metaphor to
symbolise that Ethan’s time with his
dad has been very limited and that
he is relieved now that he can finally
begin to form a relationship with
him again.
The paperwork is going to be in the
suitcase of the businessman and
when he trips over the paperwork is
going to fall out of the suitcase
which sparks the final flashback of
him throwing the paper into the bin
at his old foster home. The
paperwork connotes that Ethan is
just another statistic in the system,
he is not special nor exclusive.
