Tight Jeans (2008)

Tight Jeans is a short film written and directed by Destiny Ekaragha, which follows a conversation surrounding culture and race between 3 men as they wait for their friend, and it is prompted when a man in skinny jeans passes them.

Set up: the short film opens on a montage of a busy urban environment, using sharp cuts to establish the place. During this montage, there is percussive synthetic music, which is quite modern and urban. We get shots of the three men's hands as they all fidget, and their feet swaying, creating a sense of urgency through their body language. We also get a shot of jeans being sold at the market, foreshadowing the plot of the short film. This beginning montage is edited and shot in a very different way from the rest of the film, with the montage being much quicker and busier. This could be done to create a contrast that exaggerates the quietness of the setting the three guys are in. This quietness forces us to pay more attention to the conversations being had as we are no longer distracted by the busy surroundings and noises.

Act 1 opens with a low-angle establishing shot of the three, establishing the scene as taking place in a council estate setting. The costume of the three boys is designed to be simple but fashionable at its time, using bright colours to make them stand out from their surroundings. 

Act 2 begins when a man in skinny jeans passes them. The man is followed by the camera to replicate a human eye following him as if we are one of the guys sitting on the ledge. The man in the red hoodie exclaims, "Why can I not wear jeans that tight?". This interaction sparks a conversation about race between the three, beginning with the topic of "dick size". This then leads to a further discussion about race, covering heavy subject matters such as sexual politics, slavery and racism in a very lighthearted and somewhat comedic way due to the guy in the middle exaggerating things. 

Act 3 begins when the friend that they were waiting for comes out of his flat and shouts at them over the balcony, telling them to wait five more minutes. The three guys start to get irritated and angry at him, moving on from their previous conversation. The friend yells back and closes his door, leaving the three in silence and clearly agitated. Soon after this, another man walks by them, wearing a tight t-shirt. This leads to the guy in the red hoodie saying "How can man wear a t-shirt that tight?". The guy in the middle then responds the same way he did to the first question, with the other two being visibly annoyed. This is a circular ending which is very comedic, and is a satisfying end to the short film. 

The camera is mostly focused on these three men, only changing focus when the men themselves get distracted, either looking at a person passing them or when their friend shouts at them from the balcony. The film frequently uses mid-shots, and slowly pans from left to right, and in doing so we are only focused on the three guys talking, and not their surroundings. Sometimes the camera uses close-ups to focus on the reactions and facial expressions of the guys. 

The dialogue and acting are simple and realistic, effectively creating a conversation that we can engage in. The use of swearing and slang is very naturalistic and urban which creates familiarity. They discuss complex topics in comedic ways which is interesting and engaging to watch. Ekaragha creates the perfect balance of using comedy to discuss heavy subjects while not taking away from their importance.