Wheels - David Begg

Wheels is a short film written, directed and produced my David Begg. It follows Collin, a physically disabled man on his journey through the streets of North London to a pub. As he is walking to the pub, he is pushing an empty wheelchair which the audience can only assume it is for himself if he decides he needs it.

However, there is a plot twist; when he arrives at the pub, the audience see that the wheelchair is in fact for his father who has had one too many drinks down and the pub, and needs to be pushed home. 

This short film has a linear narrative and follows the story in chronological order, even though it skips over a lot of Collins journey to the pub. The film is objective as it not only shows Collins journey, but also the situation going on down at the pub. The plot is multi stranded as there are two plots going on, one about Collins journey to the pub through all the parks and roads, and the other focus’ on Collins father getting drunk. In this short film, the characters know more than the audience, as Collin knows his destination in the pub, where as the audience does not realise that the the two men being focused on during the film are father and son.

The titles appear straight away over black, stating who produced the film and who directed it, with no score or sound in the background. The scene then cuts to a close up of the wheels of the wheel chair rolling down the steps, along with the diegetic sound of the wheels clanking down the steps.

The title “Wheels” then appears in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, just as a piano score comes in. This score is then played throughout the whole film, along with the diegetic sound of the wheels and ambient city sounds. There is a small amount of dialogue throughout the sequence, to highlight the fact that the old man, who find out to be Collins dad, is drunk.

There is then a list of full credits at the end over a light-hearted guitar and piano score.

The main theme of this short film is disability and how it is perceived in London in today’s society. This short film goes against the stereotype that those with a disability are always dependent on others, as in this scenario, it is the able bodied man who depended on Collin for getting home safely. It also highlights role reversal as in this film it is the son looking after the son, when usually it is the father who is supposed to be the responsible one.

Throughout the short film there are many close up on the wheels of the wheelchair to reinforce the title of the film. There is a diegetic, piano score running all the way through the short film. The lighting throughout this short film is hard, high key lighting which makes it clear it is a reality sequence and hasn’t been made to look fake or glossy in anyway. 

This short film was made for entertainment purposes for channel 4 viewers. It may have also been made to create awareness for disabilities and to show that they are much more independent than some people give them credit for.

Due to being hosted on a well established website means that this film as a large potential audience, more so than if it was only available to view at film festivals or on DVD which would cost money in order to watch. On the internet the video can be shared and viewed all over the country for anyone who has access to the web. I think the potential age of the audience for this film is very varied, I am 17 and I found it very amusing, as did my dad who is in his 40's. 

I really like this short film and I found it humorous and I especially liked the plot twist at the end. I liked the idea that the audience was in the dark and knew less than the characters as it brought up a few enigmas that kept me watching, for example; why is the wheelchair empty? who is the drunk man in the pub? I would definitely like to incorporate this idea into my own short film.