Short Film - "Laid Off"

Link to watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQox9W9jedw&feature=relmfu

"Laid Off" is a short film written and directed by Zam Salim. It tells the story of a  man called Martin who was hit and killed by a car in Glasgow City centre three years previous to the short film. The story is told through a first-person documentary style structure in which Martin's voice is heard in the voice-over narrating the storyline. This technique is used to make the story feel a lot more personal and allows the main character to present their feelings and emotions.


Martin cannot be seen by the living and therefore resorts to living his days walking around town, going to the cinema and attending bereavement counselling which will in effect, decide his fate of being sent either up (heaven) or down (hell). He tells the audience of how he wished he had gotten rid of his pornography stash before his widow found it and also tells of how she moved on quickly and is now having a child by her new boyfriend. Martin's voice is very monotone and the lighting and colours used in the film are very bleak and dull to suggest that Martin is depressed about being stuck in the real world. He attempts to make light of his daunting situation by adding humour to the narration. The most notable bit of cinematography which is very effective and in my opinion is at the very end when the group involved in Martin's bereavement counselling class are filling out 'moving on' forms. He notifies the audience that he already knows he won't be getting the single position to move on and therefore begins to question why he is still stuck in the living world. The camera zooms out to a long shot of the three deceased people sitting on the sofa and the lights slowly begin to turn off, signalling the end of the film but also of the unimportance that those people have. It's almost as if the lights are motion censored and as they do not really exist, they begin to turn off reminding them that they are dead. The loss of light also helps to represent their loneliness and isolation as they can't interact with any of their loved ones left behind in their life. 

Details (taken from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816087/)

Country: UK
Language: English
Filming locations: Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland, UK


Release Dates:
Germany           21 April 2006              (Berlin Britspotting Film Festival)
UK                   19 May 2006 


Budget: £1,000 (estimated)