Room 8 (S2S Research)

Room 8

The short film Room 8 is a BAFTA award winning production made by James W. Griffiths for The Bombay Sapphire Imagination Series. It shows a short interaction between 2 cellmates in a Russian prison, and involves elements of supernatural.

James W. Griffiths

Griffiths has been in the business for 10 years as a director, editor and actor, creating films for the likes of Google, Mercedes and Nokia (+ many more). His work for Bombay Sapphire achieved a BAFTA award for short film in 2014. He had only just started to explore directing after being an editor and saw the competition that Bombay Sapphire was hosting as a great opportunity, since they would be giving him a budget and be promoting his skills.
His other work proves him to be a lover of beautiful cinematography as seen in A Solitary World. 

The Video

The video is part of a project funded by Bombay Sapphire called The Imagination Series, which involves 5 short films created by different directors but to the same script. Each one came out entirely different. The Mrs is another interpretation of the script. The impressive creativity put into each story is an example of how each director works differently, and Griffiths shows his very specific style in the way Room 8 is shot. It has a dark, cool toned theme running through which gives a sense that there's more to be discovered, thanks to the dark shadows cast by objects in the room. It draws attention to the new inmates face, showing his expressions more clearly.
The story, set and characters are all very simple, but the viewer doesn't need a lot of information from these elements, because of how the characters use facial expressions, and the script also shows how the original prisoner is trying to protect the box and the new inmate initially, but then increases the new inmate's curiosity by quickly changing his mind to telling the new inmate to open it.
The video begins with a shot of a matchbox moving on it's own. Then we see a prisoner being thrown in a Russian prison cell with another inmate who seems very private. The new inmate finds a box on the other prisoners bed, and despite the original inmate's argument against it, the new inmate opens the box to find a replica of their cell. When the new inmate reaches inside however, he sees his own hand enter their real cell, as though the model is a portal. The new inmate realises he can escape by doing this so opens the lid of the box, then climbs over the edge of their cell. It ends with the original prisoner capturing the new prisoner in a matchbox and keeping it in a draw full of other moving matchboxes.

Character

The characters in this story are very simple and don't need much development to add to the story. Saying that, they do have a lot of impact for the story.

The new inmate seems a little cocky and arrogant when he first comes into the cell which gives the impression that he's been through this kind of thing before. We get this from his comment "happy birthday mate" to the guard after he closes the door. He tries to get to know his cellmate who seems secretive and doesn't answer all of his questions. When he attempts to escape the cell he is still showing this arrogance by thinking he will be able to escape and doesn't think about the clear consequences of his actions (where will he go? What will he do as a tiny version of himself?). This character represents someone with a lot of curiosity and confidence, but we know this is all struck down when he climbs out of the box.
The second character, the cellmate, seems reserved at first, which can be seen as suspicious, adding a sense of unknown to the story. But then as he suddenly begins to interact with the newcomer with lines such as "You might regret it," quickly changing to "Fine. Go ahead, open it." This quick change in opinion makes the character seem less trustworthy, which is then proven correct at the end. All of these subtle clues to the nature of the character helps the viewer build an opinion of the character in such a short space of time. Every line used adds something to the story/ building character and no line is wasted.

Goal

The goal of the new inmate seems to be to figure out what secrets the original cellmate has to hide, which then obviously turns into attempting to escape prison. The goal of the original inmate I feel is down to interpretation, as it could be seen that he is trying to make the new inmate more curious, and to get him to open the box, or he could be genuinely trying to warn the new inmate of what could happen. I feel that he is trying to make him more curious because of what happens in the beginning/end with the matchbox.
The goal of the director was to highlight human curiosity and I got the impression from this interview that he wanted to show how much can come from a small space.

Conflict

The conflict with this story is the curiosity that the new inmate is facing with the contrast of how suspicious the owner of the box is. The conflict is faced almost from beginning to end and even the questions raised in the viewers head can be seen as conflict as the viewer is trying to decide what they make of the story. The obvious source of conflict is the first cellmate being secretive and suspicious, which makes the viewer question his intentions. We do also end up being left with conflict however, thanks to the question of the purpose of the people in the matchboxes.

Change

The change comes from the reveal of the true intentions of the first inmate. At first the viewer isn't sure if he is trustworthy or not, but then it's revealed that he has sinister plans for the new inmate. The change is the reveal of the purpose of the matchboxes.

How did it affect my work?

This short film didn't take much to create a very in-depth story. They didn't need a lot of props or actors to tell the story well, and to make the viewer feel emotions towards the different characters. They don't even have names yet we build a recognition of the type of person they each are, even when we aren't told any details, it's all portrayed through the minimal lines they have and the actions.
I find this work inspiring as it just shows that it doesn't take much to create something amazing, which is great as I don't have much of a budget, but it shows to me how I have the opportunity to make something emotional without having to have a huge budget or a perfect set.
Although this short film was given a budget by Bombay Sapphire and did use professional actors, it still would have been possible without these aspects, and it says more about how good the script is rather than the location.