Cut Out Critical Evaluation

Portia Simms Helen Bendon & Magnus Moar                                  

M00185527 Film Video and Interactive Arts

Cut Out Critical Evaluation_Film Video and Interactive Arts

The underlying theme of my project is about the dynamic of a female boss and employer relationship and how this impacts upon home life. It is about a professional and private dilemma. Grace is unable to be promoted within the film industry he works in due to her boss being homophobic, even though Grace has constantly worked hard at her job and has worked her way up in the company from the time she has joined. Grace is still given the ultimatum  "You can have the promotion on the terms that you will not get engaged to, marry or continue to see Carmen." Ashley.

My intentions for this project was to create a storyline and script about discrimination of sexuality which is not understood or accepted by a homophobic female boss, who can only be described as power mad and usually goes to the extreme of getting whatever she wants by any means possible.

'Cut Out' relates to the project in which I am doing for my independent project 'All That Glistens Is Not Gold' in screenwriting due to them both being about sexuality. However that is the only correlation between the two as "All That Glistens Is Not Gold" main theme/central subject/key concept is love and confused/unknown sexuality for an adolescent female who only decides to be herself and pursue what she really wants when she happens to befriend the new girl at sixth form. Where 'Cut out' is based upon the dynamic of a female boss and employer relationship and how this impacts upon homelife. It is about a professional and private life dilemma so really and truly the two do not coincide.

I think it is a particularly important issue for todays society because even though companies, industries and individuals are no longer allowed nor permitted to discriminate against others whether it be due to their age, ethnicity, sexuality or disability it is something that still occurs and in rare situation is not put right due to weak individuals who feel there is nothing they can do to prevent it or not realising that that a higher power maybe able to rectify/eliminate the problem. The trouble is that people still think they have the right to pass judgement just because certain individuals do not conform to what they see as a normal way of thinking, being or living. However people need to realised that your sexuality dies not define you, yes it is a part of who you are but at the same time the definition of you does not begin and end there.  

Griffiths, Robin (Editor), Wilde, Patick, Queer Cinema In Europe

I was sick of being told by people-even gay people -that it's easier to be gay now maybe it is once you're out but I don't think it's easier than it ever was to come out. All the pressures from your parents, peers, from your parents are still there and no amount of legalisation is going to change that.

I found it to be a particularly interesting approach because I have created a homophobic boss in an industry that is quite liberal and accepting. So when creating the character for the boss it was quite interesting as well as unusual especially as I myself do not have an issue with others sexuality but instead about the person whether or not they are  a good or bad influence, sexuality does not come into it. It was almost as if my character who was up for promotion was 'coming out' yet again and receiving negative feedback. 


The reason I chose this particular issue is because as a bi-sexual female I never know whether or not it is something that could effect my chances of getting a job. So I am somewhat like Grace as I do not bring it to anyones attention unless a situation arises where I need to admit it then I do. My girlfriend does relatively the same thing, however her colleagues and subordinates know and she tends to confront people when they try to discuss it behind her back rather than being upfront about it and asking her, as she sees it she will not broadcast it but if asked she will/does not lie.


With this topic I am able to draw on real life circumstances ones that i've been through and the ones I have witnessed my close companions go through. When composing the script/ character profiles I drew from the hateful things people said to me when they found out, the disgusted/hateful looks I received. The people who were my friends now seemed scared as they believed I might try it on with them or have been secretly wanting/watching them. As in being gay or the association with it somehow changes you, prevents you from being the person you are and always was. In real life this things like that tend to make people stronger so when it came to 'Cut Out' I figured i'd make Grace put two fingers up to her boss metaphorically speaking, however that is after she leads the audience down a somewhat confused path. 


I also chose this topic because usually when it is presented it's in a stereotypical fashion, butch lesbian with a lipstick lesbian so with 'Cut Out' I created both the characters to be lipstick lesbians as you ca not categorically say yes they are straight or yes they are gay. Same as in 'I Can't Think Straight and Imagine Me & You' in both of those films it was not bait that any of the female characters have a romantic interest in women instead of men. Two of the characters weren't even aware of the fact that they were lesbians instead they thought it was a phase and the other just settled to be with her best friend, however she soon learns that she loved him but she is not in love with him. It seems as though both women hide from their true selves due to the discrimination they think they will be subjected to and rather than face up to their true feelings they instead shy away from themselves. So I went with an original concept, something that is not stereotypical, that is not totally necessary obvious. 


Likewise I thought would the boss still have the same homophobic views on a 'gay acting man?' 

Burston, Paul, What are you looking at?

Jon was cheerfully blurring the boundaries between gay and straight men-not gay but  'stray' or 'gay acting' oblivious to the demands straight society makes of its menfolk, he was attractive, sensitive and excessively camp gay acting.

Since the 'gay acting man' would probably be camp and hold similar values himself and whether or not he was camp in an excessive fashion.

My target audience is not designated to any group in particular, the film is just meant to be regarded as a form of escapism for the brief time it is on. 'Cut Out' is a short film which is meant to bring to the viewing audience s attention that discrimination still happens in the present time and that you should not just accept it because the person subjecting it to you is in a higher position, older/taller/thinner than the person. Either way you should stand up for what you think/know is right. The moral of the story is discrimination occurs in everyday life but that does not mean you should stand for it, instead stand up for what you believe in otherwise people will continue to trample all over you.

McCabe, Janet and Akass, Kim, (Editor), Anderson-Minshall, Dianne, Reading The L Word Outing Contemporary Television

Psychologists too have released a grouping of recent studies proving that people develop intense relationships with people on TV that those characters act as our de facto friends, providing ancillary relationships that are so deeply ingrained in our psyches that when those people go away we actually grieve and when they reappear we feel intense joy. 

Nonetheless I do hope young/recently out gay/lesbian/bi-sexual males and females do so that if they are confronted with such a situation or one of a similar magnitude will stand up for what they believe is right and not just conform to what someone else believes to be right, normal and acceptable. It will be shown at 'Little Eye' final degree show at the Curzon Soho Cinema. As well as being posted on youtube. I may also send it along to any film productions/companies that I am interested in working for to show them what I am capable of producing/creating which will hopefully find and secure me a job prospect.'Cut Out' presents the viewing audience with the knowledge that discrimination is still apparent but you can not just put up with it as you could lose people/possessions close to you, as well as putting across the image of being a pushover, someone people can walk all over as you won't stand up for yourself.

It is also meant to present the audience with the notion that you should not become complacent because the media proclaims that the film industry is an accepting place, that fact might be true but you need to remember that not all employers will have the same morals. Some may be racist, sexist, ageist and/or homophobic. It is something no-one should have to put up with, talk to someone with more power or bring it to there attention that it is not something you will stand for, the issue that they are discriminating against you for a job opportunity or that can or should be used to judge that person. It's morally wrong and should have no relation to any job opportunity. 

My film 'Cut Out' does not need to be shown in any particular way. I would love for my film to be exhibited in a lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender festival not only because of the gay aspect of the film but because I would like to work in a film company/organisation/festival that I can relate to such as 'Enlightenment Productions who are responsible for the films 'I Can't Think Straight and The Unseen World' the company is co-owned by Shamim Sarif who is the author of the books of 'I Can't Think Straight  and The World Unseen' who is responsible for authoring, producing, distributing and selling the independent films. I would quite like to be something like Shamim Sarif as she started by just writing the novels but went on to turn them into films after the success they brought as novels. Before I did this project I thought I wanted to pursue some sort of career within the special effects department or lighting department but after having to write a script for this project and the screenwriting project i've realised that I would instead like to pursue a career in screen/script writing. It seems this project was/is an eye opener I intend to sent this final project to a vast amount of film companies/productions to show them what I am capable of doing and to show them my stronger assets when it comes to film screen/script writing as well as putting it on youtube to get a vast amount of different views/feedback to get both negative and positive criticism.

'Guess Who' I found this to be one of the many films I watched in preparation and found that my short fill had quite a strong correlation to it due to the discrimination in both films. The difference being that the discrimination is about about ethnicity rather than sexuality. For in the beginning of the film the viewing audience watch/witness as Simon quits his job, although we are not a hundred percent sure why he is but in a scene coming up towards the end of the film we soon find out it is because Simon's boss had an issue with Simon's girlfriend's ethnicity. 

Sullivan, Kevin Rodney (Dir.) Guess Who, 2005

What ya doing here? Simon

I know why you quit your job, you told your boss you were coming down here to meet me and he told you don't you marry that black girl. Percy

Those weren't exactly the words. Simon

Throughout the whole film we witness how Simon is subjected to discrimination from Theresa's father Percy , however he does not do it in such an apparent way he instead did it in an in-direct manner and it was also quite comical at times.

Guess Who,

I don't get it. Percy

You're doing great. Simon

I'm not talking about this, talking about you and Theresa, you got nothing in common.

For example, you don't like sports. Theresa loves sports.

You a business man, she's an artist, you're white, she's black.

Did I miss anything [smiles/smirks] Percy

I attempted to somewhat replicate the close knit relationship between Theresa and Simon. I was able to create this too a fashion as I created the same sort of awkward/confused conversation between my two characters when Carmen is trying to explain how she is goon make a big fuss over Grace for receiving the promotion until Grace drops the bombshell that there is more too it then simply accepting the promotion. The same sort of situation occurs between Theresa and Simon, Theresa is proud/excited to bring Simon home to meet her parents as he is a hard-working man working in a job he loves and they have recently got engaged but the little happy bubble Theresa was living in soon pops when she finds out Simon has quit his job and indirectly asked her father for a loan. The difference being Simon never fully explains to Theresa why he quit though. Theresa's Father Percy has an inkling to why he does it. Whereas in my film Grace is eventually willing to break the bad news after Carmen has began getting excited and wanting to share the good news with friends, family and acquaintances.

'Guess Who' also provides the viewing audience with somewhat comical discrimination when the Jones Family and Simon are talking as they eat. What starts off as friendly banter soon turns sour on more than one occasion. 

Guess Who,

I just lover her nappy little head. Simon about his grandmother

Whereas the discrimination between Simon and Theresa's Family is not serious as I presume it's the way in which they invites someone new and unexpected dues to his ethnicity. But when it comes to Simon and his boss it is a somewhat more serious matter and on a completely different magnitude.

Guess Who,

That boss of his is not a nice man. Theresa

You ever met him? Percy

A couple of times, he was always friendly. . . kinda. But he always had this. . . look in his eyes, you know just, just not a nice man. But he was Simon's mentor, whatever. . . let it go. . . today is about you and mum, okay?

'Lost and Delirious' I initially did not think this film applied to my project but when re-watching it I came across the concept that Victoria only stopped her romantic encounter with Paulie because she wants to conform to what her family and most importantly her Mother thinks/believes and finds is normal.

Pool, Lea, (Dir.) Lost and Delirious, 2001

I mean I love Paulie, you know that I do. She's my best friend in the world and probably the only person I will like ever love, like in the way that . . . Cleopatra [crying] And to hurt her, it's like i'm choking, like i'm not in the breathing world. But there's this life i'm supposed to live, this dream that my Mother and Father had for me and even though it is killing me Mary, I can't ever be with Paulie ever, not ever, ever again. Victoria

The viewing audience then witness as Paulie tries to do anything and everything in her power to win Victoria back, this only further seems to push Victoria away. Victoria admits to Paulie that yes she loves her and will probably only ever love her but them being together again is not to be. It seems that in this exceptional circumstance Paulie decides to take her own life after her birth Mother abandons her when she was a baby and does not want to be contacted by Paulie now that they are both older and now the only other woman that she truly loves abandons her she soon loses the will to live and so ends the downward spiral of hate and self-pity. 

Something that I found to be quite puzzling in the film is that Paulie gets somewhat offended when Mary questions Paulie about her and Victoria being lesbians. Instead she justifies it as just her loving Victoria and Victoria loving her.  

Lost and Delirious

Lesbian? LESBIAN? Are you fucking kidding me, you think i'm a lesbian? Paulie

You're a girl in love with a girl, aren't you? Mary

NO! I'm PAULIE in love with TORI. Remember? And Tori, she is, she IS in love with me because she is mine and I am hers and neither of us are lesbians! Paulie

Why does it offend her so much? I could totally understand if they were in a platonic friendship/relationship but the two girls are always showering one another in public shows of affection in front of Mary and after getting comfortable enough with Mary they freely share on a anthers bed and have sexual intercourse whilst Mary sleeps on in the same room a few feet away. Since they are doing all that how and why is the word lesbian offensive to her?

'Beautiful Thing' I only came across this film when reading through the book 'Queer Cinema In Europe' with the chapter I was reading 'School is out: The British 'Coming Out' Films of the 1990's' it constantly referring to the film so I figured i'd watch it to see if it was beneficial and turns out it was. I was able to relate to Ste's character as he was trying to conform to what his Father and older brother thought was right, their way of thinking and living. The trouble is that he is not, Ste  is the complete opposite of both his Father and brother and it seems as though they constantly punish him because of it.

Griffiths, Robin, Queer Cinema In Europe, 2008

Beautiful Thing

Ste's room is decorated with football posters and even an arsenal football club duvet cover. He wears 'sporty' clothing and laddish shirts and his main ambition is to work at a sports centre.

Truth be told I do not think Ste had much of the input of how his room was decorated as he shares a room with his elder sibling who shows his authority by beating Ste black and blue. The film does not directly match my project but the few messages I picked up through watching the film a few times worked well with the message I am trying to portray in my film. A particular scene which stood out to me was the one in which Ste, his Father and his older brother are walking home after having watched the boxing match, Ste's Father and brother are pretending to box one another and then they simultaneously appear to be targeting Ste. it maybe light pats on either side if his face but when Ste reacts to one of his brothers pats and pushes his brother back conforming to what interests them he yet again beats him up as his father watches without stepping in to defend Ste or just at least trying to prevent it. However in a few scenes later we find out exactly why Ste's brother gave him such a beating, not because Ste tried to defend himself but because he thought his brother was gay and it was not something that he was willing to accept.

Macdonald, Hettie (Dir.) Beautiful Thing, 1996

Give us an e or i'll spread it around where you slept last week. Leah

What? Jaime

What you talking about? Ste

He slept on the couch. Jaime

Not what I heard, top to tail your mum said. Very nice. Leah

Take no notice Ste. Jaime

What would your dad say? Leah

Piss off you. Ste

What would your Trevor say? Leah

Leah. Ste

Try it. Leah

I don't like hitting girls. Ste

Oh well hit me then, go on hit me. Stupid queer. Leah

Ste, come on. Jaime

Oi. . . Trevor already knows. you know what those flat walls are like walls like paper thin. Why do you think he has been tatting the face off of ya? He knows. Leah

There's nothing to know. Ste

Top to tail. Leah

And fuck all. Jaime

Oh really? Leah

Yeah really! Jaime

Well I know this much, i've been sticking up for you. For the pair of you. Told him I knew you'd slept on the couch told him i've been in and seen. I goes you shouldn't go saying things like that about your brother. There just mates. Leah

Nothing happened. Ste

When was the last time your Trevor hit you? Leah

What's it to you? Jaime

I bet you it was thursday. Leah

So? Ste

You see that when I told him. That's when I lied. Leah

After this outburst from Leah, Jaime thinks he and Ste will go home together but instead conforms to being heterosexual mad using the word queer as a negative insult towards Jaime, whereas when they were using the word earlier it was in a friendly manner. By the end of the film it seems as though Ste has realised that he can not conform to something that he does not believe in and so we watch as he conforms to his homosexual relationship and dances freely with his boyfriend Jaime, as passersby watch and his boyfriend's Mother and Leah dance along with them. 

'The Children's Hour' I accidentally came across this film late one night. This film was based upon a couple of teachers who run a school in which they and the young girls that attend the school live in. Initially when watching the film I thought nothing of it a normal school the class bully who lies and manipulates her classmates as well as the one gullible teacher into doing as she asks. When the young child in question creates a small white lie because she does not want to return back to school after running away to her Grandmother's, she creates the lie based on things she has over heard a teacher and someone else discussing and from what her and her room mates read in a book. The issue occurs when the Grandmother informs all the parents/carers of the lie and they believe it so instantly one by one pull their daughters from the school. The trouble is that the teachers are not aware of what they have supposedly done  and what they are in a sense being punished for. When they are finally informed the two teachers are horrified, the young girl had been saying that one of the teachers was having indecent feelings for the other and that's why she has never been in a relationship with a man and is always seems to be quite jealous when the other is with a partner.

Wyler, William (Dir.) The Children's Hour, 1961

There's always been something wrong. Always, just as long as I can remember. 

But I never knew what it was until all this happened. Martha

Stop it Martha! Stop this crazy talk! Karen

You're afraid of hearing it, but I'm more afraid that you. Martha

I won't listen to you! Karen

No! You've got to know. I've got to tell you. I can't keep it to myself any longer. I'm guilty! Martha

You're guilty of nothing! Karen

I've been telling myself that since the night I heard the child say it. I lie in bed night after night praying that it isn't true. But I know about it now. It's there. I don't know how, I don't know why. But I did love you! I do love you! I resented your plans to marry. Maybe because I wanted you. Maybe I've wanted you all these years. I couldn't call it by name before, but maybe it's been there since I first knew you. Martha

But it's not the truth, not a word of it is true! We've never thought of each other that way. Karen

No, of course you didn't. But who's to say I didn't. I'd never felt that way about anybody before you. I've never loved a man. I never knew why before, maybe it's that. Martha

You're tired and worn out. Karen

It's funny. It's all mixed up. There's something in you, and you don't know anything about it because you don't know it's there. And then suddenly, one night a little girl gets bored and tells a lie, and there, for the first time, you see it. Then you say to yourself, did she see it? Did she sense it? Martha

But you know it could have been any lie. She was looking for anything to... Karen 

But why this lie? She found the lie with the ounce of truth. Don't you see? I can't stand to have you touch me! I can't stand to have you look at me! Oh, it's all my fault. I have ruined your life and I have ruined my own. I swear I didn't know it! I didn't mean it! Oh, I feel so damn sick and dirty I can't stand it anymore! Martha

 I felt this had a strong correlation as it seems that the teachers were being persecuted for something that they had not done and there was no actual evidence about it and that there career was having to suffer at the hands of it. Just as Grace's career would suffer had her boss known her choice was not to conform to her way of thinking/living but instead to be true to herself. The difference only occurred in the end when Martha is so horrified that the young girl had to tell the one lie that had the one ounce of truth that with the guilt she thinks she should have for having such unnatural feelings she decides to take her own life but she yet again keeps it a secret from Karen saying that she wants to go to sleep as she is tired. Karen feeling lost and somewhat upset leaves her too it and goes for a walk. Only when Karen's aunt beckons asking when Martha is she instantly knows something is wrong, as she hammers away at her bedroom door with a candelabra. only to find Martha has hung herself. Whereas in mine we know that Grace is not about to walk away from her relationship with Carmen as she proposed but at the same time what is he going to do about her promotion?

The resources I used when approaching this project was that of primary and secondary research. Since I used  female characters I wanted to present them in the correct light/manner so I had to carry out secondary research to watch films/television soaps and read books about how gay women to tend to interact with one another. Since my first scene was meant to be a collision I wanted to frame it right so I got the actors to do a couple rehearsals, good thing I did as well because during rehearsals they kept colliding together too hard which only reduced in the two of them laughing and losing focus on the task in hand. Also I had to find the correct place to capture the collision. After looking at it from various different angles on the camera I finally found the one that I thought looked best suited the scene especially as the area in which the collision took place was quite a small vicinity. I also had to re-evaluate how the two women would greet one another when Grace first comes into the house. 

Cowgill, Linda. J, Writing Short Films Structure Content for Screenwriters,

Incorporating a progression of emotions into the plot  of the screenplay helps us better understand the character and her motivations.


When it came to recruiting cast members for 'Cut Out' I used the casting website www.CastingNetwork.co.uk-CastNet. The website is for both wanna be actors/actresses and film employers. You have to chose your preferences of gender, age, ethnicity whatever best suits the characters and how you want them to be portrayed. There is also the option of what category your short film will come under and whether or not you will be paying your cast. 


Thankfully once my potential cast see that it is a student short film they quickly accept that it is an non-profit film, there were the ones that didn't find it necessary to contact me to refuse the gig but that is to be expected. There were thankfully a few who had read the synopsis of my short film and were instantly interested in being apart of the film. Out of the vast amount of emails I sent out only six people got back to me. Initially I heard back from two girls who were keen on acting in the film. I sent them both my script, arranged the time/date/location of when we should begin filming only for one of the girls to make up some lame excuse about having to find somewhere else to live, so would be tied up for the next few weeks but that I should consider her in the future. I contacted the remaining cast member who was both considerate and helpful, she was going to contact other female actresses that she had studied with and knew to be reliable and their acting to be of a high standard, as in their acting would be believable and not something that looked utterly ridiculous. 


Although I accepted the assistance of her trying to find someone I went back to the website www.CastingNetwork.co.uk-CastNet where I decided I would not narrow my preferences down so much as it was limiting my searches. This time after sending out an email I got three females who responded by the next day. The first female was keen on the concept and needed/wanted to know more. The second female was also keen but seemed more interested in the prospect that their might be some sort of payment. The third female was keen but worried that she would not be able to due to having prior filming plans. I got back to the first female as she seemed the most promising answering all her questions/ queries. The second female I addressed the payment query as I was unable to pay her as I didn't have the means to. As for the third female I gave her the dates to see if she could be a possible for my film, it turns out she could not be. After talking to the first female via email she seemed like the perfect candidate, she had read the script and felt she suited the role of Grace. Which worked out quite well as the other female cast had already said she felt more suited to the role of Carmen. 


Filming commenced on Saturday 7th August where I met the two females at Leyton Station at one o'clock, I offered them refreshments and told them that I would be giving them each a copy of the finished product.


The reason I picked this specific location is because it suited the characters Grace and Carmen. They are meant to be business women who would have a rather comfortable wage between them so would have quite a decent looking flat which would somewhat reflect their jobs/professions. After speaking to my friends who currently rent the flat they did not see any problem with me filming there. I think I found a location that is accurate enough for my film.