Midlands Review of Pieces of an Adolescent
midlandsmovies • March 26, 2020
Midlands Review of Pieces of an Adolescent
Pieces of an Adolescent
Directed by Renecide
2020
The passing of time represented by the tick-tock of a metronome opens a new short film called Pieces of an Adolescent that deals with the troublesome and tough times of growing up.
An experimental piece, the short is a mixture of styles that tell the background of the filmmaker and the struggles they face.
“I used to be happy when I was younger”, says the young man as he shares personal experiences of depression, loneliness and even suicide.
A mixture of voiceovers and brief interviews stand alongside images of a radio, text messaging and an interesting use of titles giving us snippets of a life.
The editing is haphazard but is a great technique used to show the conflicting and confusing thoughts that go through a vulnerable person’s head. The black and white handheld camera adds a personal touch and an interesting use of titles attempts to create a sort of structure amongst the chaos.
From CCTV and Skype footage, the differing media continues randomly yet about halfway through we switch to colour. Alongside this comes a more formal documentary style as the protagonist’s life starts to come together. A clever switch I enjoyed, the use of film technique to again represent the “pieces” of this person’s life from disorder to stability.
And with a dash of religion sprinkled in, as well as questions around personal identity, the topics ensure a certain weight is given to the multifaceted themes.
On a personal note I found the short quite long as the experimental style is not something I’ve ever warmed to. Narrative cinema is more up my street and although the short has interesting concepts, they come and go almost at random. The differing styles gives glimpses into a time of life but for me they don’t coalesce into a complete whole and the point is made realtively early on.
An honourable piece, the film certainly tackles hugely complex and difficult issues in a sensitive and very personal way with a style that represents the young man’s fractured mind. However, the style may not be up everyone’s street but if you stick with it, the second part somewhat explains the first half and the interesting use of styles shows promise and technical expertise to be admired.
Michael Sales
On Sunday 26th April Midlands Movies Editor Michael Sales & awards ceremony co-host Ed Stagg (BBC Radio) announced the nominations for the 2026 Midlands Movies Awards live from the Queen of Bradgate Vintage Cinema in Leicester. A big thanks was given to the entire Jury Panel of industry experts who gave up their precious time to watch a huge selection of creative projects and as always, had a difficult time choosing from the excellent number of films from the region. You can read the full list of nominations across all 16 categories below and watch our announcement videos here: Part 1 & Part 2 And please also check out our great awards partner Chrome Video Best Actress in a Leading Role Karendip Phull for Family Kate Bracken for The Lace Rachel Baker for Throwing Fruit Chloe Wade for How Long Sophie Bullock for Ma Prison Best Animated Film Of All the Things by Steff Lee Big Red by James Pyle Statue in the Garden by Qianhui Yu Butterfly by Jacob Christie Best Director Luke Worrall for The Waterline Lily Portman for Quiet Jack Richardson for Daniel’s Room Jonathan Hawes for Sorry We’re Closed Sophia Dall'Aglio for Man from Mars Best Documentary Nothing's Impossible by Jacob Thomas McClean A Birmingham Symphony by Jemma Saunders We Bring Light: Leicester's Diwali Legacy by Kieran Vyas The Sunshine Café by Jill Lampert Through the Viewfinder by William North Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Neil Evans & his team for Artificial Insanity Alasdair Gretton for Dead on Distribution Deepanjali Patel for Earworm David Hamilton-Smith for The Pause Heidi Wilson for Of All The Things Best Actor in a Supporting Role Devon Junior for Lazar Tim Sparrow for Safety Net Shaiek Ahmed Rana for Family Luke Rollason for Quiet Peter Willoughby for A Story of Spring Best Visual & Special Effects Jake Wesley-Worrall for Soul Trader Steve Askey & team for The Correction Unit Nick Willett, Matt Burkey & Jayne Hyman for Black Goat JaqD SFX MUA, Mind Magic Studios and Ben Harker for Beyond the Witching Hour Pete Key, Jai Blanks and Jacob Christie for Countenance Best Cinematography Gary Rogers for The Pause Laurence Mason-Guetta for Sorry We’re Closed Ian Snape for Soul Trader Ash Connaughton for Daniel’s Room Duane Adamoli for Surfing (nominations continue below...)
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