The New Boy directed by Steph Green is based on a short story, of the same name, by Roddy Doyle. We meet Joseph for the first time as we see a muddled over the shoulder shot of his new class room. We get to feel what he might be feeling as the new experience for him might be a bit cluttered and scary. What proceeds is what anyone might expect for kids their age group when a new “outsider” is introduced to the pack. Some pick on Joseph, while some are empathetic. Hazel especially seems to take a liking to Joseph, which only fuels the others taunts around him. It’s midway through this piece that we learn of Josephs past, how fun and engaging for him his school was in Rwanda compared to where he is now. We learn that Joseph’s teacher was in fact his own father, and we get to see a bit of that friendship that some fathers and sons share. The dark side to this story, and what in some way we must assume lead to his relocation to Ireland, is when a group of militia men enter the Rwandan school and march his father out. The gunshots heard which snap us back to present time leads us to believe his father was killed in front of him, and with that image in mind our main character Joseph is about to encounter a squabble of his own as the kids who were taunting him in class move in for the “kill.” The stalemate that ensues is a good representation of most kids’ lives as a whole when it comes to conflict. It’s hard to know what to do or handle a situation. I think the visual effect of this scene sums up a lot of the angst and feeling that both sides are going through. After the schoolyard “fight” as the kids are standing in the hall, Hazel pulls the teachers attention with her explicit language and in that moment, during all the shenanigans that follow, all the students find their common ground. Joseph seems to be accepted into this new world, and while there will always be more bumps in his road, we leave thinking and hoping that Joseph and finally start a new life and get back to enjoying it as much as he once had.
The New Boy is a heartwarming story about a boy named Joseph who is trying to find acceptance from his new classmates. He is portrayed as an outsider entering a group of people who don't normally interact with people not like themselves. I liked the director Steph Green's use of flashbacks. The flashbacks give much needed context to the emotional state that Joseph is in as well as why he moved to Ireland in the first place. The use of a very narrow focal length on Joseph really helps convey the since that he is separated from the other kids in the class. Also worth noting was how in the flashbacks, all the children were very eager to learn while the children at Joseph's new school were mostly unenthusiastic. The irony being that the main bully underestimated Joseph's intellect and strength. The ending gave the main character hope that he will be accepted into this new group which to me seemed like kind of a predictable ending. I forgive that though because any other ending would have misconstrued the message the film was trying to make.
In Steph Green's short story "New Boy," we see a young African American boy who begins school in Ireland as a new student. Despite being a new student, he also attempts to conform in a predominate Caucasian classroom. As the new student, he quickly is treated as such. Several students begin to pick on him while one tries to bully him around. The author uses a variety of flashbacks in order to show us how Joseph, the "New Boy," got to where he is in the current time frame. I do think that the flashbacks are the most important part in successfully telling this story. Most of the shots and the angles of these shots were medium to close-ups shots, which allowed me to feel the emotions of the characters and the roles that he or she played. I am amazed how Green was able to put such a large and meaningful story in ten minutes of film.
New Boy by Steph Green tells a “fish out of water” story of a boy who moves to Ireland from Rwanda. He struggles on his first day to acclimate to his classmates that welcome him with death threats and wet willies. I found that the most captivating part of this piece was the juxtaposition between his life in Ireland and the life he left in Rwanda. Most of the Irish shots are static shots of Joseph’s wide-eyed reactions to the escapades of his first school day. Even if he is not the center focus of the action, a piece of him is always in frame. Which creates the illusion that he cannot escape the glance of the world around him. The shots of Joseph are uncomfortably close and cramped. However, the Rwanda shots are mostly medium close-ups that capture the entire classroom, rather than just Joseph. He doesn’t stare at the camera; he looks captivated by his school and the people around him. The shot widens and his eyelids narrow only when he starts to make friends later that afternoon. Overall, I liked that both scenes took place in a classroom both for the cultural comparison and for the Joseph comparison.
New Boy, directed by Steph Green, is a short story film about an African boy from Rwanda and his first day at his new school in Ireland. Its kind of a classic of such story with the boy, Joseph, not being welcomed at first at this irish School which is predominately white. Going back and forth between his time in Rwanda and Ireland really showing where he has been to where he is now. The difference Juxtaposes his emotions along with his reactions. The framing and shots of Joseph really give us a sense of what hes been through and how is he going to acclimate to his new school. By the end of the short film he is laughing with the other boys who had been bullying him, showing things may be looking up after all.
Kacy Tanveer: "New Boy" by Steph Green tells the story of Joseph, a boy from Rwanda who is attending his first day of school in Ireland. We see how different this new school is to Joseph compared to his school in Rwanda through flashbacks to his old classroom. All of the shots of the classroom in Rwanda have a very high contrast to them to show that they are flashbacks but also so that you can see that this was a much happier time for Joseph. In the classroom in Ireland, as Joseph is being introduced to his new classmates, he is instantly met with mean remarks. Once he is seated in a desk, the child behind him immediately starts pestering him. Joseph is silent and doesn't react to the bully until the bully tries to wipe snot on him. Joseph grabs his finger and twists it, bringing the bully to the ground. Once the bully gets back in his seat, he threatens Joseph, telling him "you're dead". We see the kids get dismissed to recess but Joseph stays behind and walks to the playground by himself. The viewer doesn't realize it at first, but while the main narrative is being constructed, you are also seeing the story of why Joseph relocated to Ireland through the flashbacks. Towards the middle of the short we learn that Joseph's teacher in Rwanda is also his father, and as we flashback to the classroom in Rwanda, we see Joseph cleaning chalk off of tablets as two Rwandan military men come in and put a gun to his father's back. Joseph hides under a desk until they walk out with his father, but runs into the doorway and sees them shoot his father. As he is having the flashback he is hit with a milk carton, instantly bringing him back to reality. The bully walks up and tries to fight Joseph, but once again Joseph grabs the boy's finger. As they stare at each other, the bully's face softens and you can see that he changes his mind. The teacher grabs the boys and takes them into the hallway to talk to them. As they are waiting for her in the hallway, the boys begin mocking the teacher and laughing together. In the last flashback, we see Joseph and his father drawing chalk outlines and laughing with each other. Joseph has learned how to laugh and find happiness again in a new, strange place. When the teacher walks out and sees all of the boys laughing together, she decides to let them go without punishment. I was speechless at the end of the short, and actually ended up watching it twice. I was amazed at the depth of the narrative considering the length of the short.
New Boy follows a boy named Joseph's first day at a new school. Initially we see the boy struggling to adjust and fit in with his new class mates. It is very relatable in the beginning. He does not speak or interact much with the other kids, but he does try to understand the way things are done. We eventually learn that not only has this boy moved to another school, but he has moved to a completely different continent that greatly differs from his home. We get to see flashbacks of Joseph's life before the new school, and begin to understand that Joseph's backstory is incredibly different to what was thought in the beginning of the short. The flashbacks, in some ways, contrast greatly to the circumstances that Joseph finds himself in. But there are similarities too, mainly when they show Joseph learning division. In the end, Joseph and the kids who bully him find common ground, and begin to get along.
Bailey Wildman: New Boy tell the story of a young boy's first day of school. Joseph is from Rwanda and through a series of closeups we are able to tell that he is uncomfortable in his new surroundings. After taking his seat in the classroom we are given a series of flashback clips of his old school to give comparison to his new environment. One of the biggest differences highlighted was that while in Rwanda all the students are full of life and enjoying their education, the students in Ireland are shamed and embarrassed if they get something wrong. Another thing that showed the the differences between the new environment was the repetition of the student say "You're dead" to Joseph. While in Rwanda, there was a serious threat to his life, in Ireland it was just a petty and childish ploy in order to be intimidating. During the scene of the "almost" fight focus was transitioned from student to student to carry our attention and give us the feeling that there was a lot of pressure for a physical confrontation. Another thing that helped move the story along was the music. In the beginning the background music was very somber yet at the end the music is more upbeat once Joseph is able to make friends with his tormentors. This was an overall amazing short film that told an honest and heartwarming story.
Kristin Anderson: Steph Green's film "New Boy" is a classic story of a new student in a class of young students. Yet, this particular rendition presents a twist that relates to real world topics such as poverty and war. This new student of Rwandan decent is thrown into a classroom of kids who seem to have had a somewhat calm upbringing, but his former home life is a lot different. A rural school house in Africa was what he used to know until his father was seemingly killed, although it was not shown on camera, one can assume. In his new school he is harassed by your A-typical elementary age boys. The whole time watching this short I felt like if only the boys knew what situation he was coming from that they would quit the bullying, but then that wouldn't make the ending seem nearly as endearing. Eventually the Rwandan and Irish boys reach common ground through just the simple humor they find in their school teacher. While this film seems generally kind of surface level, it presents commentary on racism, poverty, loss of family and kindness. The flashback scenes, in a way, are similar to each other. The new boys father was "harassed" by the big men with guns and the new boy was harassed by little boys who found entertainment from it, in a less violent and murderous fashion. Many times it is best to tell a story through children because the of audience seems to be more affected by what the director is trying to portray. Children also bring a sense of innocence so that us older people begin to remember our humanity again.
I thought New Boy was adorable. I understand bullying happens everywhere but I am getting a little tired of the "bully sees a new kid and immediately starts picking on him on the first day" cliche. It does do a great job of showing how ignorant kids can be about other's past experiences. I enjoyed the flashbacks and how his past life is so drastically different than his current life. I am happy he became friends with the bullies at the end or at least earned their respect. The teacher was being unreasonable punishing a victim of bullying so I am glad the cute little girl in pig tails called her out. I also liked how the new boy had a sense of humor making him a likable character not just someone we should pity.
The New Boy directed by Steph Green is based on a short story, of the same name, by Roddy Doyle. We meet Joseph for the first time as we see a muddled over the shoulder shot of his new class room. We get to feel what he might be feeling as the new experience for him might be a bit cluttered and scary. What proceeds is what anyone might expect for kids their age group when a new “outsider” is introduced to the pack. Some pick on Joseph, while some are empathetic. Hazel especially seems to take a liking to Joseph, which only fuels the others taunts around him. It’s midway through this piece that we learn of Josephs past, how fun and engaging for him his school was in Rwanda compared to where he is now. We learn that Joseph’s teacher was in fact his own father, and we get to see a bit of that friendship that some fathers and sons share. The dark side to this story, and what in some way we must assume lead to his relocation to Ireland, is when a group of militia men enter the Rwandan school and march his father out. The gunshots heard which snap us back to present time leads us to believe his father was killed in front of him, and with that image in mind our main character Joseph is about to encounter a squabble of his own as the kids who were taunting him in class move in for the “kill.” The stalemate that ensues is a good representation of most kids’ lives as a whole when it comes to conflict. It’s hard to know what to do or handle a situation. I think the visual effect of this scene sums up a lot of the angst and feeling that both sides are going through. After the schoolyard “fight” as the kids are standing in the hall, Hazel pulls the teachers attention with her explicit language and in that moment, during all the shenanigans that follow, all the students find their common ground. Joseph seems to be accepted into this new world, and while there will always be more bumps in his road, we leave thinking and hoping that Joseph and finally start a new life and get back to enjoying it as much as he once had.
ReplyDeleteThe New Boy is a heartwarming story about a boy named Joseph who is trying to find acceptance from his new classmates. He is portrayed as an outsider entering a group of people who don't normally interact with people not like themselves. I liked the director Steph Green's use of flashbacks. The flashbacks give much needed context to the emotional state that Joseph is in as well as why he moved to Ireland in the first place. The use of a very narrow focal length on Joseph really helps convey the since that he is separated from the other kids in the class. Also worth noting was how in the flashbacks, all the children were very eager to learn while the children at Joseph's new school were mostly unenthusiastic. The irony being that the main bully underestimated Joseph's intellect and strength. The ending gave the main character hope that he will be accepted into this new group which to me seemed like kind of a predictable ending. I forgive that though because any other ending would have misconstrued the message the film was trying to make.
ReplyDeleteIn Steph Green's short story "New Boy," we see a young African American boy who begins school in Ireland as a new student. Despite being a new student, he also attempts to conform in a predominate Caucasian classroom. As the new student, he quickly is treated as such. Several students begin to pick on him while one tries to bully him around. The author uses a variety of flashbacks in order to show us how Joseph, the "New Boy," got to where he is in the current time frame. I do think that the flashbacks are the most important part in successfully telling this story. Most of the shots and the angles of these shots were medium to close-ups shots, which allowed me to feel the emotions of the characters and the roles that he or she played. I am amazed how Green was able to put such a large and meaningful story in ten minutes of film.
ReplyDeleteNew Boy by Steph Green tells a “fish out of water” story of a boy who moves to Ireland from Rwanda. He struggles on his first day to acclimate to his classmates that welcome him with death threats and wet willies. I found that the most captivating part of this piece was the juxtaposition between his life in Ireland and the life he left in Rwanda. Most of the Irish shots are static shots of Joseph’s wide-eyed reactions to the escapades of his first school day. Even if he is not the center focus of the action, a piece of him is always in frame. Which creates the illusion that he cannot escape the glance of the world around him. The shots of Joseph are uncomfortably close and cramped. However, the Rwanda shots are mostly medium close-ups that capture the entire classroom, rather than just Joseph. He doesn’t stare at the camera; he looks captivated by his school and the people around him. The shot widens and his eyelids narrow only when he starts to make friends later that afternoon. Overall, I liked that both scenes took place in a classroom both for the cultural comparison and for the Joseph comparison.
ReplyDeleteKevin Butler:
ReplyDeleteNew Boy, directed by Steph Green, is a short story film about an African boy from Rwanda and his first day at his new school in Ireland. Its kind of a classic of such story with the boy, Joseph, not being welcomed at first at this irish School which is predominately white. Going back and forth between his time in Rwanda and Ireland really showing where he has been to where he is now. The difference Juxtaposes his emotions along with his reactions. The framing and shots of Joseph really give us a sense of what hes been through and how is he going to acclimate to his new school. By the end of the short film he is laughing with the other boys who had been bullying him, showing things may be looking up after all.
Kacy Tanveer: "New Boy" by Steph Green tells the story of Joseph, a boy from Rwanda who is attending his first day of school in Ireland. We see how different this new school is to Joseph compared to his school in Rwanda through flashbacks to his old classroom. All of the shots of the classroom in Rwanda have a very high contrast to them to show that they are flashbacks but also so that you can see that this was a much happier time for Joseph. In the classroom in Ireland, as Joseph is being introduced to his new classmates, he is instantly met with mean remarks. Once he is seated in a desk, the child behind him immediately starts pestering him. Joseph is silent and doesn't react to the bully until the bully tries to wipe snot on him. Joseph grabs his finger and twists it, bringing the bully to the ground. Once the bully gets back in his seat, he threatens Joseph, telling him "you're dead". We see the kids get dismissed to recess but Joseph stays behind and walks to the playground by himself. The viewer doesn't realize it at first, but while the main narrative is being constructed, you are also seeing the story of why Joseph relocated to Ireland through the flashbacks. Towards the middle of the short we learn that Joseph's teacher in Rwanda is also his father, and as we flashback to the classroom in Rwanda, we see Joseph cleaning chalk off of tablets as two Rwandan military men come in and put a gun to his father's back. Joseph hides under a desk until they walk out with his father, but runs into the doorway and sees them shoot his father. As he is having the flashback he is hit with a milk carton, instantly bringing him back to reality. The bully walks up and tries to fight Joseph, but once again Joseph grabs the boy's finger. As they stare at each other, the bully's face softens and you can see that he changes his mind. The teacher grabs the boys and takes them into the hallway to talk to them. As they are waiting for her in the hallway, the boys begin mocking the teacher and laughing together. In the last flashback, we see Joseph and his father drawing chalk outlines and laughing with each other. Joseph has learned how to laugh and find happiness again in a new, strange place. When the teacher walks out and sees all of the boys laughing together, she decides to let them go without punishment. I was speechless at the end of the short, and actually ended up watching it twice. I was amazed at the depth of the narrative considering the length of the short.
ReplyDeleteNew Boy follows a boy named Joseph's first day at a new school. Initially we see the boy struggling to adjust and fit in with his new class mates. It is very relatable in the beginning. He does not speak or interact much with the other kids, but he does try to understand the way things are done. We eventually learn that not only has this boy moved to another school, but he has moved to a completely different continent that greatly differs from his home. We get to see flashbacks of Joseph's life before the new school, and begin to understand that Joseph's backstory is incredibly different to what was thought in the beginning of the short. The flashbacks, in some ways, contrast greatly to the circumstances that Joseph finds himself in. But there are similarities too, mainly when they show Joseph learning division. In the end, Joseph and the kids who bully him find common ground, and begin to get along.
ReplyDeleteBailey Wildman:
ReplyDeleteNew Boy tell the story of a young boy's first day of school. Joseph is from Rwanda and through a series of closeups we are able to tell that he is uncomfortable in his new surroundings. After taking his seat in the classroom we are given a series of flashback clips of his old school to give comparison to his new environment. One of the biggest differences highlighted was that while in Rwanda all the students are full of life and enjoying their education, the students in Ireland are shamed and embarrassed if they get something wrong. Another thing that showed the the differences between the new environment was the repetition of the student say "You're dead" to Joseph. While in Rwanda, there was a serious threat to his life, in Ireland it was just a petty and childish ploy in order to be intimidating. During the scene of the "almost" fight focus was transitioned from student to student to carry our attention and give us the feeling that there was a lot of pressure for a physical confrontation.
Another thing that helped move the story along was the music. In the beginning the background music was very somber yet at the end the music is more upbeat once Joseph is able to make friends with his tormentors. This was an overall amazing short film that told an honest and heartwarming story.
Kristin Anderson: Steph Green's film "New Boy" is a classic story of a new student in a class of young students. Yet, this particular rendition presents a twist that relates to real world topics such as poverty and war. This new student of Rwandan decent is thrown into a classroom of kids who seem to have had a somewhat calm upbringing, but his former home life is a lot different. A rural school house in Africa was what he used to know until his father was seemingly killed, although it was not shown on camera, one can assume. In his new school he is harassed by your A-typical elementary age boys. The whole time watching this short I felt like if only the boys knew what situation he was coming from that they would quit the bullying, but then that wouldn't make the ending seem nearly as endearing. Eventually the Rwandan and Irish boys reach common ground through just the simple humor they find in their school teacher.
ReplyDeleteWhile this film seems generally kind of surface level, it presents commentary on racism, poverty, loss of family and kindness. The flashback scenes, in a way, are similar to each other. The new boys father was "harassed" by the big men with guns and the new boy was harassed by little boys who found entertainment from it, in a less violent and murderous fashion. Many times it is best to tell a story through children because the of audience seems to be more affected by what the director is trying to portray. Children also bring a sense of innocence so that us older people begin to remember our humanity again.
Meghan Mulkeen:
ReplyDeleteI thought New Boy was adorable. I understand bullying happens everywhere but I am getting a little tired of the "bully sees a new kid and immediately starts picking on him on the first day" cliche. It does do a great job of showing how ignorant kids can be about other's past experiences. I enjoyed the flashbacks and how his past life is so drastically different than his current life. I am happy he became friends with the bullies at the end or at least earned their respect. The teacher was being unreasonable punishing a victim of bullying so I am glad the cute little girl in pig tails called her out. I also liked how the new boy had a sense of humor making him a likable character not just someone we should pity.