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THE BACKSEAT | Omeleto
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- čas přidán 22. 08. 2021
- A teenager rides a bus around the city.
THE BACKSEAT is used with permission from Miranda Howard-Williams. Learn more at mirandahowardw....
A scrappy and brash teenage girl named Shelby rides around the city on the bus with seemingly nowhere to go. She's by herself, but she offers a running commentary on people she knows, stories she's heard and the other passengers. Most people ignore her at first, except when she plays her music too loud, bothering the other people on the bus.
But when she observes someone's near brush with mortality, the experience lingers with her, especially as she seems to grapple with her sense of social invisibility.
Directed by Miranda Howard Williams and written by Teresa Burns, this short drama works as a slice-of-life portrait, capturing with great sensitivity, how the lost, lonely and marginalized are often ignored and the great cost of that invisibility.
The more people pretend Shelby's not there, the more she talks. With such a verbally driven character, the writing is the driving narrative mechanism, full of specificity and details that build character and situation. Structured a bit like a running monologue with an unwilling audience as hostages, we get the sense of an uncertain, difficult and unstable life, judging from the opinions and stories she relays to anyone around her.
Much like Shelby's dialogue itself, much of the film is observational in quality. The naturalistic direction and camera capture details, people, images and snatches of overheard conversation as they stream past Shelby, matching Shelby's stream of words. Sometimes there are interesting juxtapositions between Shelby's dialogue and the images and editing. But one also gets a sense of a world passing by -- and Shelby caught up in its torrents and currents, lost to its swirls and rhythm.
Actor Kate Lassman Long deftly captures Shelby's many layers, from the tough, nervy demeanor to the need for attention that bubbles up as she tries to find a connection with anyone. But as the film winds towards its end, we understand that Shelby's neediness emerges out of the loneliness that comes from profound aloneness, one where she left to grapple with the big, devastating experiences -- and no one to share them with.
THE BACKSEAT does not spell out Shelby's backstory, but by the film's end, we understand more, and see just how alone she is. We're also saddened by the indifference that Shelby, and others who are suffering face, as people overlook or simply steer clear of them like they aren't even there. Too often, vulnerable and marginalized people are overlooked by communities. Yet, as Shelby demonstrates, they just want a chance to be heard, to tell their story and even simply to be seen.
Every time you see a homeless person just remember they were probably just like you before they were homeless. It's sad and very disappointing to see how many people treat homeless people in western society as a different species or nonexistent.
Brilliant, though, to show she is the same as the rest of us, when confronted with someone in worse shape than her (i.e. the guy having a seizure and pissing himself). She's just a person, with instinct to protect herself from being drawn into someone else's unpleasant experience; she's not a tragic hero. We may not want to admit it, but she is us. Well- written, well-acted, well-edited.
Personally I think she should've helped the guy but as a realist i also understand that most people who find themselves in unfamiliar emergencies tend to freeze up, hide, or run.
@@Axzuin Given that she is not a real person who could do what anybody wants her to do, but she is a fictional character who can only do what the writer who created her decided, ? why do you think the screenplay even included this flashback scene? My interpretation is that this snippet illustrates her being the same as everyone else; she is a regular person who doesn't want to look at, hear, smell someone in a vulnerable, embarrassing situation. Not a bad person, but not an exceptionally "good" person. She is us.
@Axzuin: I'm sure many people's 1st instinct is to help, but we're generally advised to contribute to shelters, food banks, and non-profits that help people get back on their feet.
@@zyrosqrd2552 it is well written and acted.
I used to ride the bus a lot when I was homeless...it was somewhere warm and dry to read and rest for an hour or two and it would only cost me a couple bucks.
🥺🥺🥺 I’m so sorry.. I hope your life has improved greatly.
Hope you are ok now mate? ❤✌🇬🇧
@@rosegold973 It has, don't worry! I haven't been homeless for about 5 years now, and have been getting lots of help to prevent it in the future. Thanks for the kind words!
I was homeless a 3 times before in my life as well.. I am sort of better now. Hopefully everything is good with you now.
i use to also be with my mother sleeping in her tent. i was a little kid a child it wasn’t the best life as a child and i’m only 17.
It's strange cause that girl is non-existent to the people around her, but at the same time it feels like she's the only visible person inside the bus and the rest are just numb, faceless human beings that display no emotions.
Thats because people watch is an art form
She didn't know how to help the guy having a seizure either , it was so messed up how the other passengers just walked past him.
That's people for you
Some of them are faceless humans because the morning coffee hasn't kicked in 😂 nothing worse then a stranger talking your face off on the morning bus.
She’s a great actress wow. I really believe it and she makes me uncomfortable. I feel that’s impressive honestly.
Short films like this are an art-form unto themselves, depicting a snapshot of someone's life without detailed exposition of what happened before or what happens next. Appreciate that the screenplay includes flashback for this young woman hiding when the bloke on the bus has a seizure; her instincts are the same as everybody else's, to put up a metaphoric wall blocking out someone in worse shape than her, someone she is afraid to look at or take active step to help. She's low in the hierarchy of people who ride the bus, but she can't bear watching or smelling the bloke having a fit and pissing himself in public, same as everyone on the bus with a home can't bear to look at her or imagine themselves in her situation. Simple but powerful writing, acting, filming, editing - nothing ridiculously dramatic, just perceptive social commentary on human nature.
This is why I generally smile, engage and sometimes even befriend homeless individuals--to remind myself and them that they too are people worthy of our time, respect, and attention--not invisible pieces of lint inconsequentially floating amongst our shallow, self involved lives.
I'm not sure if I liked this, BUT damn her performance ... blew me away.
Shelby really is a rebel but she feels so invisible.
I think we all feel like that at some points in our life.
Hermit
Because she is annoying and people tend to ignore annoying people in the hopes that the lack of attention will shut her up.
Congratulations to everybody involved in the production of this short film.
I felt terribly sad and thought all the time of my daughters, at first thinking, the poor girl is going through a rebellious phase as a teenager.
When I realized that the film is about a homeless girl, I recalled the situations when, with some bad luck, I could have ended like her.
This is also a good reminder that in the Western societies the glue which keeps a family together is extremely fragile. If at least those a bit better well off would organise a public service for those who suffer under hardships, at least through the parish.
Yes, people often think being homeless is a choice, well for a minority it is, but for most it is not. Although drug problems and unsuitable ways of behaviour may cause homelessness these people still need help. From my knowledge of homelessness most people have done nothing wrong, but have been extremely unlucky in live.
I remember watching a documentary where in a certain area homeless people took a bus and rode all night. They didn't have a place to stay and just rode the bus as long as they could. The bus driver was aware of their needs. There are still so many people that need a helping and compassionate hand.
Problem is when the bus driver has to go home , then the homeless person is back to waiting in the cold for the next bus . sad really .
The people mover is Detroit Michigan's underfunded archaic form of public transportation. And goes between the Detroit airport and downtown. Bums be riding the people mover.
Don't get stabbed or shot in the D though
I used to ride the bus in NYC trying to figure out my life, missed a bunch of school, but I think I needed that time to try to figure it out.
I need this
This girl is internally hurt by how the world is a cruel place.
My mans really left a half eaten apple on the bus. absolute villain
Perhaps he left it for her.
Me & my friends would ride the bus during school hours in high school to avoid going to school due to bullies.
Forty seconds in, and I thought she was dead and a ghost.
SAME!
Trying to make sense of the world. Many of us do that.
Life can be very sad for some.
Yes, yes it can be and I hope they will be getting good lives , a sunshine, a hope probably to live their best again 🍀
As one who used to be homeless, riding the busses the way she did because of the warmth and ability for rest that they provided, I can honestly say this film captured the experience of what it’s like beautifully. I could really relate to that girl and her feelings of isolation and alienation. They captured it all quite quite well. I can only imagine that this film was written or at the very least directed by one who has experienced it all first hand.
A bus talker a rare breed.
i love your videos, this one really spoke out to me i'm not really good with words and don't know how to explain it but i feel like it was a sense of repeating over and over again and that's what shes trying to make sense off why everything is so repetitive and how she feels so invisible and is only acknowledged when giving a command or is ticked off it kinda explains stuff that happens now i feel as if someone was getting hurt or dying people would either laugh or ignore them and try to protect themselves.
Reminds me of the homeless in Berlin's subway. Just like Shelby they were invisible to the rest of the world. Getting on trains to stay warm and to sleep. The actress did an amazing job.
What a sad little creature. Gotta love how she held on to that apple. And where'd she get that lighter halfway through?
Good film, though, very well done. Kudos.
I thought maybe she didn't ask that lady for a light for that reason. Just trying to connect.
@@HungryQueens
Excellent observation 👌
@@HungryQueens Yes, very good reason!
Thanks Allen.....there is alot of Shelby in all of us ,wether we realize it or not...cool film.
Literally me. I have no one to hang out with so here I am on the train take a round trip only for feeling surrounded
How are you feeling now
I hope you're good
Sometimes I go to coffee shops, I feel better.
Girl, you're gonna be on that bus your whole life!
she would not receive the same "ignore the chatter box" on a NYC bus. that's for sure.
Well done Kate brilliant actor… good old Essex🤦♀️
Man the homeless really are invisible. I hope not all people are like the ones shown here, except for that last guy who acknowledged her at least. Just a bit of kindness to brighten an otherwise bleak and somber future really goes a long way. I'd have loved listening to her stories. She must've seen a lot of interesting things. I hope she finds the help she needs, she seems like she needs good friends to keep her company.
Kate Lassman Long is an utterly masterful actress! What an amazing performance!
This Brooke my heart. It really is like this for lots of youth.
I'd love to hear her stories, so good at it. Loved the short
That dude was an expert people watcher, that's why he left her the apple,
Then why did he take bites of it?
@@Dayvit78 Perhaps to ease her discomfort, and to dissuade negative pathos of charity, thereby not demeaning her situation, because he may have been there too and understands these things.
@@mikemorrison270 What I'm saying is he could've left the whole apple.
@@Dayvit78 leaving the whole apple might make her feel like charity. Or like the person pity’s them. Whereas leaving the apple by “accident” makes her feel no emotional bond with the guy that left the apple.
Well your stories are changing my world for better, thanks Omeleto.
She a good actress 😀
I think we are the good people watching
I'm so impressed. It was an amazing movie. It touched me to the core. I am so related to ger! Although I had everything I established to finish my degree here, in the US, I still loved taking public transportation (and I did in Russia), I loved the monolog! That is exactly what was going through my mind: judgement, amusement, consideration, curiosity, happiness, understanding, etc.. Just by looking at their faces. I cannot deny it. I 'observed' a lot of people. It makes me more open-minded. What a great movie!
A homeless girl, with her only view of the world is by means of a back seat of a bus...judging others, as no one judges her...its lonely being homeless in the world 😥
Can be lonely when you are not homeless it's just a bit more comfortable and maybe not so frightening. ❤🇬🇧
She may be lonely but she is more human than many...Be careful with your words because life can have tasteless surprises for you,too, one day.
@@TheSefrew ... Yes, that's for sure.
@@TheSefrew
Hi, yes she is reaching out to the world. ❤
@@lesallison9047 👋❤👋
I really enjoyed this short film
Seldom was 21st century isolation embodied more beautifully.
And also: Thanks for, unlike the vast majority of these films, having incorporated subtitles!!
Funniest thing that happened to me on a bus , sitting 'upstairs' on a double decker enjoying the ride , then turning around after hearing a lovely cockney accent , and then realising it came from the indian gent wearing a turban - that happened to me in London 35 years ago , and still makes me smile 😊 - also in the days where punks were spat on - now I've had that in Australia too , having a Ta moko - people can be so judgemental - even when they don't have a clue on who you are a person, perhaps they are scared , selfish or simply people you don't want to know anyway !
The brilliance of this has everything to do with Her performance- Beyond brilliant. I hope those of her ilk that come out of these short flicks Totally replace the likes of julia roberts, meryl streep & the younger versions of that irrelevant genre. Thanx so much for this.
We leave in a such sad life where no one cares of no one.
Shame, she is so lonely.
Ooohhh the homeless, poor and seems insane but sane girl. So heart wrenching
Trying to make sense of the world. Trying to make sense of ourselves. If we look at the big picture, they're both relative and not too dissimilar.
Put the cast in the description of your videos.
Kate Lassman Long
@@josiahmorris2572 👑
Check the credits at the end.
Great film. Well acted and portrayed.
I'm just wondering how the blonde woman in the beginning had a full cigarette, and then when she dropped her cig on the ground and walked away, the cig was almost completely gone??....
Multiple takes & a tight schedule or editor missed it, it happens even in big blockbuster movies.
great acting and so real to life.
This weirdly appeals to me, whenever I catch a bus I like to sit at the back for pretty much the same reason, I like to watch people and wonder what their lives are like.
Even if someone was doing my head in I’d still acknowledge their existence
Reminds me of Alan Bennett and his Talking Heads series monologues which if you have ever read or seen them is high praise indeed. Beautifully acted.
i like this character so much.
I used to mourn my shoes until I met someone with no feet...
That was "trying to make sense of the world"? Hahahaha, yeah, sure.
I hate that situation of being lost in life. Of not really having anyone or anything and just wandering around. It's oblivion. I can relate to her situation.
I'm so sad for her.
Yes, being a rebellious and proud (but ignorant) kid can make you homeless.
Ahh, If only the world were so easy LOL. Great short, Thank You. :)
She's A Ghost, those Island are full of them, it was the Game of Thrones
Long before the Show.
English humor is so direct & crass but has me laughing 😂
Wow! I can relate to this so much, the buses are truly a saviour for the homeless, a warm place to meditate and catch a quick half an hour of sleep. getting woken up by the bus driver while sleeping on the backseat,
What a great actor too, this woman has star power! I bet we'll see her on the big screens in no time!
STRONG STORY"..
Life has never been fair!!!
I want to help homeless people but I have OCD & the germs thing makes it hard for me to approach 🙁
" Shelby " has plenty of people with good comments about her, shame the actress hasn't replied, or has she ??
It hurts me that there is no ending. Good use of plot.This is how it is for some.
Who's playing at 3:50 ? Kris Kross? 😆
Behave like that on a bus in London and everyone tries to ignore you cos they think your crazy. Behave like that in South Wales and everyone’s the same. 😂
this is good.... love the actress, the angle,,,, sharp work.
That cigarette was in size, but dose it so small when it was thrown?
The history of people on the buses from the back seat of the buses.
I am Shelby, except I got lucky.
She just ate that dirty apple 🍏 like it wasn’t just rolling around on a city bus
Well when your homeless what else are you gonna do.
@@yennefer440 not eat a germy apple. Being sick when homeless is even worse don’t you think?
this was a nice film, though i do wonder what happened with her
Hey cowboy- good news is she's not a real person, but as a fictional character in a short film, nobody sees what happened before or after. But if it makes you happy, imagine whatever you like as to how she ends up. I think the open- endedness makes better art than movies spponfeeding the audience with full exposition so they never have to think.
God bless her.
great short-movie
She has terrible taste in music. The hero of this film is the guy who told her to turn it off.
She has good taste in music.
@@petermitchell2203 The lyrics sounded like the ramblings of feminazi trailer trash. I actually laughed out loud at how bad it was.
Music taste is pretty subjective though.
I pray for all the homeless people in the world specially the winter time
Can you please tell me what accent it is?
It's the London cockney accent 😊
@@SO-jc9bp thank uuuu
East End of London mate.
@@martinwebb1681 thank uu
@@martinwebb1681 mite *
DOES ANYONE REMEMBER A VIDEO THAT WAS CALLED "MR BLUE BIRD HAVING A DINNER WITH THE MOON RADIO" SMTH LIKE THAT I CANT FIND IT ANYWHERE AND I AM DYEING TO FIND IT AGAIN
Which song is playing as BGM so what,so what link please
The credits have the names of the songs
@@dancingnature ok
Haha guys I live around the place they showed
I don’t think the people not helping the man who fell down is realistic. In real life people would have helped. I’ve seen people helping someone in that kind of situation so many times where I live
What is the song she's listening to? It's really good.
That was amazing... kate, wow... 🤗
Here for the girl Kate lassman long ❤️💙.
Sarah Ferguson-The early years.
Yes, riding the bus is a time waster for Ben you have no where to go or no where you want to go
yo what's the name of the credits song?
Also this wouldn’t happen in Manchester
People would atleast swear at u
8:41 arse
They chatting on roblox
Do big cities in Britain really suck as badly as Omeleto leads me to believe?
Wow superb
Ok I know it’s going to be some obvious answer but what did the guy do at 14:40
He showed her his watch because she asked for the time.
@@yennefer440 ahhh thank you! Because he did that movement with his hand I thought he did something to the ceiling i don’t even know haha 😂
Well done.
Why do house less peoples exist? Because they where shat on. Or to remind us( humanity) of our blessings?
Trying to make sense out of the world, is not a sensible thing to do.
She's like the crazy homeless person who talks to themselves
I was homeless, and luckily not for long because I didn't lose my sanity
too much
That word “cow” the teenager said is derogatory word for obese woman. Usually in North
America, pubic busses contain front sliding doors on the right and the driver’s seat is
located on the left side, unlike United Kingdom.