Dog Altogether (2007)

Director:

Paddy Considine

Writer:

Paddy Considine (writer)

Genre:

Short | Drama

Plot:

Joseph is a man plagued by a violence and rage who is driving him to self destruction. As he falls further into turmoil, Joseph scours the landscape in search of a single grain of redemption that might restore hope to his fractured life.

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins

Cast

Peter Mullan	...	Joseph
Olivia Colman	...	Anita
Karl Johnson	...	Jack
Paul Popplewell	...	Pub Youth 1
William Ruane	...	Pub Youth 2
Aston Kelly	...	Pub Youth 3
Mahesh Soneji	...	Man in Post Office
Gaurav Soodan	...	Youth in Post Office
Osman Mohammed	...	Youth 1
Umer Mohammed	...	Youth 2
Patricia MacHugh	...	Barmaid
Dominic Curran	...	Kid in Street

Directed by
Paddy Considine

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Paddy Considine		writer

Produced by
Gillian Berrie	....	executive producer
Anna Duffield	....	co-producer
Wendy Griffin	....	line producer
Mark Herbert	....	executive producer
Diarmid Scrimshaw	....	producer
Paul Welsh	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Chris Baldwin		(original music by)

Cinematography by
Thomas Townend

Film Editing by
Colin Monie

Casting by
Des Hamilton

Production Design by
Ursula Cleary

Art Direction by
Martin McNee

Costume Design by
Carole K. Millar

Makeup Department
Sarah Fidelo	....	makeup designer
Tracy Young	....	makeup trainee

Production Management
Andrew Dearnley	....	post-production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Carol-Anne Henderson	....	second assistant director
Ted Mitchell	....	first assistant director
Karen Quinn	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Anne-Marie Coulter	....	prop buyer
Shona Paton	....	stand-by art director

Sound Department
Phil Croal	....	sound recordist
Martin Cunningham	....	boom operator
Ben Harvey	....	sound effects editor
Greg Marshall	....	sound re-recording mixer
Leyton Rooney	....	foley editor

Visual Effects by
Justin Lanchbury	....	DI film consultant

Stunts
David Goodall	....	fight arranger

Camera and Electrical Department
Jonny Kerr	....	assistant camera
Damian Leitch	....	camera trainee
Dean Rodgers	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Des Hamilton	....	casting assistant

Editorial Department
Gareth Parry	....	on-line editor
Andy Richards	....	senior digital intermediate technician
Gareth Spensley	....	colorist

Other crew
Dorothy Connolley	....	script supervisor
Kieran Hannigan	....	production trainee
Kathleen MacLeod	....	production coordinator (as Kathleen Lambie)
Kathleen MacLeod	....	production coordinator
Tina Pawlik	....	assistant production coordinator
Niall Shamma	....	production accountant

Thanks
Peter Carlton	....	thanks
Kahleen Crawford	....	thanks
Sam Fox	....	thanks
Sam Lavender	....	thanks
Conor McCaughan	....	thanks
Shane Meadows	....	thanks
Gary Oldman	....	thanks

Production Companies

• EM Media (with the support of)
• Scottish Screen
• Sigma Films (co-production)
• Warp Films (co-production)

Other Companies

• Audiolink Radio Communications  walkie talkies
• Film4  funding
• Molinare Studio  post-production facilities
• Spool Post Production  sound post-production

Runtime:

16 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

UK:15

Company:

EM Media

Strong film due to convincing and well-delivered character observations

A man, Joseph, starts to come to a point of self-realisation about the effect that his violent and racist tendencies have on others and on himself when his rage sees him kicking his dog to the point of near death after a row in a pub. This BAFTA-winning short film from actor Paddy Considine was his directorial debut and was a personal film that he apparently wrote in only a few hours. This is not a fault with it because it appears that the character of Joseph was based on some of his father's characteristics and in this regard he was able to put them into actions easily enough.

The short film is all about the character of Joseph and his struggle to try and stop being the person that he is. In this story it is about his violent temper and so on but it could easily be about other things because as anyone with a "bad habit" knows, it is very difficult to know when you are doing it and therefore be able to stop it. Whether it be sarcasm, rudeness or something else, it often takes extremes to push oneself to the point of realising that it needs to change. The film captures this very well but it does help to have Mullan in the cast because this sort of character and setting is his bread and butter.

I don't mean to suggest that it was easy for anyone but Considine did say that he probably wouldn't have done the film without Mullan and you can understand why. His performance is really strong and the rage, self-loathing and lack of control are all plain to be seen in his eyes and body language. Considine directs well, with plenty of well-framed shots to draw the viewer into the film. I wasn't totally sure about the redemptive part of his film but I still found it to be a very well drawn character that made for a strong film. Not the most cheerful thing but still a very good short film.