The Dealer: Micro Comedy on a Micro Budget

James Peacock’s The Dealer, a 5-minute comedy written by Sam Liddell, has its protagonist shuttling between its two other characters with an urgent stash to refill. A simple plotline in simple presentation, the story is an amusing gag filmed on a smartphone.

Brad (Samuel Peacock) has just returned from a trip for odds and ends when Sarah (Candice Hill) accosts him. Did he get the latest batch of the good stuff? The ferocity of her displeasure emanates into the (unavoidably overexposed) frame and jabs him sharply. Hill proves herself an impactful presence despite limited screen time. Our hero, having got his dealer’s (Sam Liddell, a brief appearance in this brief film) attention, thus sets off on a perilous trip to the park so that he may secure the stuff for Sarah and himself.  

The disadvantages of smartphone filmmaking certainly affect the film, but it is at least partially redeemed with relatively stable camerawork. The end of the film takes inspiration from the aesthetic boom of cooking content in a sequence with splashes of colour and texture, easily the most visually pleasing part of the film.

The Dealer is funny for its twist, and though it is not the best that smartphone filmmaking has to offer, manages to maintain a degree of visual interest. 

Watch The Dealer Short Film