Rattlebones (film)

**Rattlebones** is a short comedy film produced in part by Oliver Beckwith. The film follows Chris, a young man with crippling anxiety who prepares for a date and overcomes his fears with the help of his skeleton companion, Ralph. The film was co-directed and produced by Oliver Beckwith, Marc Nadon and Alexandre Ferron and released on April 7th, 2023.

## Plot

The film begins with an anxious Chris preparing to go on his date, rifling through his fridge, buttoning up his shirt and trying to take anxiety medication (labelled "RATTLEBONES") before realizing all his pill bottles are empty. He is about to leave the house but gives up at the last minute, succumbing to his anxiety. He walks to his basement, defeated, and throws his backpack onto the ground but turns around when he hears it hit something, which is revealed to be a human skeleton wearing a tie, named Ralph. He reaches cautiously toward the skeleton but jumps back when his arm suddenly moves. He takes his backpack off Ralph and inspects him, with a grin forming on his face.

Chris runs upstairs carrying Ralph, placing him down then brushing his hair with a newfound confidence. He looks over to Ralph, noticing that he is offering Chris his tie. He puts it on and struggles to adjust it, then Ralph taps him on the shoulder and tightens it for him while Chris looks on in amazement. After the tie is secured, Chris leaves the house with Ralph. He walks for a bit before arriving at a busy intersection, causing him to panic before noticing Ralph has left him and appeared on the other side of the street, forcing Chris to cross in a hurry. He reaches Ralph and hugs him, then notices that the intersection wasn't busy after all. They leave together.

Chris eventually arrives at a park, where a man in a gorilla mask is selling flowers. Chris tries to buy one, but can't find the money in his wallet. The salesman pounds his chest, making Chris nervous, but Ralph gives Chris a 20-dollar bill which he uses to buy the flowers and leave. Meanwhile, two gnomes are eating leaves, then one of them notices Chris passing by. Admiring his beautiful flowers, she gets the other gnome as well as 3 more to rush Chris. The purple-hatted gnome distracts Chris by dancing in front of him, then the gnome leader grabs the flowers out of his hands. Chris is shocked at first, then begins to chase the gnomes as they run away. One of the gnomes throws his hat on the ground, causing Chris to trip and drop Ralph, who breaks apart, his bones scattered across the pavement. Chris watches as the gnomes escape, then gets up and puts Ralph's skull in his backpack. As he runs away, though, the skulls falls out without Chris noticing.

Chris walks through the park, adjusting his tie which was loosened during the chase, then crosses a road without worrying. He then returns to the gorilla salesman and buys a cheaper, worse-looking plant and leaves. Eventually, he arrives at a different park where Olive, his date, is waiting for him. He sits down beside her and hands her the plant, which she awkwardly accepts. Chris notices his hands trembling due to anxiety, so he reaches to his backpack, but worries when he can't find Ralph's skull inside. He digs through his bag, but then the previous series of events replay in his head, causing him to realize he didn't need Ralph after all. He calms down and smiles at Olive, and they get up and walk away together. Meanwhile, Ralph's skull stares out into the alleyway where Chris left him. The film ends with a shot of Chris' fridge, revealing a photo of Chris and his father, who is wearing the same tie Ralph was.

## Project Background

The film was created as part of York University's first-year filmmaking course, in which students have to create a 3-5 minute short film with no dialogue or on-location sound recording. The script was originally written by Alexandre Ferron, before being reworked by Marc Nadon, with Oliver Beckwith eventually joining the project. The film was shot over two days in March 2023 in Mississauga, Ontario, then eventually released on April 7th, 2023.

## Full Credits

### Crew

* **Oliver Beckwith** - Co-director, Editor
* **Alexandre Ferron** - Co-director, Co-writer, Script Supervisor
* **Marc Nadon** - Co-director, Co-writer, Cinematographer
* **Tyler Bruce** - Music by

### Cast

* **Tyler Bruce** - As Chris
* **Nishad Awasthy** - As Gorilla Salesman, Red Gnome
* **Charlotte Kalichak** - As Head Gnome in Charge
* **Ronan Kang** - As Purple Gnome
* **Alexandre Ferron** - As Orange Gnome
* **Oliver Beckwith** - As Green Gnome
* **Anya Ivantchenko** - As Olive
* **Marc Ferron** - Man in Photo

## Gallery

Alternate poster 1Alternate poster 2Alternate poster 3
## Trivia

* The man in the photo at the end of the film is actually the father of co-creator Alexandre Ferron.