Published: Wednesday, 17th March, 2010 4:00pm

BAFTA boys make film for 56p

by Julie Gilbert

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Two pals have picked up a BAFTA nomination for a film they shot at the Radnor Park high flats with a budget of just 56p.

Darren Osborne and Douglas King, both 24, have been "messing around" making short films for years but A Good Mate is their first serious effort.

Darren is up for Best Acting Performance against three others, including Keira Lucchesi, who plays Stella in River City.

And although the location may suggest the film will be a hard-hitting urban piece, writer Douglas said it is more about wit than grit.

A Good Mate is six minutes long and tells the story of Craig who wakes up with a hangover in his Clydebank flat only to be harangued by his friend, played by Darren, who wants to shake him out his stupor and go outside with him.

The short, well-shot piece contains a hilarious dance scene courtesy of Darren.

Although the pair never mention that the action is taking place in Clydebank, when Craig steps outside to the shops, no Bankie would be in doubt that they are looking at the Lusset View high rise and the surrounding Radnor Park area.

It was shot in the flat where Darren lives and the only cost incurred when making the film was for a can of soup which is used as a slightly unsavoury prop, which will be revealed if you watch the film.

Douglas wrote and directed the short.

He said: "I was at a film festival in Bristol and I was watching a lot of short films.

"What I really didn't like was the gritty social reality.

"I wanted to see something in the high flats because that's usually where they set the gritty social reality stuff, but I wanted to make it about my experience there.

"I wrote it all down and then spent a while thinking about how I was going to shoot it and how to give it a bit of vibrancy.

"I wrote it in two days, shot it in six hours and edited it in about three days.

"A lot of it is based on real life."

A Good Mate, which contains adult themes and swearing, is available to view on YouTube by visiting .

The pair will find out how they fared in the BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards 2010 on Friday March 19 at an awards ceremony in the Mitchell Theatre.