Vacant lot

VACANT LOT follows a day in the life of three teenage boys in the working-class town of Smoerville, Massachusetts. The boys plot to win money at the dog tracks using the returns from five cent refundable bottles, and frivolously spend their earnings when the scheme goes awry.The film uses non-professional actors in a tightly storyboarded narrative. The three main characters, unemployed teenagers with no prior acting experience, helped write dialogue during a month of improvisational rehearsals. By suing a dramatic, yet documentary approach, the film avoids moralizing while still presenting relevant social questions.Abandoned bridges, parking lots and alleys create angular urban settings through which the boys move, their fluid motion emphasized by intercut handheld tracks. Through the story and the environments, the filmmakers aimed to convey a sense of the boys’ energy and humor within their desolate, repressive environment.