I.

Case Overview
The Dead Ringer is a thriller-drama short film produced by the BSA
class of 2014 Film Productions as their official case entry in RACFest 2013.
The film is about the struggle of a female employee named Jane Flaxen
who is academically, but not socially inclined and her best friend, Beth,
who is her total opposite. Jane and Beth had been together since they
were kids and worked under the same company eventually. One day, Beth
had formulated a new product proposal to show to the company and asked
Janes assistance. The two inseparable employees made progress in
making the companys management accept their proposal, holding a
bidding, calculating transfer prices and interviewing a supplier (though an
ethical dilemma that involves cutting fifty percent of the transfer price was
involved). In the middle of coming up with a range of transfer prices and
decisions whether to purchase in-house or to outsource, Jane and Beth had
an argument. Beth, thinking in favor of their branch, argues that they
should consider the offer of Walker (the companys production manager)
for their branch to gain 50% of the transfers profit. Jane, looking out for
the company, disputes that the said arrangement will cause the entire
company to lose money despite of the profit their branch is going to earn.
Jane made the decision that was not inline with Beth. The two made up
from their argument after Sylvia, the head of the product development
called them for a meeting to announce that the new product line was took
by their clients really well and that their revenues are continuously
increasing. Upon Janes explanation to Sylvia that the proposal was not her
idea but Beths, Jane started to realize that Beth does not exist but a mere
hallucination after Sylvia denies her existence in the company. Doctor Gale
Lawrence, a psychologist assigned in Janes case, diagnosed her behavior
as having a dual personality. He consulted Janes mom, Allison Flaxen,
about Janes history and he learned that Jane has never had any adequate
attention or appreciation from her parents since she was small and that
the acknowledgment she received from the company triggered Beths
departure. Doctor Gale assured Jane that he would not lose hope treating
Jane who in turn would not give up Beths company. She was then taken by
her mother gracefully away from the doctors appointment with the last
scene showing Beth having an identical dress as Jane with the facial
implication of Beths farewell from Janes head.

The characters of the film are: Jane Flaxen--an employee that has lived
her life on pure academic thoughts and has a best friend named Beth who
is a total opposite of her personality. She was revealed in the film as the
one that is unknowingly suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder or
Dual/Multiple Personality Disorder; Doctor Gale Lawrence--a psychologist
that monitors Janes physical and mental condition and has the most
concern about Janes latest incidents at work; Elizabeth Wight--Janes socalled best friend with the pet name Beth that had been with her since
her childhood and whom Dr. Gale reports as the manifestation of Janes
dual personality. She was seen in the film as the one helping Jane to
conceptualize a new project and the one inducing liberated and unethical
ideas on her; Sylvia Cheng--the head of the Product Development
Department of the company that Jane is currently working under. She was
the one who rejected at first Jane and Beths idea of coming up with a new
product line due to the companys current financial limitation; Ruby
Mitchell--the manager of Site Production Department of the company. She
was the one concerned with the Materials Requisition Information and who
commended and approved the proposal of Jane and Beth; Allison Flaxen-the mother of Jane Flaxen that had always been busy and unappreciative
towards Jane since she was a child. She was the last one that had been
interviewed by Dr. Gale about Janes condition. It was revealed in the film
that her daughters illness is unknown to her.
II. Statement of the Problem
There are two problems that relate to Management Accounting and
Professional Ethics encountered by the main characters that require their
resolve. The dilemma that relates to Management Accounting is that they
have to decide whether to purchase materials needed for their proposed
product line in-house or outsource such. This entails the determination of
the range of transfer prices that could work for the buying and selling
segments of the company.
The dilemma that relates to Professional Ethics, on the other hand, is a
case of suboptimization. The problem is whether Jane would team up with
Beths idea of considering the in-house purchase of materials that is based
on the under-the-table deal of the production manager of cutting-off the
transfer price by 50%. The arrangement would result to a branch profit,

but a total loss for the company. Thus, Beths goal is not inline with the
company. Jane has to choose between friendship and her ethics.
III. Analysis of Business Solutions
Jane and Beths solution regarding the determination of transfer price
was highly technical. Jane has called and interviewed suppliers for the
materials that they will need for the new product. Langdon Warehouse
offers Fiber Glass for 420 pesos per square meter. And Walker Electronics
offers Optic Cable for 140 pesos per meter. For the new product, the
company will be needing 10,000 square meters of Fiber Glass and 5,000
meters of Optic Cable. According to the production manger, the lowest
price that they could offer to their branch is 430 pesos which is equal to
the selling price of Fiber Glass per square meter. This means that the
selling price will just cover the variable cost and the total contribution
margin on lost sales per unit transferred given that they have no idle
capacity to produce the materials needed. The report concludes that the
range of transfer prices is from 430 to 420 pesos. Thus, it is impossible to
satisfy both divisions with regard to profit. The company will be getting the
materials from the Langdon Warehouse for 420 pesos because it will be
much cheaper than getting the materials in-house for 430 pesos. For optic
cable, the minimum price that the in-house division could offer them is 80
pesos which is the variable cost of the Optic Cable per meter. It figures
since the company still has an idle capacity of 10,000 meters. Since they
will only be needing 5,000 of this material, they could utilize the idle
capacity without affecting the fixed cost. They ended up with a range of
transfer prices from 80 to 140 pesos which sounds reasonable. Their
branch will be getting Optic Cable from the company.
For the second dilemma with regard to professional ethics, Jane
observed her behavior appropriately and did not let her personal interest
intervene with her decision making. The issue is whether Jane should
consider Beths persuasion on going for Walkers offer of cutting the
transfer price by 50% if their branch choose them as their supplier for the
materials needed. This means that 50% of the profit they will make on the
transfer will accrue to the branch, but the company as a whole will incur a
heavy loss. Jane stood on her decision as she justified that the company

is not in its best shape and have to regain the market. If they are going to
purchase optic cables in-house, the whole company will gain a total
income from it of 300,000 pesos. And since it is not possible to purchase
the fiber glass in-house, because of the resulting conflict in transfer price,
their decision should be to buy from an outside supplier to save 100,000.
Jane showed goal congruence with the company and rejected Beths
suboptimizing thoughts.
IV. Mechanics of the Film
The writer of this paper will rate the the technicalities of the short film
using a range between 1 to 5; 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.

Sound (Audibility)
The sound/audibility of the short movie gets 3.8 out of 5. The film was
not consistent with the volume of the dialogues. There are scenes where
the sound of the actors voices is too soft making the audience rely heavily
on the subtitles. One of such scenes is Janes third interview with Doctor
Gale. There are also scenes where the rooms they are in are causing echos
and improper resonance making the delivery of the lines kind of distorted.
Musical Scoring
For the musical scoring, the film gets 5 out of 5. The editors of the
movie had decently selected background soundtracks that suit the mood
of the scenes and the overall genre of the film. The music and sound
effects are exactly timed, blended and set with ample volume--not too
distracting and not too ineffective.
Cinematography (Quality)
The quality of the short film gets 4 out of 5. The use of SLR cameras by
the class to produce a high-quality film is commended. Every scene is
properly lit and focused. The only downside is that there are moments
where the white balance set up of the camera is not inline with the mood
of the scene. For instance, the white balance setting in the scene where
Jane realizes that Beth does not exist and panics was set up in yellow to

orange, basically establishing a joyful vibe wherein the scene should

deliver a thriller/drama vibe to the audience.
Editing
The criticism for the editing of the movie entails 3.8 out of 5. Most of
the transitions from one scene to another is properly timed and arranged.
However, there are scenes where the transitions are not effective due to
obvious cuts in the vocals, loss of continuity of intonations, background
noises and recurring consecutive angles. In addition, the flow of the
performance (facial expression and body position) of the actors in some
scenes is abruptly transitioned.
Production & Costume Design
The films production and costume design gets 4.5 out of 5. The
extensive use of props (dresses, picnic, nameplates) and use of various
unfamiliar settings (house, office, meadow, hospital, other facility) made
the scenes in the short film believable. The use of additional child actors
was also exemplary. The business attire worn by the actors are also
properly leveled based on the hierarchy of the employees (letting the
actors in the management position have a grander attire than the rankand-file employees). There are, however, settings in the film that are too
familiar with the audiences schema distracting them to think that they
knew the place and where it is located, diverting the attention away from
the reality of the film.
Screenplay (Story and Dialogue)
For the critique of original screenplay, the film manages a 3.4 out of 5.
The films core story of Dissociative Identity Disorder is not that very
original. There are plenty of films that had already used the same
formulaic narration to take advantage of the savage twist. Some of those
movies are American horror films Hide and Seek and The Nun by year
2005 and a Thai horror film, Body of year 2007. In addition, the diction and
delivery of the lines of some of the characters (especially Beth) is a bit off.
However, through creative writing, the producers had managed to clearly
explain the technical part of the film which is the determination of transfer

price with ease, with minimal complexity and without the scene sounding
a little out of place.
Overall Direction
The short film gets a 4 out of 5 for the overall direction. The camera
angles and placement are mostly positioned very well. The dramatic tone
of the film is amply supported by superb acting of some of the characters
(especially Jane) and effective timing and selection of background
soundtracks. The long continuous shot of the climax of the film is also to
be commended. However, there are a few flaws that stagger the film away
from perfection such us wrong application of white balance or the setting
itself to set up a dramatic tone, the consecutively recurring angles that
make bad transitions and some uncontrolled acting performance.
V. Recommendation
The writer of this film critique recommends, for the technicalities of the
film, that the producers should had chosen areas that are not inside the
De La Salle University - Dasmarias premises to establish unfamiliarity
and deliver film authenticity. The white balance setting of the cameras
should had also been set in a bluish tone to build tension, sternness and
drama. A change of story is also recommended where Jane Flaxen should
have listened to her best friend to follow their dirty plans with the deal
that her name will not be involved in the affair in case of management
detection. Through this change of circumstance, the audience will be
demonstrated on what sanctions the law would enforce to the employees
that commit malicious acts; and that an incremental gravity would be
employed on the overall impact of the films ferocity. Furthermore, there
will now be sufficient reasons why Jane Flaxen would break down and
panic by the time she realized that Beth does not exist instead of the
original, immediate and overly reacting to such fact.