Category: film
Viewing
Oddly, I’ve noticed that during this pandemic my film and television viewing has greatly changed. I’ve barely watched any new film releases or keep up with television series unless I make a concerted effort to do so.
I say, “oddly,” because I normally watch programmes and films for pleasure, without effort. I own a large collection of films and television series; I subscribe to a video on demand channel (and have considered subscribing to more); in years gone by, I’d measure my viewing in films per day rather than days per film. So what has changed?
I’d like to think that I’m more particular in what I watch. I’m currently analysing some classic releases, shot by shot and the practice is greatly helpful to my own filmmaking. But I wonder where the pleasure has gone.
In the months leading up to the pandemic, I had dropped the habit of regular film going because of a debilitating illness, but also because the journey to, waiting at and journey from the cinema had become onerous, especially for a film that may disappoint.
Sometimes I think it’s down to the sheer volume of productions out there. Films and series are released, in some cases continuations of other films and series, themselves years old. Where to start? Right now or with the back catalogue? Is there a correct sequence to watch? Will I be missing out some huge details (or missing a neat in-joke) if I miss what came before?
I consider books. When I visited bookstores and even when I worked in a bookshop, I was also overwhelmed at the amount of titles available. No way could I read them all. So I just read what I wanted and worked my way through them happily. I enjoy reading greatly and don’t stress out about what titles I may have missed.
Maybe this is the attitude to bring to viewing. There will be time to catch up on a particular series, because if I enjoy the programme, I will find myself making time to do so. I will see the good movies eventually; I don’t have to see everything on the first day of release and they will still affect me in the same way.
As tentative moves are made to lift restrictions, I may find myself in the cinema again. I hope that when that time comes, I can relax and enjoy the experience of the particular film I’m watching rather than thinking about the voracious consumption of everything that’s on offer.
Portfolio
After using Adobe’s photography editing products, particularly Photoshop and Lightroom, I’ve been uploading selected images onto their Behance platform.
Behance is a portfolio site, where creatives can upload projects containing photography, video, graphic design, product design or any form of artwork to enhance their profile.
I’ve enjoyed using it so far because it’s enabled me to collate completed projects, like photo stories or studies of a particular subject, in a way that gives me more control than any other platform I’ve used.
While it seems I can only use Behance as long as I’m paying for Adobe’s products, this isn’t too onerous: I’ll be working with Photoshop and Lightroom for a while yet.
My Behance profile can be found here.
New filmmaking
After making my environmental short, I have started work on a new short film.
I wrote the script some months ago, but put it to one side as I had started writing a feature screenplay that expanded on this short’s idea. As writing progressed, I returned to this short as I found myself more and more interested in playing with its ideas.
Although realising this short film is a daunting prospect, the shoot has been enjoyable so far, with props and shot set ups I haven’t used before. Where I think things will become complex is with the sound, which will be a huge part of this film.
In any case, I’ve greatly enjoyed the process. I’m looking on short films more as sketches or practice and I’m enjoying making as many as possible, on any media I can use. And the more I do it, the less daunting it will be.
Screenplays
Following on from making a feature and some short films, I found myself wanting to return to the longer screenplay format.
I’m working on three speculative screenplays, all at different stages, and while working on them has had its difficulties, the process has been enjoyable so far.
Over the years, I have come across many screenwriting techniques, tips and instructions. At the moment, all I can vouch for is the techniques of writing every day: it has made the practise of writing less onerous; the sight of a completed, but unsatisfying screenplay that can be worked on is way more attractive than an unfinished script, abandoned due to its not achieving perfection in its first draft.
My technique (such as it is) is to write a little every day. I am currently planning one screenplay while writing another. I’d like to see how this progresses with more concurrent writing but for now, this will do.
The air around us
Following my WHO Health for All film festival entry, I decided to follow up on another idea I had for an environmental short film.
The idea was concerned with air pollution: I’d read news stories about people suffering respiratory illnesses near busy carriageways like the North Circular Road and Park Lane; also Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s case had been in the newspapers for some time.
On researching air pollution’s effects on the body’s organs, I depicted these with watercolour paints on a pristine white shirt, intercutting them with images of road traffic.
I enjoyed making some work around the subject of the environment, which is becoming ever more urgent as time progresses. As usual with any creative endeavour, there are many things that I’d do differently next time. Nonetheless, I learned a lot, which I hope to bring to my next short project.
Together
Last year, I was contacted by Dr. Matt Finch to take part in a webinar about photography. I was flattered to be asked, although I was unsure what I could contribute to such a discussion.
While schedules and Covid kept postponing the webinar, Matt was tenacious in his organisation and one morning in early April, I joined Matt, Australian artist Wendy Catling and New Zealander research librarian Dr. Natasha Barrett in a Zoom meeting to discuss our experiences with photography.
With Dr. Finch asking questions and leading the discussion, we touched upon memory, migration, power and agency in our individual photography stories.
As the discussion developed, I was fascinated by Wendy and Natasha’s work, as well as their photographic experience. I found myself becoming emotional at times when we touched upon our first experiences of photography and how these experiences linked us to our past, family and culture.
When the discussion was over, I was most struck by how this was the first in-depth conversation about photography that I’d actually had with other photographers. This communication was so important: in creative endeavours, filmmakers talk to other filmmakers, artists talk to artists, musicians talk to musicians. Isolation is detrimental to creativity.
The filmmaker Wong Kar-wai advised that when a creative is starting out, it is best to collaborate and communicate with others rather than toil alone. As I listen again to the podcast Matt has made from this webinar, with its insights and revelations, I’d do well to remember this.
All that remains is to thank Dr. Matt Finch, Wendy Catling and Dr. Natasha Barrett for their openness in taking part in this meet up and continuing to communicate afterwards.
The podcast can be found on Soundcloud and on YouTube.
WHO Health for All Film Festival
Late last year, I saw by chance that the World Health Organisation (WHO) was organising a short film festival.
The WHO Health For All Film Festival has been running for two years: this year, it requested short films on three possible categories. Universal health coverage, health emergencies, and better health and wellbeing were the topics on offer and I chose the first, as it was partially concerned with non-communicable diseases.
Having had personal experience of Alzheimer’s disease through family and friends, I made a film about this illness’ effects. I remember thinking that it was like having parts removed from something familiar, so I took my idea from there.
Alzheimer’s from Burning Details on Vimeo.
Recently, I received an email detailing the competition’s finalists. My film was not among them, but the shortlisted films displayed a standard of craft in storytelling, sound, photography, editing and design that I found wholly inspiring.
The craft of filmmaking is an ever deepening field. One of the many pleasures I get from making films is discovering more of it. I hope to bring some more of this craft to my work when I enter this competition next year.
Everything’s important
After numerous experiments, I’ve finally got the hang of my Epson V750 PRO scanner, so I decided to rescan many of my medium format and 35mm transparencies.
Initially, I went back to the files of mounted scans that I’d built up between 2005 and 2010, before I started regularly printing my own photos, and a long time before I turned to digital capture.
What surprised me was that when I went back to these curated images, I also wanted to see the exposures that I’d rejected. Contained in transparent sleeves within stiff card envelopes, were many more transparencies, showing different angles or different subjects altogether in the exposed rolls.
I realised that I wanted to scan every one of them, so the rescans were supplemented with first time scans of “new” old and long rejected slides.
As I work through the slides, I’m uploading different selections on my Instagram, Flickr and Behance accounts. I’m glad I’ve kept all these transparencies: even a decade after taking them, I’m still learning from them.
Around the world
As I continue to scan old medium format transparencies, I realise that I was quite attached to the camera: I seem to have taken it everywhere with me; to work; on dates; on holiday. The images are personal and the format makes them look grand.
Euston Station
Outer Circle, Regent’s Park
Regent’s Park
Tobago
Victoria Station
By and large, these images are snaps, taken while I walked around. I worked hard making sure that the exposure and speed, but there wasn’t much in the way of consideration about compositions. When I return to this camera, there will be much more considered framing: the picture taking process will be a lot slower, but the images should be spectacular.
Medium format
Transparency film scanning continues, with my concentration on medium format images while I acquire more 35mm slide mounts.
Even when an image isn’t that impressive, the detail therein makes the image great to look at: from my twin lens reflex’s gorgeously large viewfinder to the image’s old-fashioned square shape, taking photos in medium format has been a delight.
Broadway in Victoria. According to current maps, the building from which this photo was taken has been demolished.
Evening at Victoria Station
Gliddon Road, west London. Genuinely can’t think of why I went there.
The most recent images I’ve scanned have been from 2007. Since then I’ve taken many more images on digital and on 35mm, but looking at these scans (just a single pass this time) I may well return to this camera. The limited exposures on a roll and slower technique in taking pictures may lead to a more considered image.
Burning Details 
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