My aim in my final year at university was
to work on a wide variety of films focusing primarily on Documentary. Having
worked in a variety of genres over the previous two years I had decided that
documentary was my preferred format. Over the course of this reflective study I
will walk through the processes and decisions that led to my final piece of
work, looking at not only the process of my university work but also the extra
curricular activities I undertook to help gauge a wider knowledge of film.
I started the opening few weeks of the
year, admittedly in the wrong mindset after a long summer working full time in
a kitchen I was lackadaisical in my work. After this short break I chose to
knuckle down, I began attending various exhibitions, talks and screenings
re-engaging myself with my work. I knew I wanted to make a documentary or
‘mockumentary’ film as my major film. Looking at various topics I played with
the possibility of making a mockumentary based around a Sunday league team, the
idea was something I was at first keen on having played in a number of teams
form the age of eight up until I was twenty and thought it would be an
interesting way of getting back involved with a sport I have loved for years.
During this time I also spent a lot of time talking to my grandmother who put
me onto the idea of making a film about ‘tea dances’ having grown up in
Sheffield, and her mother having work at the dances, it was something I decided
to start looking into. This is where my process began.
I started by attending the Cinematography
and Documentary workshops as part of our research and development unit. My
interest in cinematography stemmed from my college a-level in Photography, and
has always been something I have thoroughly enjoyed. I found the workshops to
be interesting and engaging, gaining a wider knowledge around lighting and
creating atmosphere. The knowledge I gained in lighting helped vastly with work
I did in the fashion films I worked on as it gave me a strong base to work from
when being asked for my opinion on how best to light a set/shoot. Whilst
attending one of the documentary workshops we were shown a film called ‘Cutie
and the Boxer’ which focused around the lives of Ushio and Noriko Shinohara,
and their relationship. Having already looked at the prospect of making my film
around tea dances this filmed sparked my first idea, which was to make a film
with the similar themes of love, relationships and life.
Over the course of the year I made a
concerted effort to view less mainstream films and look at films made on,
smaller budgets and with a smaller number crew of members. I started attending
screenings and exhibitions at ‘HOME’, going to the Jarman awards, and the
Manchester Animation Festival. The Jarman awards was a fantastic experience,
some of the films were harder to engage with however some of them I
particularly enjoyed. After the screening Seamus Harahan whose work was
featured did a talk, and after which, thanks to Chris Daniels who was one of
the curators of the show, we got to go for a couple of drinks with him, that
led to some fantastic conversation about the whole process of his work.
In late January/early February the
university organized a trip to the IFFR, (international film festival
Rotterdam) which I was lucky enough to go on. At first I didn’t think I would be
able to go due to my lack of funds, despite the money provided on my met card,
however I managed to pick up more shifts at work, which enabled me to go. This
was an experience I am very pleased I was a part of the opening night Sion and
myself attended a night called ‘Throwing Shadows’ which was a night of Japanese
expanded cinema we were informed of by Chris Daniels. I found myself not
understanding the work in the slightest, however really enjoying what I was seeing/hearing,
and finding loads of interesting ideas pop up throughout. I then went on to
attend three viewings of different short selections some of which I were really
difficult to engage with and some incredibly engrossing.
This year I was found myself with a great
opportunity to work with a textiles student called Amber, having been
introduced towards the end of second year, I started working on a number of
fashion films with her. For me this was a brilliant way of working further on
my abilities as a cinematographer. We worked on six short fashion films over
the course of the year. For me it was important to work on separate projects
aside from my work directly linked to the course. As I was working as a solo
filmmaker in my other projects, it was a good change to take on a role where I
was taking in information and then using my knowledge to provide a solution. It
was also an interesting way of looking at a different form of dance, in some of
the films we worked with a contemporary dancer called Ina, I found out a lot
about movement through these shoots which certainly helped in the filming
process when looking at ballroom/sequence dancing. I gained a lot from this
work and am incredibly pleased with how the films came out after
post-production. I also had the chance to work as the cinematographer on Sion’s
research and development project, which focused on memory cue’s this was an
interesting project as memory and old age are two things that are tightly
linked together.
The contextualizing practice essay was
something that really helped me engage further with the film I would eventually
make I chose to pay attention to the older generation and their roles and
representation in modern day society and specifically in documentary film. I
did a lot of research around representation and opinion focusing on a selection
of films and other media formats. Through this essay I learnt a lot about how
isolated the older generation can feel within modern society, and how their
representation in mainstream media can have a strong effect on this. I also
found however that there was a good amount of material out there for older
people to engage with films such as ‘Ping-Pong’, ‘Iris’ and ‘Beware of Mr
Baker’ naming a few the go against the mainstream grain on portrayal, despite
this the access to such films for older generations potentially less savvy with
modern technology, is still very limited. Overall this unit was very eye opening
and had a very dramatic effect on my work as a filmmaker and my perception of
the older generation.
My work throughout the year starting with
going to the cinematography and documentary workshop, to attending dances in
Sheffield led to my final piece. I started the process by going to as many
different dances as possible large and small, having met Neil Gibbons during my
research and development unit I attended a number of his dances in Heywood and
Rochdale at the same time I was starting to go to Sheffield. Having had the
idea of filming and elderly couple who dance together. My attention shifted
once I started regularly attending the dances in Sheffield, and I chose to make
my film revolving around George. The process was one I thoroughly enjoyed the
outcome of the film I was disappointed with as I felt there was a lot more I
could have done in the edit but more specifically with the sound and not having
someone there with me was something I regret. This said the pre-production of
the film was thoroughly entertaining, I met and became friends with a lot of
people who I look forward to visiting over the summer when I go back with my
grandmother. I was greeted at the dances very openly, the people there were
very willing to tell me their stories and I was eager to listen.
Overall this year I feel that my practice
has come on a long way. I still need to work on my organization and time
management, however I have been pleased with how my work has gone. I have made
a more conscious effort to spend time around creative people and attend events
I have not made the effort to in previous years. I have managed to engage with
work outside of my own, which has allowed me to improve my abilities as a
cinematographer whilst continuing my work as a solo practitioner. I feel I have
learnt a lot this year and hope I can apply it in my future projects.
