The magnificent seventh London Short Film Festival drew to a close last night with an event called Filmmakers In Bands in which… ok, I’m going to talk up to you and just expect you to work out what happened.

I’ve played this night before at previous LSFFs and it was a joy to do so again with my current musical squeeze, the Glue Ensemble (of whom there is more here http://www.myspace.com/theglueensemble).

In order to keep life simple you tend to introduce yourself as one thing or another. There are times when even saying I’m a writer/director feels like I’m giving the impression of being horribly unfocused. The truth is that, with my brother, I write, direct, edit and where necessary he’ll also shoot, grade and even handle all the tricky encoding and uploading that comes with most modern filmmaking. That’s a horrible bundle of ideas to throw at someone so we generally say that we’re filmmakers. It feels like somewhat of a treat then to be allowed to out myself as a filmmaker who also plays instruments and writes songs…

Likewise my friend and cohort the filmmaker Lee Kern has recently outed himself as filmmaker who is also a stand-up comedian.

For proof of this come with me to a gig Lee’s playing this Tuesday at the Green Man, Riding House Street, Fitzrovia. He’s sharing the bill with the brilliant Robin Ince, Nick Helm and Richard Sandling and, just in case you’re reading this and thinking “but Ben, I have no life outside of filmmaking, unlike you and Lee I’m totally dedicated to the one true craft”, well, to you I point out that all the comedy will be themed around films and the film industry.

It’s £6 to get in and the show starts at 8 and doors open at 7.30 so get there early to get a seat.

Ooh my head. Bloody Mary’s followed by Guinness is oddly similar to eating a steak with a peppery tomato salsa. Plus a great deal of alcohol.

Never the less last night at the London Short Film Festival screening of the Vauxhall Branchage 48hr Challenge films at the Roxy Bar and Screen, I was in the mood for celebrating. Not because the film Chris and I made, “Truth In The Valley” was the ultimate winner of the generous £1,000 prize, because it wasn’t. We were soundly beaten into second place by the magnificent Gaelle Denis and her film “Morning Mist”. However to be back amongst such a beautiful crowd of passionate, creative people was reason enough to feel like I’d won whatever happened.

To see each other, and each others films once more was a joy. A 48hr Challenge is always a risk and this was made more of one by the fact that most of the participants had to first get themselves to Jersey. These films were quick to make but they were not cheap – by taking part all of us were risking not only our reputation but also our own hard cash. This is one thing for the directors but quite another for cast and crew who don’t have any real sense of what they’re buying into until it’s far too late to back out. No script to read over, no synopsis, not even a vague idea of what will happen until long after the flights are booked. The same is very much true of the sponsors, of which more later.

I raise this point because of the huge and angry debate that is once again crashing over the Shooting People bulletins about working in film for less than the National Minimum Wage. Of course I would expect a commercial project with a budget to strike a fair payment rate in line with accepted industry standards but events like the 48hr Challenge are proof positive that a creative industry needs leeway for the creative aspect to flourish.

We all had a great time in Jersey but for a great many of the participants the event has turned into a personal marker. The freedom of the event gave us all a chance to try something we wouldn’t normally try. It has given people an insight into a new way of working, a different aspect of their performing ability that they hadn’t previously been able to express or just a sharp wake-up call that you can never rest on your laurels. I don’t think we quite changed anyone’s life completely but we certainly all ended up spinning off in new and exciting directions and with a large number of new and exciting potential creative collaborators.

Thanks for this are in no small part due to Vauxhall. As an industry we all tend to be hugely cynical about commercial companies sponsoring our work. As soon as Vauxhall got involved with the 48hr Challenge I think, in some part of our minds, we all expected that we’d need to draw their branding into our films in someway. Perhaps not as crass as having a character turn to camera and shout “C’mon!” but we all expected that in some sense they would want to shape our work in return for the money they were giving the competition.

However, for the second time on this blog a filmmaker called Ben is writing about how beautifully hands-off Vauxhall are once they are committed to an idea. If you’ve not yet read my interview with Ben River’s about his Vauxhall funded film “I Know Where I’m Going” then scroll down the page and have a look because it’s fascinating. It’s also surprising that such a difficult piece of filmmaking was given such full blooded support by a company with no reason to have anything but a purely commercial interest in investing in it.

I’m not just singing the praises of an organisation which has indirectly sponsored my work. Vauxhall have no creative agenda, they exist purely with the commercial aim of selling cars (that, as it goes, I can neither afford nor drive because, I can’t drive). They see a commercial gain in putting money into films that in no way trumpet, discuss or even briefly feature their cars in anyway. This is obviously just a tiny aspect of their business model, a small part of their advertising budget, but clearly it works for them to be associated with helping creative people to create.

I’m not saying that actors should never get paid. I’m certainly not saying that directors should fund their own work and I’m sick of how as a I writer this whole edifice is almost entirely constructed upon the months and years of necessarily unpaid effort that I put into a script before it’s ready to be sold or even read. However I am saying that sometimes working for free on a project that enables you do something different, sometimes sinking a small amount of your cash into a ticket to Jersey so that you can grasp a unique creative challenge, sometimes this financial risk is better business than a stubborn insistence on your legal rights.

To vote in Shooting People’s poll on the National Minimum Wage please click here:
http://shootingpeople.org/poll/minimumwage/

To argue with me in person about this please either come to my talk this afternoon at 4pm at the Curzon or come to Branchage Surgery at the Hospital Club in Covent Garden tomorrow night from six thirty.

Well done again to Phil for a cracking programme of longs which I was proud to introduce down at the delicious little Shortwave Cinema in Bermondsey Square…

So eloquent and voluble were the guests who turned up for the Q&A that sadly we ran out of time and I had to shelve my plan of reading out my electronic interview with director Ben Rivers, who made “I Know Where I’m Going” the last film we screened.

There’s a strong stream of voice over in Ben’s film so I was quite keen on the idea of presenting his Q&A session in a similarly abstracted fashion but alas the clock was against us… so instead I promised to reprint it here for all to enjoy.

So I have, it goes like this:

Ben Rivers is the director of "I Know Where I'm Going"

Hi Ben

Thanks for writing – very glad you liked the film.

i’m in Auckland library, waiting to be picked up by someone to take me away for weekend, before i leave for Tuvalu on monday morning – so not much time but i’ll try and answer these questions below right now…

What inspired the film? The film came about through a very unexpected commission – i was contacted while travelling in the antipodes with my friend and ace US filmmaker Ben Russell, and asked if i’d be interested in making a film for a Vauxhall commission – under the premise of The Great British Road Trip – i was kind of skeptical and emailed a vague pitch about travelling up to the Isle of Mull because one of my favourite british films was made there – and then i could use the same title – knowing where i was going but not knowing what would happen on the way there – to try and make as film without any real planning, other than a few contacts of people i could possibly meet. Amazingly they went for it, even after i said i wouldn’t be making anything that necessarily promoted cars, and it definitely wouldn’t show their own car or their logo at the end. In fact, they remained totally hands-off which was great.

How did you find your subjects? It was a mix of a few numbers me and george had to try along the way – and these usually led to other folk – eg. i wanted to meet a great ethologist called Thelma Rowell, who lives in Yorkshire and looks after her sheep after retiring from years of studying apes. She was great to talk to but didn’t want to be in film – but she suggested we visit Charlie Parker – he’s the guy who does the ’snigging’ – felling trees and taking them out of the forest by horse. We called him and he turned out to be very lovely and very accommodating in letting me film. So it was often down to chance like this. Jake Manglewurzel, the guy with the orange beard, is sort of famous around where George’s parents live – we passed his house near the road and just called in, camera at the ready. The other Jake, at the end in the snow, is the subject of a film i made a few years back called This Is My Land. It was nice to go back and see how things hadn’t changed (i’m thinking of going back for a third visit to make a feature about him). Jan – the voice you hear talking – he was the only person i contacted before leaving – he had written this book about the earth in one-hundred million years time and i thought that would make a good back-bone to the mood of the film. He made geology sound way more exciting than i had previously thought!

How long did it take to make? with a short break in the middle i think we were on the road about 5 weeks, then about 6 months edit – i tend to have intense flurries and then leave for a couple weeks to get some space, then have another go.

What medium did you shoot on and why? 16mm cinemascope – i’m afraid i seem to be stuck on film, still yet to make a video. This is for many reasons which i might not have time to go into now, suffice to say i’m very comfortable with it and its restrictions. Scope because i thought that would suit a post-apocalyptic road movie.

Why did you choose to let the film be this length? i tend not to think much about length until the edit – let films become the length they feel right to me – some of that is of course determined by how much i shoot – this film was the most generous ratio i’ve ever shot, about 6:1 – mainly because i didn’t really know what i was making. For the film i’m making next i’ve said i’d make a feature, so i guess i know it has to be more than 70 mins

Has the length caused you problems in getting it shown? not so far – its hsown in both galleries and festivals. It seems there’s more longer short films being made which i think is a good thing – feeling like festivals will show something that feels more substantial. I think it can be a problem showing things which are more like an hour, because it falls between worlds, which is a shame because i think an hour is a really nice length.

What are the benefits of a longer film? How does it effect the pace of the edit? this is something i’m looking forward to with working on a feature, maybe simply allowing more space in a film, difficult to pin down exactly. I have to say, this film was one of the most difficult edits, mainly because i had trouble moving from one place to the next, tying it all together – i then broke it down into ‘days’ each with separate title card – this really helped get the shape, then i decided to take out all the titles and put everything back to back and it seemed to work. I guess i like fragmentation in films and i was glad that this didn’t change making something longer.

What inspires you as a filmmaker? too many things, i get distracted and go off into daydreams alot

What are you working on next? a feature film of someone living off in the wilderness, and a four part film installation about four different islands around the world, with fictional accounts of future utopias narrated – this is what i’m doing right now, filming in Japan and Tuvalu.

How did you start? art school, making super-8 films (first was jeckyl and hyde horror) and showing films there and then later in Brighton

Who do you trust to see your work before it’s finished? my girlfriend, a few friends who know my work really well

Do you actually listen to their opinions? yes

Any regrets? no

What are you most proud of? hmm, that i’m very happy with my life, i feel totally lucky i get to make the films i want to make, and that my family continue to be very supportive and excited about what i’m doing. Each film offers new joys and pains and insights, i’m proud of a number of them in different ways (i’ve made about 20, there are some real duds in there of course). This Is My Land is the film which i’m most proud of in some ways, because it marked a breakthrough for me in the way i work, much freer, less worked out beforehand.

ok – hope that helps – i haven’t read back sorry if some of it doesn’t make sense. Hope its a fun screening on sunday – would be great to hear how it goes…

cheers
Ben

Anyone with a creative interest in film will spend a large portion of their working life being turned down. This is tough because in a creative industry your cold economic judgements are always horribly personal. In turning down an actor’s performance, or rejecting a script, I am, at a fundamental level rejecting you.

Oddly though people don’t tend to talk about rejection that much, at least not much beyond a plaintive moan or a sort of blitz spirit camaraderie. And that’s why you keep being rejected! And by you, I do mean you.

Not that I don’t still get my fair share of it. I’ve been rejected by the best, and often the worst that this industry has to offer. I’ve also been accepted, nominated, selected, chosen, honourably mentioned and generally marked out as a good thing and as someone who can deliver on his craziest promises. Not only have I seen both sides of rejection and acceptance, I’ve handed out my fair share of yes and no – as a filmmaker, as a film programmer and recently (wearing a mask and using a false name) as an assessor for a funding scheme.

Consequently when Phil and Carla from the London Short Film Festival asked if I wanted to do some sort of Ben’s Blog Live for the festival, I decided that rejection would be a good thing to talk about.

Not to moan about, nor neither to commiserate. This is not a self help group and I will not stop you ever being rejected again. Nor will I spend too much time telling you to learn from it. I will though show you why you get rejected and hopefully help you understand how you can avoid going through it unnecessarily…

Thanks to the London Short Film Festival and Shooting People I will be doing this for Free in the bar of the Curzon Soho this Tuesday from 4pm. More information here:

http://lsff.bside.com/2010/films/howlingfeedbackindustrysession2dealingwithrejectionpresentedbybenblaine_lsff2010;jsessionid=E2B0160A6B228E27A28A956ED3F8CC22

And if none of you turn up then I will sit in silence and call it an art installation.

Unless you are a complete stranger to this blog (in which case, hallo, have a seat, lovely of you to drop in), you will be well aware that last year my brother and I took part in the Vauxhall Branchage 48hr Filmmaking Challenge.

The five films made in the competition have been available to watch online for the past month or so at Mishorts and you have until tomorrow to watch them and vote for them.

This deadline is looming above us because next Monday night, January 11th, all the films will be shown at the Roxy Bar and Screen in London Bridge and the winner will be announced and forcibly awarded a thousand pounds of actual money.

Mishorts have done a tremendous job of spreading the films into people’s minds and they’ll remain online long after the LSFF has packed up for the year. But, trust me, the joy of the Branchage Challenge was that these films were made by filmmakers and they deserve to be seen in a cinema. Startlingly original, compelling, beautiful, odd and utterly breathless it’s a programme curated by good fortune alone and you won’t regret coming down.

More info here:
http://lsff.bside.com/2010/films/mishortspresentsbranchage48hourroadmoviechallenge_lsff2010

Not so long ago I wrote a short piece about how long a short should be. My friend and fellow surgeon Phil Ilson saw this and as a result asked if I’d care to help him out of a scheduling jam and present his forthcoming selection of long shorts at the London Short Film Festival.

The event is at the Shortwave Cinema in Bermondsey this coming Sunday, 10th January, at 1.30pm. Philip has selected four short films which jeer in the face of the word short.

THE GLOAMING by John Bradburn & Andy Paton sees nature test the limits of love.

I KNOW WHERE I’M GOING by Ben Rivers is a series of meetings with those who live at the edge of civilisation.

KINGS OF LONDON by Sean Conway is oddly even harder to summerise despite being, in someways, the most conventional narrative drama in the programme but it involves urban horse racing, two brothers both called Aristotle and a child gangster.

RED SANDS by David Procter is a documentary about bullfighting which is as violent as it is beautiful.

What really strikes me about the programme is not only that the films are all exceptionally long, exceptionally beautiful and I struggled to not describe all four as “poetic” but that they all revel in their length. Previously I wrote that often long shorts come about through people aping the pacing of a feature film. However with these it is more that they have their own unique pace, a long short pace.

For instance, The Gloaming, which will be getting it’s theatrical premiere at the event, has no dialogue. I Know Where I’m Going has no synchronised dialogue and takes a special care to hold its shots for far longer than a feature director would dare. These are not features that lack a second act, they are films that could only ever have been this long. Shorter they’d lack their peculiar, but so intense are they that any longer and they’d leave you utterly exhausted.

Sadly not all the directors are able to attend but I will be discussing each film with someone from the project and I’ll also be hoping to delve a little deeper into the demands and dangers of the longer duration.

Do come.

More information here http://lsff.bside.com/2010/films/newshorts7howlongisshort_lsff2010 but for tickets please ring the Shortwave Cinema on 0207 357 6845