ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

6 years, 8 months ago - Marlom Tander

You are seeking a Director.

Expect it to be self funded.

6 years, 7 months ago - Colm McAuliffe

Hi Rachel,

This project sounds super interesting. I would recommend seeking out an artist's moving image director or producer to fully realise this short film project. You could look through the experimental short film programmes at London Film Festival or London Short Film Festival to find potential collaborators on this?

I think it would be best to arrange this before finding funding opportunities as you will have a clearer idea of your project - and its dissemination potential - after this.

Best of luck!
Colm

6 years, 7 months ago - Rachel August

Thanks both for your answers so far.
And that's really useful Colm, will start my search there! Cheers!

6 years, 7 months ago - Vinca .

Hi Rachel,

You’re looking for a director but essentially someone that has the kind of natural aesthetic in their work that is perhaps less traditional and more on the indie/video art vibe. You could find a really good cameraman/DOP who is not a director per se but has a great idea and knows how to execute it. Someone that does fashion film would also be good and perhaps collaborating with a film or art student graduate at one of the better London schools.

It all starts with the script or idea and from there someone can give you a treatment of what they can do or at least you have a base to start talking about ideas. You say the topic is relevant so maybe they’re filmmakers developing ideas in the field but don’t have a solid script also perhaps there’s a grant which is focusing on your theme. Remember to check out people’s past work to see if they have the skills to actually do what they propose. They’re lots of grants around and in your case maybe you can look at applying for both visual artist and filmmaker grants. I can put together a list but it’s just as easy to google.

Hope this is of some help!

Vinca

6 years, 7 months ago - Philip Carr

Hi Rachael,
Send me the words and how you might like it treated. I’ll put some ideas together and perhaps we can have a coffee to discuss it. Are you London based?

6 years, 7 months ago - Craig Lowy

Hi Rachel,

It seems to me there are 4 parts to creating your piece. Which by the way sounds like a great project.

Second, filming the performance. Yes, I'm not starting with the First thing. As mentioned above by others you could have someone who shoots fashion. Or likes to experiment. Or films documentaries. A talented student or two who will work for very little [or for free!] so they can have a portfolio piece is often an excellent idea. You'll probably want to shoot closeups of the face reciting the Spoken Word. Wide shots. And everything in between [medium shots, perhaps even close ups of hands gesturing]. You even might want to shoot showing only half a face off to the side, and lots of blank space on the other side. In this way, when you get to the Third and Fourth things, editing and motion graphics, you'll have lots of space to have words appear on screen as they're spoken. You can have flat lighting with lights in front of the subject. Or dramatic lighting from the side. You can shoot in front of a brick wall, a white cyc [background] or any other color that reflects the words. Perhaps instead of [or in addition to] the Subject speaking - you'd rather film visual metaphors.

Which brings me to the First thing. Storyboarding. It really helps to figure out everything in advance. You don't need to be an artist. You can draw stick figures. A circle with 2 dots for a head. Handwritten words for where the text will fall. This will help you [and the other people on your team] think through the shoot and the edit. [Have alternative shots storyboarded so you're not completely locked in.] And will help you create a shot list.

This brings me back to the Fourth thing. Motion graphics. Which happens when the edit is complete. This means using After Effects. And having individual words [either key words - or all of the words] appearing in time to the sound of the spoken word. You can find lots of examples on the web. You can also look at my design reel to get ideas. [ www.designandfilm.com ] [And no, I'm not trying to sell myself.]

Which brings me back to the Second thing. When you're shooting, make sure you have an excellent microphone and the sound is recorded properly. After all, this is a Spoken Word piece!

This might sound daunting. [And some would say I left out 2 important steps - funding at the very beginning and film festivals at the very end.] But really - if you take one step at a time - you'll get your project finished and hopefully be amazed and delighted with the outcome.

Best of luck!

Craig

6 years, 7 months ago - John Lubran

There's a cyclical manifestation that I've observed over more than half a century where yongsters and new aspirants believe themselves to be doing something new, creative or iconoclastic.

The last cycle saw things like shooting an interview with two or more cameras with one camera on a tripod, well framed, lit and focused and the other cameras just being plain ridiculous. Cutting the interview between wobbly monochrome and absurd angles that contributed not only less than nothing to the narrative but so distracted the viewer that the narrative was impaired or even lost.

Since the beginning of moving images in the nineteenth century more than a million films have been made. Apart from the development of the technologies available to us every creative filmic device has been done many times, including wobbly cam and other naive constructs. The only originality left us is content and stories, whether they be factual or fiction.

If the only way for a production to hold the integrity of its proverbial water is to rely on naive camera work that was short lived for good reason during the last naive cycle. Then the narrative must be trite and banal.

There's an old truism about making films that can go against the grain of egotistical aspiration that asserts that the best productions are those where the viewer totally forgets that there's a camera and crew involved. Naive camerawork does the opposite.

6 years, 7 months ago - Adrianna Polcyn

Hi Rachael,

I am planning to work on a short film in a similar style as part of my MA degree project. I would be interested to see your ideas and maybe end up in a small collaboration? Let me know!

6 years, 7 months ago - Susie Guy

Hi,

Rachel have you thought about stop motion Animation to work alongside your piece?

It can add another level of interest and really strengthen what you are saying.

This is my industry so if you are keen, let me know!

Best

Susan

6 years, 7 months ago - Rachel August

Again thank you so much everyone for your advice thus far! So glad I joined the SP community.
For those of you who have made kind offers to get involved I'll message you separately.

All the best,
Rachel

6 years, 7 months ago - Mikel Iriarte

Hi Rachel,

I've always had a strong interest in spoken word and desire to work on a poetry film for some time. I've recently completed work on a monologue piece called Hail Maria! inspired by events I've witnessed on the road where I grew up. You can check it out on the link here but it has a very experimental quality. We shot it super cheap:

https://vimeo.com/305138816

I'd love to discuss the project with you. Drop me an email on mrmirate@gmail.com

All the best,

Mikel

6 years, 7 months ago - Yen Rickeard

The answers depend on what the spoken words are, and whether you want the person to speak them on camera. If it is descriptive, or philosophical emotional etc, you could create pictures in locations which provoke those thoughts/emotions, or underpin them.
If you want the 'speaker', actual or a representative of, you could place them in the location, not necessarily speaking the words. Then of course you can film someone speaking the words wherever you like, and superimpose them if you wish.
It all depends on what the words are, and how you want to create the images. Without the words, impossible to give much help. As Marlom says, expect this to be self funded, it needn't cost much. A single camera operator who you can work well with might do it, depending how complex your vision is.

6 years, 7 months ago - Stuart Wright

Check out my friend's short ... Clive Ashenden is a great director and I've worked with him on a short we premiered at Raindance ... https://vimeo.com/136934830