Some Riot

Back in the dim and distant past I had the opportunity to do a little bit of mentoring with an A-level student from Wickersley Sixth Form called Joshua Glenn. He stood out as a really capable and talented student, moreso in film about which he was incredibly passionate. He’d already taken to making mini-trailers and movies for his school and in 2010 he created short film called “Some Riot” about a man trapped in limbo between life and death who had to accept his fate and go with Death into the underworld.

Not a cheery topic to be sure, but his initial film showed a good degree of talent. It had Bergman-esque themes and style and although it was technically lacking it had a vast amount of potential. I suggested at the time that he remake the film for Eye Films but it wasn’t until the late Spring of this year that we actually set the wheels in motion.

We both spent a lot of time thinking about the subtler meanings, sign and symbols in the film – the representation of the Underworld as a lake of water for example, or a butterfly as the spirit and soul of the dying man. Joshua did quite a bit of reading and research into ancient myths to help him refine and develop his ideas further, add a bit of polish to them as it were. I suggested various things that lended themselves to strong visuals- Death standing on the water, for example – and he took these ideas with aplomb.

The resulting film is visually gorgeous. Stunning cinematography by Vish Vishvanath and fabulous sound design and score by Dave Walker (yet again he pulls out all the stops and delivers 100%+) along with a perfect performance by Liam Rooke has created a film that I’m proud to be associated with.

“Some Riot” is a somewhat arty and experimental film. It’s what I’d regard as “pure film” – communicating meaning and ideas in purely visual terms – and on that level, as on many, I think it is spot on. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea because it’s not a linear storytelling narrative as most people are used to, but I feel really passionately that there is a place for it and I’m in really pleased with the end result. Hope you like it too.

Ted Thompson

Back in 2010, and as part of the Steelos Songs of Steel project I had the great pleasure of working camera on an interview with Ted Thompson, a former Rotherham steelworker, who was then in his 1990s and living alone in Rotherham. It was one of the most fascinating interviews I’ve ever watched and I could’ve sat and listened to Ted recall his childhood and working life long into the night. He recalled his school days with such incredible clarity, describing places in Rotherham that I could recognise (though only just recognise for the town – and the world – has moved on) and remember even his first day at work in the early 1930s, still a boy and barely out of short trousers.

I found out last week that Ted passed away recently and I was touched by a genuine sadness, both at this eldely gentleman’s end and at the loss of memory and history that he takes with him. The town where I live, that has such a rich, varied and interesting past, and how that place used to be dies a little more as the generations blink out and fade into memory themselves.

RIP Mr Thompson. It was a pleasure to have met and talked with you.

Out of the comfort zone

Every year or so my good friends at the South Yorkshire Filmmaker’s Network run a competition called 2 Weeks 2 Make It in which various film-makers compete to create a winning music video for a local band or artist. Rob Speranza, from the SYFN, called me up this year and urged me to give it a go but in all honesty music videos just aren’t my bag (with the singular exception of the very simple music vid I did for Chris Baum way back in 2006).

I’ve never really thought what it is that’s turned me off from creating them to be honest. They offer an opportunity to be ultra-creative and inventive with both content and style; and they can inversely (if you wish) follow a pretty formulaeic style. They are something you can be pretty free with. When I think about it, it’s unusual that I’ve not ventured down this road previously, especially given the importance I place to the soundtrack in my short films and documentaries. You only have to watch the beginning to Waterfall or the A Shot In Time documentary to see how I feel about a particular track fitting visuals to help tell a story.

So this week I’m taking myself out of my comfort zone and shooting a music video for singer-song-writer, Phil Sinclair. I’ve known Phil for years – too many years he would say – and his style of melancholic folk music I do quite like. He’s a very talented musician and needs the support a video can give to get himself to that next level of achievement. I’m quite looking forwards to it. We have a