Tag: film

everybody

There’s so much to be said about the wonderful Radiate training scheme that I (shockingly) last mentioned on here last November.  I’ve just come back from the final exhibition and evaluation session and my head is buzzing with ideas! I’ve met so many inspiring creative minds and I really hope that this scheme will form the basis of some great collaborative educational projects.

Anyhow, in place of a proper update I wanted to share the final film that I created with pupils at Frankley Community High School.  Let me know your thoughts!

everybody from Rachel Gillies on Vimeo.

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Birmingham’s Culture blogged

As I type the seconds are ticking down until midday on Saturday 24th April, the deadline for submitting your cultural shenanigans in Brum onto the Birmingham Big City Culture Blog.

The blog is part of Birmingham’s bid to become the ‘City of Culture’ in 2013. It’s hoped that through allowing people to add their ‘cultural activities’ over a 24 hour period that the website can get a snapshot of the broad range of exciting activities taking place across the city. Reading through the blog so far I’m really enthused by the variety of events, both in the city centre and in local neighbourhoods. It’s really lovely to see children’s events in community libraries next to contemporary art exhibitions at the IKON, next to research projects by students, next to lunchtime chamber music at the CBSO centre.

What really strikes me is that we seem to see culture as encompassing all kinds of different activities, many of which would never normally register on the radar of those who spend time hand-wringing over Birmingham’s lack of culture. The blog is incredibly refreshing, and really highlights the passion and pride we have about what happens in our city.

So, in the spirit of the blog, and not wanting to fall into the stereotype of the unassuming Brummie, here’s my contribution on what I got up to yesterday!

For more information on the bid you can go to the bid’s website or follow them on Twitter.

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Reel Health Stories

I’ve recently found out about a film competition taking place over the next couple of months which I have been asked to promote.  There are now huge amounts of festivals and competitions, locally, nationally, internationally, and often online.  What I think it particularly nice about this one is its focus on health from a slightly different perspective.  I’ve made a number of films that have focused on patients’ experiences and I find it fascinating – it’s so personal, fundamental and touches us all in some way.  The fact that this is being judged by a bit of a hero of mine, the Director Ken Loach, is even more fantastic!  So, onto the details!  Let me know if you apply!

Want to make films? Industry professionals to judge YOUR short film on illness, wellness, madness, or anything else about bodies and minds

*Now open for submissions*

Judges include Ken Loach and David Morrissey.  Deadline 28 May 2010.

Who can enter?
Open to all.  £100 first prizes in the under-18 and the over-18 categories + 2 x £50 runner up prizes + £100 special educational prize.

What kinds of films?
We want films that show just what sickness, healthiness, madness and addiction mean to you and the people you love. Show us what you feel strongly about. Eating disorders, chronic pain, embarrassing illnesses, scary diagnoses, staying fit, caring for others – all of these, and more, are possible subjects.  We definitely don’t need films on policy-related health issues, e.g. the NHS.

Submissions will be used to help student doctors understand how their patients really feel about health, sickness and treatment – the film that does this best wins the £100 special educational prize.

Films should be between 20 seconds and 5 minutes long.

All genres accepted: fiction, documentary, experimental, animated, musical… Films do not have to be documentaries about real individuals, doctors, nurses, hospitals, GP surgeries etc (although they can be if people get permission).

All mediums accepted e.g. mobile phone, super-8, iFlip, digital camera, 35mm, 70mm(!). But entries need to be on DVD or submitted digitally via our website (see http://www.reelhealthstories.com/How_to.html).

See http://www.reelhealthstories.com/advice3.html for example films, but we bet you can do better!

Who are the judges?
Director Ken Loach, actor/director David Morrissey, movie producer Camille Gatin, and UCL Director of Medical Education Professor Jane Dacre.

When will the films be screened?
Screening is at the Rowan Arts Project’s ‘The Big Day Out’ in Whittington Park on Sunday 4th July 2010, and at UCL’s Bloomsbury Campus in October 2010.

How can I find out more?
Visit the Reel Health Stories website; Facebook: Facebook; twitter: @reelhealthstory.
Project lead Dr Katherine Woolf 020 7288 3546 or filmfestival@ucl.ac.uk.

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Playing with a Flip

Now, I’ve never claimed to be at the cutting edge of technology, and in fact it was quite a relief when recently chatting with local photographer and all round lovely lass Jane Baker (you may know her as Greensnapper, purveyor of fine photography for the Jubilee Debt Campaign, Friends of the Earth, The Terrence Higgins Trust and other great pics coming soon to a good cause near you), to learn that I’m not the only local media maker who shies away from talking techie and comparing the size of our lenses with anyone who’ll get theirs out.

Fortunately, I have a husband who can happily while away the hours looking at the finer details of any given gadget, reading reviews, posting on forums and generally boring me rigid. Happily his nerdishness and my impatience to just DO go together quite nicely!

So, with that in mind, we’ve got our hands on a Flip Ultra HD. James did the reading around, I pointed a camera in his face. The result: just some initial thoughts on Flips, their compatibility with various computers and their use when traveling. It’s not a definitive guide, it’s not meant to be. But it does give you an idea of what’s out there and how it can be used… enjoy.

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Recording local histories

One of the reasons I decided to make films within the community was a strong belief that we need to be proactive in recording stories that are important to us.  You know, the things that don’t make the history books.  Or the source material in history text books which provides a footnote to ‘the bigger picture’.  The fact is, that our common history and heritage is a sum of all of our personal histories – within our families, our community and our locality.

So it’s with a huge amount of excitement that I’ve entered 2010 with some fantastic oral history projects on the boil.

Back in December I spent the day with people who live in and around Kingshurst.  Part of the morning was spent interviewing pupils from Kingshurst School.  The rest of the day I had the privilege to run a workshop with some of Kingshurst’s older residents.  I call it a privilege as it really felt special to indulge in chatting with them about their memories of the area and its development over the past six decades.  We were lucky enough to be able to use a selection of photos collated by local resident Stan Tarrant to provoke some really interesting discussion.  The result of the workshop is a lovely selection of interviews, illustrated by Stan’s photos of the area over the years.  We’ll be launching the film sometime in March, so watch this space for an update on that.

Also in December, the Friends of Moseley Road Baths discovered that our bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund has been successful.  This will entail, amongst other things, a series of workshops in schools over the course of the next three years, where pupils will have the opportunity to plan, film and edit oral history interviews with people who have memories of swimming, working, socialising or bathing at Moseley Road Baths.  For more details on the project take a look at our blog – we’ll be announcing details of next week’s launch event soon.

As if that’s not enough to keep me on my toes, I’m going to be working with pupils from two schools to produce a series of films for this year’s Lichfield Festival.  The pupils will have opportunity to interview veterans of the Second World War and to visit the National Memorial Arboretum at Alrewas.  They will also be actively encouraged to explore their own family’s histories.  I’ll be keeping you updated on our progress and letting you know where you can see our finished films!

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Wonderful people

I’m working on a couple of projects at the moment that have got me quite excited. The kind of projects that make you want to shout from the rooftops about good people doing great things!

I’m currently completing an edit for Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust. I’ve been privileged to interview some great people who have spoken openly and frankly about the warmth, kindness, care and attention they have been given throughout their treatment. Whilst the media often portrays the NHS as a huge, unwieldy, impersonal organisation, it’s heartening, and absolutely vital, that these human stories illustrate just what a great service the NHS can provide. If you were one of the patients interviewed, thank you so much for sharing your story!

Another group of amazing, caring people are working away tirelessly at CATS, an organisation based in Balsall Heath which provides respite care for families of children with disabilities. It’s an absolutely vital service which the parents I met so eloquently described as making a world of difference, yet it currently operates on a shoestring, short-term budget. They provide a unique service, through one-to-one care, playscheme places for siblings and plenty of varied and exciting trips and activities!  I had a great time meeting parents and exploring the ThinkTank with the group!  The website, produced by the lovely people at Matrix Graphics is due to launch soon and the film will be added to the website soon after that – links to follow soon!

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Them and Their Movie

The BBC ‘Me and My Movie’ workshop which I worked on last week turned out to be a really action packed day with lots of great ideas and enthusiasm from all of the young people who took part.  The finished two minute film will be put forward for a CBBC ‘Me and My Movie Award’ in association with BAFTA.

This article on the BBC Birmingham website gives  a flavour of some of the activities we got up to.  Huge thanks are due to Jenni, Tessa and Andrea at the BBC for all their hard work.  Well done to all the young people, keep on making movies!

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Yards Ahead 07/08

The past five months have been incredibly busy, mainly editing, so my plans to Blog regularly have fallen by-the-by somewhat! I’m taking the foot off the pedal a little bit after too many weekends and late nights at the computer, so I think that this is probably quite an apt point to report back on some of the projects that are now in the can or are near completion.

Posts on some of my recent projects should follow shortly, but in the meantime here is the lowdown on a recently completed project, ‘Yards Ahead 07/08’ for Yardley Constituency Libraries.

I’ve now updated the site and created a separate Libraries page to include information on all of the work I’ve completed for the rather lovely librarians, so you can find out a bit more about the project there. As always, it’s been a real joy to work alongside such dedicated and enthusiastic library staff, whose commitment has meant that thousands of children and their families have had really exciting library experiences. I’ve received a lovely e-mail from Jo Avery at Glebe Farm Library commenting on how well the film captures the enthusiasm of the children. However, as with all of the work I’ve done with them, walk into a Yardley Library and it’s pretty inescapable!

The film was premiered at a Chief Librarians’ conference in Solihull and was well received. Librarians will now be distributing the 200 DVDs I’ve produced to a wide range of people to try and convince others that this way of working can play a crucial role in ensuring libraries meet the needs of local communities now and in the future.

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