Tonight’s event celebrates Chinese New Year and Fake Magazine inform us that highlights will include:
On the Way to the Sea, directed by Tao Gu which was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival and Rotterdam Film Festival in 2011. They’ll also be work by China’s most famous director, Wong Kar-Wai as well as animation by Royal College of Art alumni, Sharon Liu and Setaka Mizuno. They’ll also be plum wine and a live traditional Chinese musical performance in the interval.
Each 90 second film will provide top tips for budding filmmakers looking at areas such as film structure, storyboarding, direction, camera techniques, editing and sound and lighting.
I’d heard of The Last Projectionist before but somehow hadn’t twigged what it was about:
The story centres on The Electric in Birmingham, the oldest working cinema in Britian. From its silent beginnings in 1909; to a news and cartoon cinema during WWII; a porn cinema in the 70s & 80s; then saved from demolition and restored to its art deco glory in 2004.
I met Ben Lewis (who was also involved in The Last Projectionist) from Siwel Productions last week and he emailed me some more info about this one.
I’d wanted to make a documentary for a while and although my close friend was in the band I’d never really explored what that experience was like for him. We got talking and I’d decided that I’d like to produce a film about not only King Adora but what its like being in a band, any band, the music business at that time ( pre social media boom) , and nature of creativity etc
Self funded and calling in favours from friends in the industry the project grew and various characters that had featured in the bands timeline began to show interest. Steve Lamacq gave a great interview as did John Cornfield, the producer of their first album.
We managed to get into the jug of ale pub in Moseley ( now being converted ) as it very much was a part of the band and many other bands history.
The band reformed in 2010 for two shows at the Hare and Hounds and the Garage in Islington. It was great to interview the fans, some from way back and new fans that had found the band via you tube and facebook etc
I was always conscious that I didn’t want to adhere to a narrative in which band get signed, band break up, band reform etc
The film runs parallel narratives that explore the relationships witihin the band, what there up to now and how the “ride” effected them.
I thought I’d post my response to an email I received from someone the other day. The emailer said (and these are a couple of extracts):
I am currently looking for creative projects to get involved with in the Birmingham area, specifically film or media based projects. I have lots of transferable skills through studying film on my course and I am looking for possible work experience (unpaid) in TV, film or any kind of production, as a runner, film grip and/or any position where the skills I have may come in useful.
My biggest focus is finding opportunities, getting out there and getting involved in anything I can, from possible collaborations to arts events, workshops, anything to keep me busy and anything that allows me to be creative and continues the type of work I was doing on my course.
I couldn’t think of anything specific but gave a few starting places. I operate on the assumption that CiB readers know much more than I do, so if anyone can add anything then please do in the comments. My reply:
Hey
I can’t think of any specific opportunities at the moment. It’s a bit of a funny time for that kind of thing at the moment, what with Screen WM (who used to put on events and so on) closing down a few months back and Creative England (the body taking their place) only just getting up and running. In the meantime it might be worth looking at http://www.bsin.co.uk/ and seeing what they’re up to.
Also, have a look at these events, get yourself along and see who you meet:
The old IMAX Cinema at Millenium Point isn’t the IMAX any more, it’s gone independent and is now called The Giant Screen. I went along on Tuesday and can confirm they’re not kidding – it’s massive.
Here’s a fantastic picture of the screen itself (I’m available for photography commissions). It’s that big I couldn’t fit it all in. You can’t even see the sides.
FlixFixer launched at the Custard Factory last night. It’s been on my radar for a while but I’ve not had much chance to check it out. I’ve just had a look and I suspect it might be a genius idea.
You pick a cinema (just the Custard Factory for now)
You pick a date
You pick a film (you can show what you like if you own the rights or you can pick something from Park Circus‘s list)
You pay a minimum amount
Tickets for the screening then go on general sale, and if at least 20 random punters come along then you’ll break even. Any more and you could even earn a bit extra for some popcorn.
Most people would be surprised just how easy and affordable it is to hire a cinema. What FlixFixer does is simplify the whole process and, on top of that, it gives you a hand promoting the screening and helping you earn your money back.
It’ll be interesting to see if they can sign up some other venues, making it a kind of Newspaper Club for cinema.
Birmingham Screen Image Network (BSIN) is a new group aimed at uniting local people involved with film production. The first meeting is coming up on the 29th at Birmingham City University. BSIN describes itself as:
A network for practitioners of moving image production. It is aimed at those who produce video, film and other associated moving image media.
BSIN meets monthly and is intended as a free informal networking opportunity for people to pitch, promote, share ideas, ask questions and mutually benefit from those around the table.
Linked to the established Creative Networks events, this looks like a potentially great scheme to get people collaborating and throwing ideas around. Meetings will take place between 4pm – 6pm on the last Thursday of each month.
Incidentally, Chris Bates is doing a good job of raising money for My Side of School, a documentary about the division between young and old in the small town of Stolac in Bosnia & Herzegovina. There are just a few days left to contribute, so have a look.
Some good news relating to film funding, just for a change. The BFI have a Transition Fund for “projects facing budget cuts in funding as a result of the changes in the national and regional film funding landscape”. There were two successful local applicants:
Birmingham International Film Festival
Award: £4,950
The Birmingham Black Film Festival promotes the work of local black film makers and is the only event of its kind in the West Midlands.
Flatpack Festival
Award: £14,400
Flatpack Festival aims to make audience engagement with film a creative process by delivering unique social experiences through the use of innovative screening venues in and around Birmingham.
On the last Wednesday of each month, VIVID hosts The Neighbourhood Watch, an open submission film night devised and developed by The Neighbourhood
Which makes the next one Weds 29 June.
With thanks to the 7 Inch Cinema mailing list (which you should definitely sign up to – in the sidebar on the left-hand side of their site) for flagging this up.
2Weeks 2Make It is a music video competition pairing randomly drawn teams of filmmakers and musical artists who then have exactly 2 weeks to shoot and edit a music video from scratch!
The competition is open to all, irrespective of sexual orientation, should be no longer than 20 mins, and completed in 2009 or later.
While any theme or topic can be chosen, the resulting film must reflect the SHOUT ethos of celebrating and/or exploring Queer culture in all its forms.
All shortlisted films will be screened during the festival, with a winner to be announced during the festival.
SHOUT doesn’t take place until November, and the deadline for this competition 15 July, so you’ve got plenty of time to put something together.
The festival examines fulldome as an artistic media, and highlights ‘the creative and experimental applications of immersive environments, beyond the realm of astronomy education most commonly associated with digital planetariums today’.
They’ve got a pretty full programme, with shorts and feature screenings and sessions running from 9am – 9pm on the Sat and 9am – 7pm on Sun.
Sessions will provide discussion, presentations and workshops based around providing an insight into the processes and challenges of Fulldome content production, from both a conceptual and technical view.
There’s also a special schedule of screenings which will be free to Thinktank ticket holders over the weekend.
Tickets are £40 per day / £20 concessions, and can be bought online.
On 3 March, two films by Creative Leap artists will be screened from 5.30pm – 7pm at Ward End Library.
The Doorby Benjamin Pinnock – a live action and animation drama short set in Erdington and Aston shown through the eyes of a lead character who discovers he has the ability to alter time.
Experimental Urban Morris Dance by Mark Essen explores the similarities and connections between urban street dance and British folk dance.
There will also be a Q & A session with film-makers Benjamin Pinnock and Mark Essen, along with advice from industry practitioners Katy Woods and Tas Bashir.
