oooweblog

"Local Films For Local People"

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 21:47:00 +0100

Producing digital media for LET and videoing the creative activities taking place has given me the chance to explore some of the towns and villages around Pennine Lancashire.

I was excited to discover that the Edwardian filmmaking duo Mitchell and Kenyon were from the region, in particular, operating from their base in Blackburn. This is from their entry on Wikipedia:

The showmen became self-publicising travelling cinematograph operators. Films taken during the day were shown on the same evening in fairground tents or local meeting halls and music halls with slogans like ”see yourselves as others see you”. Dramas took a while to catch on and the non-fiction actuality films were more popular.

It is interesting to compare their approach over a century ago with what is going on now in the digital realm. We may have lost our curiosity in front of the camera and aren’t quite so spellbound when watching moving pictures today, yet what lives on, assisted by the proliferation of digital technology, is a common desire to record and show what’s going on around us (our localities). The fascination of the present is now played out worldwide on Youtube, Ustream and on mobile phones.

I had in mind this early spirit of filmmaking when putting together a short video of John Flanagan and his team ‘mapping Accy’.

Using multiple cameras to capture ‘time lapse’ on a busy Saturday in Accrington town centre proved a fun and interesting way of documenting street scenes and the movement of people en masse. Time lapse canreveal interesting patterns of human behaviour, outside of our normal perception, and therefore has the potential to tell a story in a different way.

Making digital media for LET

Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:16:00 +0100

We’ve been out and about around Pennine Lancashire gathering digital material for a series of ‘viral’ videos we’re making over the coming weeks to promote LET (Liberating Empty Terrain).

The image above was snapped whilst in Accrington town centre last Saturday, where we met with designer John Flanagan and his team, as well as Huckleberry Films, as they handed out balloons and badges in exchange for ‘local information’. John has set up a blog and a website to spread the word about ‘Mapping Accy’ – he eventually wants to create a new kind of map incorporating people’s thoughts, ideas, images, memories and stories to help other people appreciate the benefits of Accrington.

Now, back to the editing…

One of six vodcasts we produced for Sheffield Contemporary Art...

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:32:10 +0000

One of six vodcasts we produced for Sheffield Contemporary Art Forum. You can see the rest, documenting the venues in Art Sheffield 2010: Life A User’s Manual, here:

http://artsheffield.org/artsheffield2010/find-out-more

There’s also an audio tour to guide you round the city-wide exhibition. Fancy a cultural trip to Sheffield…?