I recently got to participate in the Make Film History — Archives for Education project and wanted to share what I've been up to! At the time of writing this I've got a lot going on so apologies if it makes little sense.
Make Film History — Archives for Education opens Up the BBC Archives to Emerging Filmmakers To mark the BBC centenary, the Make Film History project is offering emerging filmmakers across the UK access to 150 films from BBC Archive for creative reuse in short film projects on themes including the environment, mental health, youth culture and cultural diversity. 50 filmmakers will create films in response to this BBC collection, uncovering the forgotten histories of underrepresented communities.
I applied with the idea for 'Youngsters' which stemmed from being a graduate in a rural area, from a low-income background during the pandemic. Whilst applying for jobs and getting rejected what felt like 24/7 from almost everything I applied for, I was listening to Rizzle Kicks' When I was a Youngster on repeat.
While trapped in the never-ending cycle of not being able to get experience because I had no experience (*the best times* - not really though) and being frustrated all the time because I couldn't just 'work for exposure', my mum would tell me that I sounded exactly the same as her and other young people in the late 1970s.
When I came across the Make Film History project and saw the interview with the Clash, I felt like I had to make something. That 'Revolution Rock' (1979) (though Revolution Rock's compositional base is from Get Up by Jackie Edwards and as such Edwards is listed as co-writer) connection to 'When I was a Youngster' (2011) made me feel connected to the material and inspired me to pitch a short experimental documentary, using archive film to enquire into the similarities of political disillusionment across both eras. I was selected ~ w o o o ~
Developed with mentoring from professional filmmakers who use archive film in their practice, these new films uncover the forgotten histories of underrepresented communities, on themes including the environment, mental health, youth culture and cultural diversity.
Below an artboard detailing Call for Proposals, to my Proposal to completed materials. With additional notes.
In total I used three archive films:
Political Disillusionment and Young People
The Country we are Making
Rubys Health Quest : Stress
I could only utilise max of 2 mins archive from each of the films I selected. I didn't use that much but to get around this I reused shots as demonstrated in the repeated use of the bus stop shot selected from Political Disillusionment and Young People. I also relied on self-shot interviews and B-roll.
B-roll was shot on a:
Nikon D5300 - Nearly all landscapes and most interviews
Samsung Galaxy A51 - Feather and car wash cutaways filmed in 2020 during lockdowns or depressions brought on by political ineptitude. Also, some of Alex's interview filmed on my phone due to camera issues.
As these aren't professional cameras and my little experience in camera dept as well as not having access to any kit that would allow for high quality cinematography, I decided to lean into the DIY feeling as I believe it speaks to the themes, and also represents where I am at as a creative which is largely what the film is about. Additionally, I like the DIY feel of Punk Zines and wanted to draw elements of that into the film. For this reason, I chose to make a font using Adobe Stock imagery that mimics the cut and paste look of Punk Zines from the 1970s.
Attending the two sessions in Leeds was so insightful and I'm so grateful to have been able to take part as it was really interesting project. I also found it super inspiring to meet other young filmmakers who are interested in archive film. It was a great learning experience and I hope to continue developing my practise and understanding.
Despite having a literal mountain of personal stuff going on I somehow managed to submit something and I'm pretty proud of the effort tbf.
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