Mike Leigh Masterclass

Cineformation’s Mike Leigh Masterclass on Wednesday 9 April 2008.

This fascinating evening with Mike Leigh, organised by Cineformation, started with a masterclass (aimed at local filmmakers) and went on with a preview of his marvellous last film Happy-Go-Lucky at Bristol’s Watershed Media Centre.

The film critic Nigel Floyd introduced Mike Leigh. The masterclass, in true Mike Leigh improvisational fashion, was given in the shape of a Q&A where the audience was the interviewer.

The questions were varied and interesting, but, since his seamless productions are notoriously script-less, a fair amount of questions related (in some way or another) to improvisation. As a result, perhaps what transpired most from the evening is that our perception of Mike Leigh’s improvisational style was somewhat flawed.

Indeed what we learnt is that, despite being very fluid, his method is anything but random. He told us that, to him, “all art is a synthesis of improvisation and order” (inspiration and structure).

He starts with an idea, a feeling, “a sense of possibilities”, and a wish to work with a certain actor or group of actors. For instance, he knew he wanted to make a film about an abortionist before the 1967 abortion act (Vera Drake). He also knew he wanted to make a film about Gilbert and Sullivan (Topsy-Turvy), etc.

When he has cast his actors, the creative journey of improvisation can begin. Despite giving a lot of freedom to his cast, he still plays god, in that they are told only what their character would know and nothing else. This long stage of improvisation (generally six months) and this information deprivation (which let them not be overloaded by information that could warp their characters’ truth) allow the actors to become deeply their characters and to react to whatever is thrown at them in a true and organic psychological manner. This sense of truth is very important to Mike Leigh. And thus, gradually, the story around the characters takes shape more and more (he said that he makes the film up as he goes along).

Scenes such as Vera Drake’s arrest were worked on during this improvisation period. After the actors had reached a stage where they knew in depth who their characters were, Mike Leigh subjected them to the shock of Vera’s arrest and the discovery (by her family) of her abortionist activities. The result of this improvisational work was explored and the best material was kept for the final “script”.

After months of work, he then writes what he called a “sort of shooting script” with no dialogue, just for him to fix on paper his vision of the film’s unfolding. The structure of all his films is very carefully considered. He added that to him a film was made in the cutting room and that shooting was only raw material.

The rehearsals with his actors make sure the final dialogues are finely tuned. He explained that he is not at all interested in actors’ improvising on camera (although he may very occasionally allow for it to happen). He insisted that the result of all these months of intense improvisation lead to a very scripted, rehearsed and classically shot film (at least it is the case for the great majority of his films).

He does not storyboard. Before shooting, he rehearses on the set with no one else but his actors. He runs all the scenes from top to bottom on location and there he can see all the narrative and filmic possibilities to be explored while filming. He makes decisions on most scenes’ structure, except in the case of longer, more complex ones. For these, on the day of shooting, he runs the scene with his cinematographer (for whom, as there is no script, it is the first time he knows anything about it), and they both make decisions about how to shoot it.

Despite Mike Leigh’s intense need for privacy to nurture and explore his ideas (no script, etc.), it can be said that, from beginning to end, his work method is highly collaborative.

Asked on the importance of sound in his films, he said that it was paramount for him and that he was very concerned with sound during shooting. As to him everything matters on set, he always wants to stay very aware of the sound recording.

Asked on financing his films, he acknowledged that it added to the difficulty of finding investors not to have any script and to refuse to discuss casting (for instance, to refuse to cast a Hollywood star in order to boost viewing figures). He said that a director should not compromise on what they want to do, but that on the other hand they should be very clear about their vision and motivations. He advised young directors not to do a film they do not believe in for financial reasons but instead to stick out for what they believe in.

Asked on actors’ egos, he explained that he only casts people that he likes working with and who have no inflated egos. He does not cast characters but actors. He always chooses “character actors”, people who display intelligence, creativity and kindness. As he relies very much on co-operation, egotistical actors are out of the question. It is actually quite apparent that he would not suffer fools or pretentious people gladly.

Since actors he approaches know nothing about the script or the character they will play, they need to trust him and also to be brave and totally open. He finds actors he wants to work with through “the usual ways”: plays, films, TV and tapes. He first meets them for a chat and then auditions them in relation to what he is doing.

Asked on his realistic technique, he objected to the term “technique” (saying that it means “to drill a hole in a wall”). On realism and naturalism, he said that his realism is not in his technique (nuts and bolts) but in his motivations. He wants to get to the essence of things. He added that his realism is a heightened and distilled one (as he deals with film and fiction). He does not see what he does as naturalism and described himself as a “tragicomic storyteller”.

On the digital revolution, Mike Leigh said that he still shoots on celluloid but also uses digital cameras for more flexibility (such as in the driving lessons scenes in Happy-Go-Lucky). The advent of digital grading makes the transition between celluloid and digital scenes look seamless.

Digital technology has also made it much easier to deal with potential sound problems at the post-production stage (he mentioned, for instance, how the scene of Vera Drake’s interrogation at the police station was spoilt by the noise of rain but was digitally rescued by his sound designer in post-production).

Asked on the similarities between Ken Loach and himself, he laughed and said that despite mutual esteem they were very different in their methods and themes. What they have in common is that they are British, that they both worked for the BBC in its heyday and that they deal with reality in their films.

He finished the session by talking about his youth, as the child of a dedicated NHS doctor, growing up in a working class area of Salford. He described how his love for films (any films of any genres) led him to study at RADA, work in the theatre and then for the BBC (which he described as very enlightened and liberal at the time). He worked there freelance, making eight or nine projects (Play for today), which helped to launch his career and his reputation as an important and deeply individual theatre and film director.

V. MARTIN veronique.martin@gmail.com www.myspace.com/cubicstone

Film & New Media

Another interesting Cineformation meeting hosted this time by Dr Vicky Brophy, founding partner and head of Digital at Wönky (www.wonkyfilms.com).

The guests in the first part of the evening were Dr Tom Abba (a specialist in narrative theory and practice from the UWE) and director / producer Rik Lander (one half of the 80s video art pioneers “The Duvet Brothers”).

Dr Tom Abba brought an academic perspective to the evening. He talked about interactive narrative and the influence of new media (new technologies such as the internet and the mobile phone) on the form and content of fiction and story telling. He explained how the slightest change made to the general media landscape can have a major ripple effect and called this phenomenon media ecology. He stressed how the form of a book (with its pages and chapters, etc.) dictates our reading experience and how all this could be changed by new technology – the classical book structure being broken. For instance, a story on the net has no page numbers and no real need for chapters. He concluded by saying that new media is about play, about our ability to enter a game, suspend our disbelief and change our regular expectations about story reading.

(Check the interactive stories released online by Penguin at www.wetellstories.co.uk)

Rik Lander moved on to talk about interactive storytelling in video form. He made a difference between traditional TV that you can watch on your iPlayer or online (like 4oD) and videos made for the net – between the products that established media try to force onto the net and what he called “webby content”.

He illustrated his point by showing several examples of webby content:

First, an episode of the web comedy, “Chad Vader – dayshift manager”, the adventures of a supermarket supervisor who is a Darth Vader look and sound-alike.

This comedy is the work of two young men who created it for Channel 101 (a Channel regulated by viewers’ voting that gives a voice to non-mainstream creative people). It is a DIY production made at a low cost.

In that vein R. L. also mentioned “Church of Blow” (www.youtube.com/user/ChurchOfBlow) and “Happy Slip” (http://happyslip.com).

Secondly, he showcased “Human Pet”, an interactive “horror” story (http://thehumanpet.blogspot.com) involving fake kidnapping and torture (regulated again by viewers’ voting) – a low cost, “out there”, underground venture.

Thirdly, he mentioned “Quarterlife” a web-only conventional drama devised by the production company that created the successful late 80s TV drama “Thirtysomething” (http://quarterlife.com).

He then proceeded to show us a few projects he has been involved in:

First, the BBC financed teenage drama “Wannabes”, an online interactive series in which the viewer is treated as a friend by the protagonists and is asked for advice. The given advice does not change the overall outcome of the plot but it gives each viewer/player a different experience and a personalised game card.

He also described a course he ran in November 2007 at Bristol University, entitled “Make a web drama in twelve weeks”. It involved eighteen students making an interactive web drama called “Bells Angels” (www.savetheworkers.co.uk), which mixed pre-written and filmed scenes with last minute ones reflecting the results of public voting.

Finally he talked about an exciting new project his company is going to launch, a global web soap entitled “Together Alone”, where the control of the writing and directing is left to professionals, but where internet users are the actors (they send audition videos to be cast). The result is entertaining, intriguing and surprisingly seamless.

He concluded his talk by saying that while web dramas are rife in America, they have not taken off so much here yet.

The second part of the evening was conducted by Ben Templeton and Dan Course of Thought Den (a creative digital agency), two very enthusiastic new media freelancers.

They first introduced a “pervasive media” product they are working on called "Happy Packages” (produced by “Thought Den” and mobile specialists “Mobile Pie”), which is directed to mobile phones and mixes in various imaginative ways real and virtual worlds (allowing you to download / send short films, personalised messages and even free vouchers to your friends), all centred on what makes you and others happy in Bristol (http://happypackages.com).

They looked into the pros and cons of video over mobile devices (size of screen, sound quality, convenience…). Showed us various examples of viral diffusion (such as the very successful Sony adverts that wowed viewers both on TV and online). They talked about revenue models and also addressed potential issues (such as pervasive fatigue, i.e. fatigue at being constantly bombarded with content).

They finished their lively and interactive session by showing us “Happy Packages” in practice (sending to the audience’s mobile devices via bluetooth three short comedy videos part of a series entitled “"Dude Corp”: www.dudecorp.com).

Check out Though Den’s blog – with graphs & everything!

V. Martin
veronique.martin@gmail.com
www.myspace.com/cubicstone

Student Filmmaking

Cineformation: Student Filmmaking

7pm Thurs 28 February 2008, Watershed Media Centre, Bristol BS1 5TX

Teaming up with Screentest, The National Student Film Festival at the University of Bristol, February’s Cineformation event brought new filmmaking talent to Bristol’s Watershed Media Centre. As well as getting to see highlights from last year’s festival in anticipation of the screenings and events of the festival that weekend, those who attended got to meet some of the filmmakers involved & pick up top tips.

In conversation with Lizz Hoskins & Izzy Kongsgaard, guest filmmakers included: Jill Rainstrick, local script editor, consultant & lecturer; Dave Brookfield, sound designer & recordist whose work includes MTV and Skins; and local filmmaker Alex Kirkland, part of the Rong Collective, whose portfolio includes the DepicT! winning short, Le Cheval & the acclaimed Oedipus. As well as quizzing the local filmmaking experts, the audience will be picked the brains of Paul Green, Talent Scout for Skillset’s Screen Academy Network.

Screentest takes place at the University of Bristol from Fri 29 Feb to Sun 2 March 2008. For more info visit the festival website

Documentary Filmmaking with Anthony Wonke

Q&A with Documentary Filmmaker Anthony Wonke

31 January 2008, Watershed Media Centre, Bristol

Anthony Wonke is a documentary film maker who started his career in the mid-nineties in such programs as “Cutting Edge” on Channel 4 (the award winning series “Staying Lost”). His most recent films are “The Tower” (8×50 minutes on BBC1) and “The £ 800 million Railway Station” on the building of the new Saint-Pancras Eurostar terminal. His style is humanistic and observational.

The interview was led by Menekse Meech and the film chosen to illustrate his approach to documentary making was “The Tower”.

Asked about his background, A. W. explained he had not taken a direct route (i.e. college). Instead he worked as assistant director in dramas. Although he enjoyed the camaraderie, he felt frustrated by the lack of opportunities for creative input (except for the writer or the director). He then worked as a researcher, which he found more empowering and rewarding. He soon realised that the sort of documentaries he was most interested in were observational.

Asked about how he manages to get people to open up so much on camera, he explained that choosing his subjects very carefully is paramount. In his quest for good subjects, among the vast amount of people he meets who are desperate to be on TV, he has to make sure the people he chooses are either interesting characters or have a story that fits in and illustrates well his “big story”. He relies on good communication, honesty and trust.

He always wants his subjects to be aware of the reason why he is doing the film and also of the importance of what he wants to explore. He is also very clear with them about what the process of being filmed over many months / years will entail (they are warned that they may not always find it fun).

He explained that he may edit some scenes for ethical reasons — if they are too personal and not vital to the general working of the film. Within reason, he takes into account his subjects’ objections and said that he had experienced very few problems with people throughout his film making years.

He works on a local level, contacting people on the ground, in his search for interesting subjects, whose individual stories will also give illuminating insights into the “big story” (in the case of “The Tower”, the big story was the regeneration of an area of London from council flats to luxury apartments).

He acknowledged having been lucky to be given lots of time for his research and filming – this came from the fact that he has been working on long form films (for “The Tower” the filming lasted for three years).

Asked about how he starts his ground research, he explained that he relies on good human contacts (he tries to choose people he can relate to and keeps in touch with many after filming has finished). He does not use a camera at first because it would risk ruining the relationships he is keen to build. He insisted on the importance of being clear about what you want to do / highlight in your film right from the pre-production stage. He has no problem with consent forms as people he chooses are motivated to be in his films.

What matters most to him is his relationship with his subjects. He therefore works in an intimate way, with a crew reduced to the very minimum (sound, camera, director). He shares the actual filming with his cameraman (roughly on a 40% to 60% ratio). He also said he trusts his crew totally and loves working with the same people all the time. He loves collaborating with his cameraman – he makes sure to let him know what he wants before filming and then enjoys the surprises he gets when he sees the rushes.

Anthony Wonke is above all what the French would call “un homme de terrain” — a man of the field / a man of action. He works with his editor to make sure the structure of the film reflects his original vision, but he much prefers “field work” to cutting room work, and trusts his editor’s flair and skill. As a director he creates the original theme and overall vision but he is flexible and welcomes relevant additions whether they come from his subjects, circumstances or his co-workers.

Both he and his editor work out the voice-over exposition, but to him it is the images that speak about the emotions not the words. To him music is also really important as a means to foster the mood he wants to project.

His reasons for making documentaries are not overly political. He likes to tell a story (a real, unscripted, emotional story). Moreover he does not want to tell just literal stories but complex ones with interesting subtext. He feels it is a real privilege for him to be able to do his job, to add his take on the world through his subjects. He wants to surprise viewers and make them think by shining a different light on a topic. He wishes to buck stereotypes and open people’s minds.

In conclusion, Anthony Wonke’s films are people-centred and picture-led.

V. Martin

www.myspace.com/cubicstone

The 50th Encounter

The 50th Encounter

Tuesday 20th November, The Red Room, Bristol

Thanks so much to everyone who braved the torrential rain & gridlocked traffic to be with us last week to celebrate our 50th event. The party was a great success & it was great to see such a mix of the South West’s film & media talent all under one roof! With generous support from Panalux, BAFTA & South West Screen & Bristol Media, the bubbly was flowing, the music pumping and creative ideas oozing.

We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. Please contact us with any feedback, it’s always appreciated.

Here’s to the next 50 events!

Cornwall Film Festival: Animation Workshop

Animation Workshop: Cornwall Film Festival

Saturday 10 November 2007, National Maritime Museum, Falmouth

Thanks to everyone who came down to Cineformation’s first outreach event in Falmouth last week. The Creature Comforts workshop saw Wonky’s Miki Cash breathe life into ‘Well-ard’the dog, producing an amazing 4 seconds of stop-motion animation in just 90 minutes.

All those who attended got a real insight into the world of animation thanks to the support of South West Screen, Aardman Animations, WONKY, BAFTA, Cornwall Media Focus and University College Falmouth. The workshop was followed by drinks & nibbles which provided the opportunity to share news and views and forge new connections within the wonderful world of media.

It was great to host such an exciting event as part of the Cornwall Film Festival & we hope it will be the first of many similar Cineformation sessions throughout the South West.