Lights, camera, action! (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Lights, camera, action!

8:24am Tuesday 15th March 2011 in News By Lucy Ray

Like many people, I have always wanted to make a movie.

When Bradford became the world’s first UNESCO City of Film, a number of opportunities arose to make my dream a reality. Last year I took part in a 48-hour film challenge, in which small groups produced a film in just two days, and the experience made me realise that anyone can make a film – not necessarily a good film, but a film.

With this new-found confidence, I applied to the Made in Bradford film competition, awarding six winners £1,000 each to help fund their film projects.

After the proposals were submitted, applicants had to pitch their ideas to a panel of industry experts. It was a daunting prospect. I arrived at the pitching clutching my storyboard, and several other people were nervously waiting.

My competition included a previous winner and a woman who had prepared an extensive PowerPoint presentation. I looked down at my stickmen drawings and felt rather ill. Just I was about to leave and save myself the humiliation of showing my terrible scribbles, I was called in.

The experts were very friendly but they were concerned about my lack of experience. Although I explained that I’d been making videos for the Telegraph & Argus website for several years and had been a photographer for almost a decade, they pointed out that internet videos are very different to cinema.

I left the pitch feeling happy I’d gone through with it, but sure I wouldn’t be getting the funding.

So I was delighted when Alissa Juvan at Bradford arts development organisation Fabric rang the next day, informing me that my script was one of the six to receive a grant!

Having the support of City of Film would make my film more credible, and the fact that it would be screened during Bradford International Film Festival was a real selling point to potential cast and crew.

I went straight out and bought a new camera. This is an SLR camera with high definition video capabilities. It was perfect for a photographer and film-maker, but it meant I had blown the budget – and a bit more – before filming had even started!

I’d written a script and spent several weeks refining it, and getting crew onboard. I recruited two of my 48-hour Film Challenge crew, Tom Lever to produce and Jonathan Grice to record sound. Then I needed to secure locations and actors.

My job as a T&A photographer helped with this, as I get to meet all sorts of people through my work. In fact, nearly everyone I needed to make my film was a contact from the newspaper.

Taking pictures at theatre school Stage 84 in Idle, I met Jodie McEnery, who became my lead actress. A contact from Bradford Council, David Wilson, wrote the music; David McIlroy, from Bolling Hall museum – who I met when taking photos of a Halloween event there – became the film’s villain.

The T&A offices were used to film two of the scenes, and some of the actors were colleagues from the T&A. Everyone I spoke to about the film was keen to be involved, and cast and crew all did it for free.

There is something magical about film, people perceive it to be special. With film, you create a fictional world, with make-believe characters living in it. You can do what you like with them – they speak the words you write, move where and how you tell them to.

In your film world, anything you choose can happen. That’s an exciting world to be in.

My movie is about a Bradford newspaper reporter who is investigating the case of a missing girl. There are 12 scenes, mostly in different locations, so I really didn’t make things easy for myself. We managed to film all the scenes over five shoots, slotted in around everyone’s full-time jobs. The hours of planning paid off and the filming went like clockwork.

I never imagined when I was writing the script that a ten-minute film would require 25 hours of shooting and 50 hours of editing. It was a huge undertaking.

I really understand now why directors have so many people to thank when they collect their Oscars! More than 30 people had some involvement in the creation of my movie.

Seeing the whole process, from the initial idea to script, casting, location-hunting, filming and editing, has been a fantastic experience. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to make a film, and I hope it won’t be my last.

The competition was called Made in Bradford and my film certainly was. All the cast and crew live or work in the district, and all but one of the locations were in Bradford.

The support we received from City of Film, West Yorkshire Police, Bradford Council, Fabric, and almost everyone we approached to be involved was overwhelming. City of Film status is a great accolade for Bradford and the training and workshops that are available because of it could see Bradford producing many of tomorrow’s stars of the movie industry.

If everyone gets behind City of Film, hopefully it will help to make Bradford a vibrant city again. If film crews are encouraged to come here and more films are made here, it will generate spin-off economic benefits for the district.

In ten years’ time we could be surrounded by production studios rather than building sites. It may seem unrealistic, but Rome wasn’t built in a day – and nor was Hollywood!

l The Made in Bradford Films will be shown on Saturday from 4.45pm in the Cubby Broccoli Cinema at the National Media Museum. The Bradford International Film Festival runs from tomorrow until March 27. Tickets for festival events are available on 0844 856 3797 or online at nationalmediamuseum.org.uk

Meet the Made In Bradford film-makers

“We were so pleased to be able to run the second year of the Made in Bradford short film competition on behalf of Bradford City of Film,” says Alissa Juvan, creative development manager of Fabric.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity for local film-makers to get £1,000 funding to put towards making short films in Bradford.

“Twenty-six applications were received for this year’s competition – nearly double the amount from the first year, and 21 of those applicants pitched their ideas to a panel of industry experts.

“Six films were originally commissioned, although one film-maker had to pull out, unfortunately. The funding for this sixth film has been put towards bursaries for four film-makers to attend the Directing Your First Feature course at the Bradford International Film Festival this weekend,” Alissa adds.

Gideon Seymour, director of Fabric, and interim director of Bradford City of Film said: “This is a great opportunity for Bradford film-makers to demonstrate their talents and to demonstrate that Bradford has a strong film future as well as a rich film heritage.”

The five films that will be shown at the Made in Bradford screening are:

I Spy – a dark drama about the case of a missing girl by Lucy Ray

The Bedlamites – a documentary on fell running at night by Keighley-based film-maker Shyla Lee

Stay – a music video mixing archive footage of Bradford with original music by local band La La And The Boo Ya, made by Lewis Hackett and Luke Hardisty

Petrified – a short animation by Nicky Whitfield about a gargoyle on the roof of the Saltaire United Reformed Church

Misconnect – a dark drama about a Bradford helpline featuring Rhona Cameron and Alison Carroll, written by Denise Cooke and co-produced by Trading Pictures of Ilkley and Denise’s own Uplift Productions.