3 films in a day!

Last Sunday was sunny and gorgeous in Goole - perfect for making a series of films based on everything we've been looking at so far - old Goole stories, acting, film-making and special effects. Under the supervision of Duchy Parade Films Peter M Kershaw, our groups got their first experience using actual film cameras with black and white film thanks to our sponsors at Kodak! We discovered how to use a range of Super 8 cameras, set up a tripod and direct a shot on location. Our groups storyboarded, made props and special effects set pieces, rehearsed, acted, directed. In short they made their very own silent movies in a day.

EVERYBODY came away from the day with a ton of learning which will provide invaluable in preparing for the shoot proper over Spring Bank. The films are going away for developing and will have their first screening when we visit the National Media Museum at Bradford on Sunday 29th April!

This Sunday, 1st April is our last session before Easter. Peter Kershaw is taking a writing workshop at 2pm and helping our group prepare for their next challenge. Pitching a film concept to our group - our Goole Silent Movie project!

3 DAYS TO GO!

Another great session on Sunday, and plenty of skills on display to put to good use this week (18th March) when we will be making a film (or two or four) in one day! We are going to be using the proper 8mm cine film this time, which for many of you will be a rare chance to handle cameras with real reels inside! These 50 foot cartridges will then be sent off to be developed over the coming weeks, ready to show on the big screen on our forthcoming trip to Bradford’s National Museum of Film and Photography! More details soon, so keep checking for updates!

This is an excellent chance to be bold and creative, so bring along your stories and pitch your ideas, because the more stories we have the better! Get texting your gran and find out what Goole was reelly like in the days of Charlie Chaplin and Gertie the Dinosaur! Bring ideas, images, props, and friends! It's still not too late to join! Remember we will be running the session from 12-5 this week to give us extra filmmaking time!

Last week’s experiments with stop motion and film speeds showed us the unlimited possibilities of film, so however fantastical your tales, come and share them! Though simple, these effects are responsible not only for Benny Hill (who perhaps owes every laugh he ever got to simply speeding up his films) but also to many of even the most modern special effects.

The 'Bullet Time' effect used in the Matrix films, was directly developed from these quite primitive techniques. A discussion of Bullet Time on wikipedia gives a history of this, going right back to a 1878 photographic experiment to see if horses jump when they run! (they do) That's from before cinema even existed!



More famously, early monster films like King Kong and Godzilla were made possible through using animation techniques to bring to life their creations, and directors such as Terry Gilliam (12 Monkeys, Time Bandits, The Brothers Grimm) and Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) have become famous for their fantastic films mixing of these effects into their stories.

Their movies may seem a million miles from the silent movie days, but attempts to use animation and live action together began at the earliest stages of cinema. Watch this classic short from 1900 on YouTube and you’ll see the birth of everything from Roger Rabbit to Jurassic Park. It's inspiring stuff, and shows just how much has been achieved in just over a hundred years.

Get thinking about how we can use these creative skills to bring the Goole of old to life!
Only 3 days to go!

Sunday 11th March - Special Effects

Sunday 11th March was again a fantastic session. We looked at Special Effects in silent movies and saw some examples of these in films like Winsor McCay's 'Gertie the Dinosaur', George Melies and Felix the Cat.

As well as looking at animation we also looked at stop time. We demonstrated this by filming a scenario: a princess kisses a frog which turns into a prince. We filmed the princess kissing the frog and then took the frog away and replaced it with the prince. Therefore when we edited the piece it looked like the frog turned into a prince. We then added the animation part. We took stills of each drawing of the puff of smoke getting bigger. When all the stills are put together at speed the drawings come alive and the puff of smoke is animated. We added the puff of smoke inbetween the frog changing to a prince to show how the special effects work.
After this demonstration we split into groups to produce pieces of stop time and animation special effects. Everyone worked well and used their creativity to produce some great pieces.


Don't forget next week is at the slightly earlier time of 12pm - 5pm, as we're making a film in a day! So spread the word and bring along more friends - the more the merrier! ....oh and don't forget we really need your help in finding old stories to use as starting points for film ideas.

See you ALL on Sunday!

Jo x

Sunday 4th March

Sunday 4th March was our second official session with the participants of the Goole Silent Movie and we've got a really talented and enthusiastic group developing - although we are keen to involve even more young people so do get in touch if you're interested in being involved.
Acting and drama have been a big part of the first two sessions. We've done lots of exercises which require both a knowledge of film and an ability to devise drama - and the group has responded brilliantly to everything we've thrown at them. Even when we banned talking in the scenes we've been working on (well, it is a silent film project!) everyone has really worked hard to find other ways to tell stories.

Stories were a key part of our work on the 4th - we had a variety of fascinating old photos, posters and other bits and pieces which depicted Goole as it was around a hundred years ago and we used these as inspiration for dozens of stories which came to life both on the stage and on the page in the form of some fantastic drawings.

Next week the patience of our many technically minded group will be rewarded when they spend a session looking at special effects with David - and they will then be ready for our biggest challenge yet - a Film in a Day project the following Sunday. I can't wait!

Goole on the Web

I've added a link on the blog to a great site called Goole on the Web. It has fascinating historical photographs, videos, paintings and historical notes - just the kind of reference we need. Worth a look!