Gallery 37 Plus is a national creative training programme for young people aged 16 –24, focussing on intensive summer activity.
Working alongside creative professionals, young people became ‘apprentice artists’ receiving a training grant. As apprentices they were given the chance to learn and develop new skills, and work towards accreditation in a supportive and dynamic environment.
Ten Films Bristol was one of the 3 strands of activity (media, design and music) for Gallery 37 Plus in 2007.The aim for all the strands was to give participants experience of gaining and applying creative skills in an industry context.
Participants were set briefs from organisations in the creative industries to work to. Throughout the programme they were given opportunities to pitch their ideas and gain feedback. The chance for the participants to work with a range of people currently employed in the industries has been an exciting and hugely beneficial process for all involved.
Ten Films Bristol is the result of a brief set by Bristol Media. The 4 week programme has been delivered by Calling the Shots, you can read about the process and activity in the Production Blog below. We hope you enjoy the work produced by the participants.
Gallery 37 Plus sprung from an annual programme taking place in Birmingham. Gallery 37 Birmingham in its turn came from Chicago where the original idea started in a gallery on Block 37 in the city centre. The ethos behind the programme was to motivate and enthuse young people who were not actively involved in positive pursuits, either professionally or personally. It has enabled many young people to enter education, training or employment as a result of their involvement in the programme and is now replicated in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland as well as Birmingham.
With funding obtained from the Big Lottery Fund, Youth Music and Gallery 37 Birmingham together with the five delivery partners, the cities of Bristol and Leeds, the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, the district council of Newark and Sherwood and the Roundhouse in London will be delivering summer programmes in 2007/2008 for over 600 young people.
With thanks to:
Gallery 37
Lerato Dunn
Sam Mitchell
Bristol Media
Pam Beddard
Speakers
Paul Appleby, BBC Bristol
Rachel Fisher, Corphoto
Ben Hostler, Beef
Dee Kalakoti, BBC Factual and Entertainment
Megan Lynas, Freelance Film Maker
Rob Mitchell, Firstborn Creatives
Owen Newman, Wildlife Cameraman
Darren Robbie, Aardman
Calling The Shots
Steve Gear – Project Leader
Jess Currie – Youth Support
Jeremy Routledge
Nick Sutton – Project Leader
Dave Thompson
Marina Traversari
Alex Try
Inspiration
Chris Jones, Oakwood DC
Gill Sampson, UWE
Pete Levy, Greenlit Media
Website
Dan Efergan
Together with Jeremy, I run a company called Calling The Shots. We work with a wide range of groups, helping people make their own films and teaching digital media skills. I was the lead worker for the first three weeks of the media production strand of Gallery 37.
I still get a real buzz out of doing what I do. I get to see people producing work they never believed they were capable of. I think people use a different part of their brains when they start thinking in pictures rather than words. It’s very rewarding to see people who are convinced they cant do things, who’ve maybe been turned off learning from their experience of school, start to realise they can do stuff.
Day One
Everyone arrived, at various times of course, but by lunchtime we had eight people. We planned that the first week would set out to inspire; to give the participants a picture of what working in the creative industries was about – hard work, but also really satisfying.
Nick, my co-worker and I started by just showing five pictures each that we really liked. I did a photography degree many years ago, so it was an excuse to re-visit some of the pictures that had really inspired me when I was a student. For me it was the work of Diane Arbus and Henry Cartier-Bresson. I love the honesty of the gaze that Diane Arbus had in all her pictures. It’s as if people are saying ‘here I am, judge me if you will’. In Cartier-Bresson his idea of the ‘decisive moment’ led me to look at the world in a new way; even a still image tells you a lot about time - what happened before and what happened next.
Day Two
Yesterday, building on the presentations Nick and I had given on our favorite images, we got all the participants (we have nine now) to pick the name of an artist, photographer or art movement out of the hat. We asked them to research the subject and make a presentation to the group on what they had learned. The presentations were hugely varied, from three tiny thumbnails skimmed from Google images on Ray Lichtenstein to a tour de force investigation of the history and meaning of Film Noir.
The thing that really hit me is how little exposure to this kind of language and imagery the group have. They could recognise some of the styles and references from the current media, but they had no idea of the original artworks these sources were referencing
The other skill I’m really keen to help people develop is the ability to communicate their ideas. If you want to work in this business, you have to be able to share your ideas with a team. Some of the group found these presentations really hard, but they had better get used to them, were going to be doing a lot more of them.
Day Three
We’re now ten; Rene joined us today. On the project we are playing with the idea that the group are contestants on The Apprentice. Chris Jones, MD of Oakwood DC design company, came to speak to the group and we asked him to play the Alan Sugar figure, not to fire anyone, but to try and inspire them and give them an idea of the potential of working in the creative industries. Chris talked about what goes into marketing and promoting a product and showed them where you can go with a career in this sector. Chris also introduced them to their brief; we’re asking participants to produce their film on the theme ‘the thing I love about Bristol’. Chris talked about how he would approach it and suggested they steer away from the standard Bristol clichés – balloons, Brunel, blue glass and, of course, the suspension bridge. It remains to be seen if they will be able to resist the temptation to show the obvious stuff.
Day Four
The group are now developing their ideas. The ideas for their films range from street music to urban regeneration, extreme sports to Goth subculture. The first task we have set them is to develop a mood board, a visual notebook, which will convey the essence of their ideas and the kind of feelings they want their films to evoke. As aid to the process of developing the ideas, we asked the team to go out and film some street interviews. These ‘Vox Pops’ could end up in their finished films, but it was really to test their ideas, get some reaction from members of the public and feed that into their thinking. One or two really shone doing this exercise. Nial is young guy who I’d have assumed many people might avoid making eye contact with him, let alone stand and talk to him. Contrary to my expectation, he showed a real flair for getting people to speak. His interviews were really revealing and showed he has a real ability for getting people to open up.
Today they had their first go at presenting their mood boards, very much work in progress, but the ideas are really starting to develop. Candice has a great idea, she wants to present Bristol as a playground; if you are into street sports, such as parkour and skateboarding, then Bristol is a great place to live.
For some of the group, standing up in front of their peers is a real challenge, but I think it is so important to develop the skills and the confidence to handle doing this. If any of the group are going to get work in this area in the future, they will need to be able to share their ideas with people.
Day Five
Extending the allusion to ‘The Apprentice’, today we introduced the group to our ‘Nick’ and ‘Margaret’, not Alan Sugar’s sidekicks, but our mentors. Gill Sandford, is a media course leader from UWE and Pete Levy, an independent producer. We asked them to take the role of being the client; to look at the mood boards and listen to the pitches and give feedback on how their ideas are progressing. Pete and Gill seemed genuinely impressed with the standard of the work, as Gill put it, ‘none of it would look out of place up against any of the work of our first year students’.
Day six
This week we’re aiming to develop the group’s video production skills with a real emphasis learning good practice. If we can lay good foundations for how they do camera, sound and editing, then the final work should do justice to the ideas. Over the next two days we’ll be doing one drama shooting and editing exercise, we’ll have two groups filming the same short script and then divide the groups so we should end up with four different edits, all based on the same scene.
Today we also had the first of our industry speakers. Each day from now on, we’re inviting a speaker to come in and talk about their career – how did they get into the business? What do they wish they had known when they were 17 that they know now?, that kind of stuff. Megan Lynas came along today, she is interesting because her career doesn’t fit into any convenient boxes, she has done continuity, producing and camera and now mostly works in community video.
Day seven
After two days of frantic shooting and editing we got to see three versions of our one script. It was great to see how different they all looked. One team really excelled at their camera work, some great shots - one character shot in front of a closed Venetian blind looked really menacing in classic film noir style. Another group, editing the same footage made a completely different film, using a simple pause really effectively to increase the tension.
Day Eight
Still on our training programme, we directed our attention to shooting and editing documentary. Three groups were set a brief to plan and shoot a documentary on the themes of ‘Green Bristol’, Bristol Docks and Bristol Street Life.
We’re still pushing ahead with each filmmaker's individual project plans. They have been researching and developing their ideas and the mood boards and coming on. We’ve been having regular group presentations and people are still struggling with having to present their ideas.
Day Nine
Gill, one of our ‘apprentice mentors’ came in this morning. She went round to hear from each of the group about how their ideas are developing. After lunch the group presented to Pete. They are still finding it hard to stand and really sell their ideas, but the ideas themselves have really come on. A vague notion of ‘something about the indie music scene’ has turned into a really clear idea that will juxtapose some of Bristol’ classic gothic architecture with the Goth music scene. Pete thought they had really pulled the ideas together over the intervening week, but he reminded them they have to treat each pitch as a new event; you can’t assume the audience will remember what you said before.
Day Ten
This morning the group had just two hours to try and edit the footage they had shot for their documentary exercise, presenting them straight after lunch. I was completely blown away by what they achieved. With just a morning to plan and shoot the films and then another morning to cut them, the films were really impressive. All the standard documentary devices were there – cutaways, voice over, GVs, interviews – and the films really worked. Earlier that day I was worried the group would not be able to each produce a film at the end of Gallery 37. After seeing these short documentaries, the bar has really been raised. I have high hopes for what they will do over the next two weeks.
A bit of an outing. This afternoon we went to the BBC News and Sport Road show, part of the Bristol Harbour Festival. The group got the chance to use some serious broadcast production kit and try their hands at working an autocue, handling a live radio outside broadcast and presenting the weather. Rene and Nial got do a short live interview; Rene took the opportunity to plug his dance group who are performing on the Sunday at the festival. Nick got to work with a bit of a hero of mine, Peter Donaldson, the Radio 4 newsreader.
Day 11
We’re into serious pre-production now. Everyone has to do the all the planning for their individual films. We’re trying to get everyone to work in teams so they will have a crew when they go on location, but they will each be responsible for finding their own locations, securing permission and planning their own schedules. It’s interesting, a couple of them are still very focussed on the mood boards, they want to get these right instead of translating the general into the specific. We need to see shot lists and a shooting schedule. The time for pictures that portray the style is over.
Day 12
Dan Efergan joined us today. He is going to be working with four of the group to design and build our website. We started by getting the whole group to brief him about what we have been doing and what their individual films are about. Another chance to practice those presenting skills, but again some of the group are finding it tough. I was a bit hard on Candice when she described her project in just five words, but if they can’t be enthusiastic about their ideas, they can’t expect anyone else to be. Later the web group split off and started roughing out some ideas for the site. Alan really shone today, it was great to hear him talk about his film idea and see his sketches for the website.
Day 13
Once the web group had an outline for the site, we realised we need the answers to lots of questions from Lorato at Bristol City Council. We need to agree who is going to write all the content, who its ok to link to and if it’s ok to have the films hosted on Youtube. Everyone else is out filming or making plans for filming. There is a real buzz about the place today; it really feels like a production office. Each morning we have been having a production meeting, looking at what stage each project is at and they are all just about on track.
Day 14
This morning it poured with rain. Today was meant to be one of our key production days with four shoots planned. You have to be flexible in this business, so we abandoned the filming and brought forward our gallery visit by one day. We had planned to take the whole of Friday off the schedule and spend the day visiting Bristol’s art galleries. The aim being to get the group to see some pictures and start them talking about them. We decided to spend the morning in Bristol Museum and Art Gallery looking at the pictures. This was worthwhile as much for the debate created by a pile of stones. When is a pile of stones art and when is it a patio?
This afternoon the weather improved, so filming was back on. I went out with Alan to play the lead in his homage to ‘Monsieur Heulot’s Holiday’. I get to ride a butchers bike around a few prominent Bristol locations wearing a corduroy jacket and looking to the heavens as I hear 50s style newsreel commentary in my head… All in pursuit of completing Alan’s film.
Day 15
My last day. I’m on holiday next week, so I will be handing over to Jeremy to manage the project. Four crews are filming today; Nial's looking for the secret sites that visitors to Bristol never see and Aaron’s on his home patch in Hartcliffe looking at what is happening to develop the area. I’m in Bedminster with Tash and Candice at the skate park, along with Jess and Faye. It’s hard going but one way or another we’ve got two films to shoot. Candice is avoiding shooting her skaters and BMX riders, even though there is plenty of action going on. Finally we overcome her fear of not getting the best and make do with what we can do. A very helpful lad performs some tricks and Candice shows what she can do with the camera.
Tash on the other hand is not having much luck with her dancers. None of her booked people turns up and though she is reluctant, we fall back on plan B. This involves using any and everyone who happens to be in the park and asking them to dance to Tash’s track. Faye is a real star and looks fantastic on screen, everyone else, including me and Jess look like we are rooted to the spot, but alongside the grandmother, various small children, lads on bikes and others, Tash has the making of a really nice film.
Back to base at City of Bristol College, we catch the end of Owen Newman; one of our industry speakers. He has been showing some amazing footage of a lion fight, filmed in the Serengeti. Everyone is riveted. It’s a million miles away from filming kids in Bedminster Skate Park, but we all have to start somewhere.
My involvement with Gallery 37 is now over and I hand over to Jeremy to see the group through their last week. There have been some real highs and lows, but I have really enjoyed it. Talking to Owen on his way out, we muse on the way to succeed in this business. Owen leaves me with the thought ‘Whatever you are doing, you have to really want to do it and convince everyone around you that you are the best person to do it’.
The Final Week
Well...it’s nearly Christmas and I obviously didn’t do the blog. I know, it’s rubbish, but that’s the thing with these intense projects, sometimes there’s not the time to do all the things you’d like to do and maybe, in retrospect, we should have built it into the Gallery 37 day a bit more so everyone blogged at a certain time.
Mind you, it’s not as though people had much time to spare the final week. Every day was a frenzy of activity. Tapes flying around unlabelled and forlorn, DVDs in the bin and arguments about the finer points of web design and video editing. Coming into the creative atmosphere forged by Nick and Steve in the previous weeks I admit I had a few first night nerves and that feeling that only a teacher knows of being eternally ‘underprepared’.
Luckily for me all the Gallery 37ers (and the clever Alex Try) knew what they were doing by that stage and it was mostly a question of saying “yes that’s actually quite marvellous”, though one or two people dumped their lovingly created original ideas and like a highly trained chef, managed to whip up a totally different vision from the eggs and cheese left in the fridge.
The event in Queen’s Square was a celebration in more ways than one. For the participants it was a relief and a chance to chill out with drinks and pizza on a very hot day, just as the live music was warming up on the stage next door. But for their families and friends (and for this correspondent) it was a chance to enjoy a showcase of what had been achieved in those 4 weeks and to perhaps be surprised (yet again) at what can be achieved with open hearts and eyes and a bit of hard graft by a much maligned demographic!