Lily Canter

Twelve months of tireless dedication has finally come to fruition for Film Northants winner David Easton.

On a budget of just £800 David has pulled off the seemingly impossible feat of making a feature length film, all shot in Northamptonshire.

Bloodline is a mystery thriller that sees the past come back to haunt a police officer and his suburban-living family.
To say much more would be to give too much away but the film echoes the unsettling tone of current Brit hit Kill List (fantastic film) and explores the themes of various rape revenge flicks.

David was inspired to make the film after winning Film Northants 2010 with his twisty short Love Is…which like Bloodline was also written by former policeman Colin Hill. Many of the cast of Love Is… star in Bloodline including James McCabe who makes a convincing turn as a henchman with a heart. Actress Clare Jukes, the ‘victim’ of Love Is… is subjected to even more brutality in Bloodline but rises to the challenge. She appears in illuminating flashbacks throughout the film from the perspective of lead character Ray – played by an impressive Greg Caine. The pair pull off an extremely uncomfortable scene without trivialising or exaggerating the content.

However the main strength of the film is the strong storyline which gives rise to debate and leaves the audience with a moral quandary. This is because the film is not afraid to tackle uncomfortable subject areas and is evocative without being exploitative. The line between heroes and villains has not been drawn and no-be appears to be entirely innocent. It is difficult for your sympathy to lie with any one character but that is to the film’s merit rather than its detriment.

 Another great strength of the movie is the strong pacing which is probably due to the endless hours David spent in the editing suite. The plot unravels at an appropriate speed and the slow build up helps to create an atmosphere of anxiety and anticipation.
 
In line with the ethos of Film Northants, which aims to promote the film-making talent of Northamptonshire and its potential as a film location, Bloodline was all filmed in and around the county. From an audience perspective it is great to see so many recognisable locations such as the Northampton Chronicle & Echo building in Lower Mounts, Mollies nightclub in Abington Square, St Andrew’s Hospital and the grandiose Knuston Hall.

That being said the film was not without its minor problems with some scenes being too long, some predictable twists and some morally dubious subtexts. But for a debut film made with volunteers for the price of a crap second hand car it is a remarkable achievement and far more entertaining than many of the homogenous banal movies released week after week in UK cinemas.

Following audience feedback from three separate viewings David has re-edited the film and is now looking for opportunities to have the film distributed or remade professionally as a low budget independent film.

BLOODLINE STATS:

• 12 months to make
• Filmed in 21 days
• 19 locations used
• 9,500 video clips / audio files created
• 3 weeks to edit
• £800 budget
• More than 40 cast and crew (see a full list here)

Watch the teaser trailer here:

It may be an extremely bold statement to make, but the book Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe, changed my life. Or at least, it made me realise that “crowdsourcing” had already changed my life before I had even heard of the concept, let alone read the book. It infuses all parts of my life as an academic, journalist and film festival chair. I therefore felt it might be useful for me to share with others, the various examples of crowdsourcing in Canter 2.0.  The first spotlight is on short film festival Film Northants.

As Howe (2008) states crowdsourcing is: “the act of taking a job traditionally performed by employees and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call”. It is about the power of the crowd and how organisations can work with vast, global online communities to create successful projects whether it be in governance, business, science, journalism or any other discipline. Instead of Web 2.0 it is Big Society 2.0.

Since its inception Film Northants has unwittingly embraced this concept by always looking to the population of Northamptonshire to help shape the festival. As people are arguably more involved in the creation of all forms of media, including film, due to the cheapness, accessibility and user friendliness of digital technology, it makes sense for those people to also be involved in where that media ends up. But as Jeff Howe suggests it is not just the people creating content (active audience) that are important but also all the people who rank, like and vote on said content (active filters), giving it extra significance and helping to sort the wheat from the chaff. It is the 1:10:89 rule = for every 100 people visiting the Film Northants website, 1 will have entered a film, 10 will vote on the film entries and 89 will merely watch the films.

Furthermore, according to Jeff Howe active audiences also need help from “benevolent dictators” who can guide them, set loose boundaries and respond to demand. In relation to Film Northants, the creators are the film makers, the active filters are all the people who vote for the films, and the Film Northants committee and judges act as the benevolent dictators by setting the film criteria and drawing up the shortlist.

Here are some further examples of Film Northants crowdsourcing in action:

1. Entries

The festival is open to all. The only criteria being the film must be shot in Northamptonshire.  Amateurs and professionals alike can enter (and as Jeff Howe argues the line is increasingly blurred between the two), children and adults can take part, any technology can be used as long as the entry can be uploaded to YouTube. The festival is promoted online and anyone can enter online. Our crowd is the globe.

2. Voting

Again because the voting is now all conducted online anyone in the world can vote. The power of the crowd can decide which of the shortlisted films is the winner and runner-up.  The bigger this crowd gets, the fairer the result will be.

3. Promotion

Social media are significantly important as a viral marketing tool. We need the crowd to spread word of mouth online and link back to our website, Facebook and Twitter.

4. Feedback and development

The committee is always guided by the feedback it gets from the crowd. Whether it is from the formal feedback forms, a casual email suggestion or a comment on Twitter or Facebook, it is all collated and acted upon. Changes over the past four years have all been borne out of crowd feedback including: Judges’ Comments Film, Judges’ Choice award, Under 16s category and even the nibbles at the champagne reception. Rather than the attitude ‘built it and they will come’, we ask the crowd what they want, what they suggest, and then we provide it, knowing there is already demand for it.

5. Crowdfunding

Although Film Northants itself has been funded by grants, advertising and sponsorship in the past, crowdfunding may be a possible model for the future as it is gaining popularity in the film industry as a whole. And indeed Film Northants judge Becky Adams is running her own crowdfunding campaign at the moment to raise money from the public to produce British comedy Fortune Cookies. Find out more here.

My final message would be this: Film Northants is your festival. The crowd can decide what shape it takes. Let the crowd speak.

Comment: In the box below.
Email: info@filmnorthants.co.uk
Facebook: search Film Northants
Twitter: @filmnorthants

www.filmnorthants.co.uk

Technological changes are rapidly progressing in the journalism industry and it is a challenge for universities and colleges to keep up to date with the latest training skills. Cultural changes in the news room need to migrate to the classroom whilst maintaining the Gold Standard quality of the historic profession. The NCTJ seminar held at the Press Association last week was therefore a welcome insight for tutors trying to keep pace with digital journalism.

A range of guest speakers from local, national and international media organisations discussed their use of social media, multimedia and building interactive communities. Here are the key points from the guest speakers of the ‘Integrating digital journalism skills into training’ seminar:

Andrew Hawken, head of digital media, Sky News (@skyhawken)

• Software engineers are now fundamental to the success of media organisations
• Editorial and technological experts are merging
• Sky News thinks more about Facebook and Twitter than about their own website
• Social media should be viewed as an “internet connected device” not a separate platform
• Technology should be combined with journalistic excellence and quality

Stefan Stern, former Financial Times columnist and Edelman director of strategy (@stefanstern)

• There is not one way of doing thing anymore, it is about being interconnected
• The fundamentals of reporting and accuracy cannot be dropped or skated over in the digital age
• There is a blurring of boundaries between professional and citizen journalists - the challenge is for professionals to be different and better but also embrace new media
• Twitter is a great leveller and journalists should not think they are too mighty to respond to their followers – it is better to be a receiver than just a transmitter
• You have to trust your employees if you want them to be trustworthy - don’t ban access to Facebook
• There is no longer a line between professional and personal identity on social media, it is a question of personal taste and judgement
• Web 2.0 is a great big experiment - you won’t find the good stuff without making a few mistakes along the way

Fergus Bell, senior producer Associated Press (@fergb)

• “I ride the Twitter wave and see where it takes me”
• Use social media to monitor the competition, find sources, compliment content and find UGC
• The standards of journalism and verification are exactly the same, the people online are real
• If we have a camera at an event I won’t look for UGC, our crew will get better footage but if there is a delay in getting there I will look for UGC
• Use lists on Twitter to organise your data, but keep some lists private so not to tip off the competition
• Verify the source before verifying the content
• When searching for UGC think about the language spoken in the country where the event has happened

Ian Reeves, director of learning and teaching, University of Kent (@cfjkent)

• Apps allow for new ways of storytelling specifically targeted at the app market
• The use of apps is rapidly increasing in the marketplace
• App sales in 2011 were $15bn
• Predicted value of iPad app market in 2012 is $5bn
• Designing apps is an expensive and time consuming process
• New Corp’s The Daily app cost $30m to set up, Angry Birds cost $140,000
• When designing an app you have to buy a licence and often have to pay a monthly publishing licence
• Limited amount of free app design software available but is a facility within In Design
• Once apps are published to the market place there are costs involved

Alan Marshall, group managing editor, Press Association (@alan1marshall)

• Digital is being integrated into the agency as a whole rather than being a separate function
• Traditionally PA had silos of skills with separate teams: words, pictures, videos
• The trend has now moved to a multi-skilled newsgathering team
• Reporters are equipped with stills cameras as clients want pictures with every story rather than stock photos
• Video and photo journalists also cross training
• Multi-skilling enables: flexibility in covering stories, greater breadth of coverage, reaction to on the spot moments, efficient use of our teams
• We don’t expect reporters to take pictures of same quality as our photographers but it is about getting the first picture and being more responsive
• There is still room for craft specialists
• Multi-skilling is also needed for production journalists such as: meta data, web links, curating content
• PA still files text content first as the wire remains its core service

Chris Maguire, editor, Chorley and Leyland Guardian (@ifthecap)

• Chorley and Leyland Guardian beating national trend and growing sales 6.8% despite having just 4 reporters
• Networking enabled the newspaper to get an iPhone app developed for free
• We cannot get to every court case, council meeting or street corner but we reach readers via social media
• The people who work for the newspaper include Google Alerts, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
• The organisation is using social media to reach readers who would not normally buy the newspaper
• The strengths of social media: free to use, builds brands and relationships, gives you a bigger voice, helps you find stories, reaches an audience instantly
• Twitter is: army of ears and eyes, cross promotes the newspaper, targets a younger audience, instant information, feedback, stories
• Social media is no substitute for shorthand, knowledge of public affairs and law, ability, writing skills and meeting people
• Social media skills are not optional they are a must

Laura Oliver, community coordinator, Guardian online (@lauraoliver)

• Job role is to be a reader representative, build relationships with readers on and off the website, set the tone for threads, test ideas, listen to feedback
• Reader relationships help to keep the Guardian accountable but also can lead to editorial and commercial opportunities
• All about giving the reader better access to complex stories and looking for gaps in the Guardian’s coverage
• Important to give something to online communities and to link them back to the Guardian
• Skills of community coordinator: building contacts, news sense, spotting trends, analytics, working with news room, understanding social media and how to build an online community from scratch

The first Film Network Northants was held in the Royal & Derngate this week and was filled with enthusiastic film-makers and students.

The event organised by Reelscape Films, Film Northants and composer Andy Cox, was an opportunity for creative film types in the county to get together and network, whilst simultaneously being able to pick the brains of award-winning TV and film director Dan Wilson. Dan’s resume include stints on EastEnders, working with Ian McKellan on Coronation Street, and the BBC drama Land Girls. He has also worked on film projects with Northamptonshire based production company Reelscape Films.

At the networking event Dan gave a talk about his career before a lengthy Q&A session, where he was able to divulge the following pearls of wisdom:

• To inspire your cast and crew a director needs “energy and impetus”
• Films sets are like sharks: they can smell blood and if anything is going wrong they will sniff it out
• There is no substitute for experience
• On your first job as a runner make sure you can made the best tea there is
• Nowadays framing is as important as acting

The networking event attracted around 40 people in its initial outing and the organisers are therefore aiming to run another event in the new year. Let us know what you thought of the first event and if you have any suggestions for future networks. For more information email becky@reelscapefilms.co.uk

It’s like cooking a great meal. You spend hours preparing and cooking it and then it is all eaten in five minutes. Not to the mention the time you spend hunting out ingredients in the supermarket and pouring over your cookbooks. Film Northants is a similar affair. A year of planning and preparation goes into the festival and then it is all over in three hours, leaving you a little shell-shocked. It is also a bit like planning a wedding – year after year.

But it’s worth it. This year the feedback on the night and afterwards has been the most motivating to date. The word ‘inspirational’ has cropped up a number of times and the community emphasis has also been applauded. The very fact that literally anyone can have their film potentially screened at a mainstream cinema is the reason people enter the competition. It also inspires film-makers to believe in themselves and move forward onto bigger projects.

Each year I have the conversation with people about where the festival should go next. You should charge for entries they say, you should broaden the remit to cover outside Northamptonshire, you should make it international. Although I am always grateful to hear people’s opinions and feedback I think all of these remarks rather miss the point. There are hundreds of national/international festivals out there which appeal to professionals film-makers. Film Northants is not, and does not ever want to be, the next London Film Festival or Leicester International Short Film Festival. What would be the point? They do it well, so leave them to it.

The unique selling point of Film Northants is that it is parochial but that does not make it insular. It is a community event, not a commercial one – and it is about Northamptonshire not about film-making more generally. It is a festival for the film-makers rather than the audience. It is about raising the profile of Northamptonshire as a film location but also a place of talented film makers and film education courses. Take the Media Production degree at The University of Northampton which saw two of its students pick up top awards at Film Northants this year. The festival is also about being a starting point, a platform to showcase aspiring and up and coming film-makers from across the Northants community and most importantly inspire them to continue their great work whether it be as a hobby or a profession.

And to be honest the lines are blurring. The brilliant book Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe explores how all areas of society are harnessing the power of the crowd, and how in turn this is causing the lines between professional and amateur to disintegrate. Should Film Northants have an amateur and professional category? That is a discussion that the committee must have, but my feeling is that the two cannot be separated. What is a professional film-maker? Is someone who works in IT but films weddings for money at the weekend a professional? They are getting paid for their filming after all. And anyone who claims the “professionals” have an advantage have not seen our statistics. The winners of the Public Vote and Judges’ Choice award have been won by “hobbyists” just as many times as people making money from film-making.

This brings me onto the next point. Part of the reason the playing field has been levelled is technology but also the use of social media. The most proactive finalists will campaign for their film via social media, trying to get in as many votes as possible. Some may say fair play to them, whilst others may think this debases the prize. But think of the Oscars. Actors and directors actively court members of the Academy, whether it be indirectly through massive media campaigns or unashamedly direct by taking them out to lunch and telling them to vote for their film.

Again it is an issue that is raised with us in the feedback each year and the committee will discuss it once again this year, but the key thing to remember is there is always the Judges’ Choice award to counter the Public Vote. The prizes for both are now the same in monetary value and the trophies are the same size. They have equal weighting, they are simply voted for differently. The reason the Public Vote is entered to the Berlin Favourites Film Festival is because this is a festival for people’s choice winners only.  It is the favourite film of the people (Jeff Howe’s ‘crowd) and not the judges. But that is not to stop Film Northants making partnerships with other festivals which may accept entry from a favourite film of the judges.

On a last point of clarification, in relation to some of the feedback we have been getting re: the judges’ comments film. Some of you may have noticed the editing was a little strange in this film. This was not the fault of the editor. This was due to a technical problem with one of the cameras which meant that two of the judges were not on camera most of the time, although their audio was. The editor actually did a very clever (and time consuming) job of overlaying the audio on top of images that did not match. We could not go back and film the judging again because a) it would not have been spontaneous or authentic and b) we could not literally get the four together for a whole evening again, especially since the public vote was launched just a few days later. However lessons have been learned and next year we hope to improve upon the judges’ comments video again. That being said it was still a vast improvement on the basic judges’ comment film launched in 2010. However it is important to say that Film Northants is learning, improving and developing all the time, whilst trying to retain our ‘inspirational’ community ethos.

If you want to get involved or just find out more please come along to our AGM at the Cineworld bar, Sixfields, Northampton at 3pm, October 16th.

This week I had planned to work on my PhD, putting the finishing touches to one of my early chapters. Instead I have been burning dozens of DVDs, folding hundreds of pieces of paper and printing mountains of order forms. There has also been a lot of shouting at computers. This is the glamorous life of a film festival chair less than a week before THE event of the year.

As usual formatting the DVDs to play at the red carpet screening has been a nightmare. Damaged discs, garbled tapes and incompatibility between PCs and Macs have turned a simple job into one that has taken about 10 hours to sort. I am very tired. I am very grumpy. I hate Macs even more than I usually do – but at least the job is now done and the films look and sound fantastic on the screen. However there has to be a more efficient way of doing things and next year we hope to get rid of hard copies all together and rip straight from You Tube, meaning I get more time to do other things, like sleep.

The other monotonous task of the week has been putting the programmes together (they will be on sale for the bargain price of £2). Designing and laying them out was the fun bit but once they were printed it meant folding up 400 pieces of paper and stapling them together. We got a steady production line going, but we could really do with some Film Northants elves – I’m looking into it for next year.

Getting drawstring bags at short notice has been another problem to overcome. They seem innocuous enough but the week after kids have gone back to school and suddenly the drawstring bag shelves are bare. Thank goodness for the internet then and let’s just hope they turn up in time, otherwise prize winners will be carrying around DVDs, books and merchandise in their bare hands – heaven forbid.

Fortunately a quick scout at the cinema this morning was one of the less frustrating jobs of the week and everything seems to be in hand. The films were tested on the big screen, and what a big screen it is. Upgraded from the 145-seater we had last year to the 250-seater means we have a giant screen and massive audience. Cineworld have been fantastic throughout and this year really is going to be our biggest and best joint effort to date.

Just a few (dozen) things to do before the big night. Thankfully my team of volunteers are fully briefed and taking some of the burden. The job this evening is sorting the prizes and goodie bags which can be done whilst catching up with series 3 of Sons of Anarchy, so all is good.

Despite all the hard work and grumbling I can’t wait for the big night and hopefully this time I will get to chat to the finalists and guests. Come and say hello if you see me running past as it would be great to hear your feedback on the night.  See you all on Monday and good luck to all the finalists!