I caught up with Amy Dean the person behind The Lancashire Encounter Film project to find out more about her and the ideas behind the forthcoming film.
Q: Tell me a little bit more about what Lancashire Encounter is.
A: “Lancashire Encounter Festival is an authentic voice for Lancashire, celebrating the breadth of the County’s diverse cultural offer with high quality and high profile arts. Taking place every other year at the end of September, Lancashire Encounter sees the city of Preston buzzing with life and alight with creativity.”
It’s a great opportunity for the community of Lancashire as well as the creators within the arts to come together to be connected through the arts and to engage with it and enjoy it over three days. For someone who adores the arts, for me, it’s wonderful to be involved this year and cannot wait to show the film but also see what others have produced. It’s all very exciting and it’s a real opportunity for people to take part and enjoy the experience.
Q: How did the Film come about?
A: I am a documentary filmmaker and work as a Research Associate in Media Practice at UCLan in the creative industries. I get a real thrill of using media to highlight the unseen, plus I just love the arts and creating. The film is like to magic to me, it creates a wonderful illusion which can tell a wonderful story onscreen, the medium of which I am still totally entranced by what it can do.
My research at UCLan focuses on themes such as media/film representation and diversity, global ethics and using media to highlight marginalized communities locally or globally. I like to use media to reach people who may not be seen and use media to highlight the issues I care about.
I have created films globally such as in South Africa, Copenhagen, Paris, Brussels and for EU funded projects, but also locally in various areas of Lancashire and for local businesses as well as places such as Preston Bus Station and for the Grand Theatre Blackpool working with people such as In Certain Places at UCLan and photographer Jamie Hawkesworth. http://www.theheritagealliance.org.uk/HHA-Winners-2014
An inspirational film for me was one that I collaborated on with a well-known documentary feature filmmaker Kevin McDonald. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0531817/This documentary is “Christmas in A Day” which was created and formed as part of the Sainsburys marketing strategy for Christmas in December 2014. This film was made in conjunction with Ridley Scotts production company RSA films. http://www.rsafilms.com/uk/content/featured/christmas-in-a-day-2 directed by Kevin McDonald for Sainsbury’s, it was a massive hit in 2014, claiming 2x Gold and 3x Silver British Arrows, as well as a Gold Creative Circle Award for the Best Online Film. screened on Channel 4 and More4 at Christmas and was shown as feature-length documentary film online initially.
Christmas in A Day focused on clips created by people on their Christmas day, compiled to create a film narrative starting from early morning to midnight. Christmas in a Day, It proved a massive hit, claiming 2x Gold and 3x Silver British Arrows, as well as a Gold Creative Circle Award for the Best Online Film. The film was drawn together from over 360 hours of footage and shined a light on British families and their Christmas celebrations, initially inspired by the first film, Life In A Day. This focused on 24 hours of individuals from all over the world who submitted their footage to create a film.https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmmakersonfilm/8552739/Life-in-a-Day-24-hours-in-the-life-of-the-world.html
Because of this film, I attended the BAFTA premiere in London so this idea of a community film produced in a similar manner has stayed firmly with me, inspiring me to use this idea and interpret it myself. For me I feel film work is genuinely a medium where everyone can be involved, it is very accessible and this idea invites individuals from across Lancashire to get involved in a similar manner.
Q: When can we see more about the finished film?
Date: Screening at Harris – Friday 21 September
Time: 5.30pm & 7.35pm onwards
Cost: Free
Location: The Harris Cafe
Q: How can people get involved?
Full details can be found here via the official link : http://www.lancsencounter.co.uk/get-involved/call-out-for-lancashire-encounter-community-film Ideas for submission include cycling the Guild Wheel, working with great colleagues or friends at work, working with the community or gardening in the community, visiting Blackpool beach, running in Avenham Park or just someone who loves Lancashire cheese. As long as there is a connection to the Lancashire region it can be anything.
Or submit a photo by attaching it to an email, or a video by a downloadable link. Your entries should be emailed to [email protected] by Friday 31 August. Deadline Extended to 31st Aug.
Please provide your name, location in Lancashire, email address and contact number within the email, as part of the submission process.
I am very much looking forward to seeing submissions. I will be travelling around Lancashire from 4th Sept – 8th Sept to film and capture thoughts to accompany the project, I want to know about what you love about Lancashire. You can follow the project on twitter @filmlancashire twitter for all updates on locations and info. My aim is for technology not to be a barrier to people getting involved.
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