Creating a piece of artwork is no easy task, but it is always a lot of fun!

As a part of the Gold Arts Award, I have created a promotional trailer for the Watershed’s Cinekids, combining my two art forms of acting and film-making in order to ‘Extend My Own Arts Practice’. Having a brief of creating a promotional piece of artwork for the Cinekids which reflected the childlike qualities of playfulness and adventure, I felt this was a great opportunity to develop my skills as a film-maker, whilst utilizing my relatively extensive knowledge as an actor and performer to create a fun and engaging trailer.

Following Luke Tucker’s informative workshop on film-making, I was able to distinguish my first point of call in my creative process; constructing a screenplay. I decided to focus my trailer story-line on the theme of journeys; so many children’s films involve literal and metaphorical journeys, and many of my favourite childhood flicks incorporated quest-like elements. I then came up with the concept of a girl in the real world transforming into numerous iconic children’s film characters as we follow her on her journey to the Watershed cinema. I felt that such a storyline encapsulates the imaginative aspects of childhood as well as the fantasy worlds films are able to create, whilst also allowing me to utilize my acting skills by portraying the trailer’s protagonist.

Choosing the characters of Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit, Alice from Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, and Dorothy Gale, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz, I constructed a first draft of the screenplay with a scripted voice over (which includes J. R. R. Tolkien’s perfectly appropriate quote, “It’s a dangerous business, […] going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to”). However, I quickly realized my cinematographic visuals were far too ambitious in having to create characters in full costume situated in fantastical or grand settings, given my limited budget of £20 and time constraints.

But this potential crisis was averted by the help of my fellow Future Producers! Rather than following the whole body movements of the characters, I could instead focus solely upon their feet; quite literally, following in their footsteps. (Special thanks to Claire Simmons for the idea of the brilliant tagline, ‘taking your first steps into the world of film’). This would cut down on costuming budget and the need for time-consuming location shoots enormously. I was relieved and thrilled, to say the least.

So, with amendments made to my screenplay and the sourcing of costumes from Amazon and a local costume warehouse, I was able to start to process of filming! It was a tough job, having to work from a performer’s, director’s and an editor’s perspectives, but it was a lot of fun. Big thank yous have to go to my dad and Zoe Horn Haywood, who both worked as my camera operators on the project and had to put up with me fussing over shots. They were both very patient, and I couldn’t have done it without them!

The editing process was equally challenging, having to cut the different scenes into a coherent sequence and matched up to a recorded voice-over. Using the video editing suite, Adobe Premier Elements, and Audacity to enhance the audio of the voice-over, was, however, a very useful experience. Perhaps the most challenging aspect of post-production was sourcing a soundtrack for the trailer. I had intended to compose a short piece using free, online software, but when this endeavor failed, I was forced to track down music licensed in the public domain. I was very lucky to find an appropriate piece of music which ticked this box, and I have to say, it brings a lovely wistful element to the piece.

Overall, I had a fantastic time creating this promotional piece! If I am fortunate enough to receive the further £100 budget, I would love to re-shoot the trailer with professional grade cameras as, due to time constraints, I was only able to use my standard-quality camcorder. It would be wonderful to commission a piece of music for the soundtrack of the trailer, as well, which had been my original intention. If I was able to re-shoot, I would also like to use some more lavish locations; I would have liked to have filmed Cinderella running up a stone stair-case, whilst also being able to source a brick road that I could chalk yellow for The Wizard of Oz sequence, as well as creating a more fantastical set for Alice’s Wonderland. Given more time, I would like to perfect the flow of the scene changes as I feel aspects of the voice-over do not match up with the visual sequences quite as smoothly as I had envisioned; this was partly due to time constraints on the day of filming, limiting the number of takes I could shoot. Still, despite this, I am very happy with the finished product I have been able to come up with!