Sam & Jordan at the BFI
Two of our team had the chance to see their final piece of graduate work at the BFI in London.
On June 17th 2022, Sam Harrop (Editor) at Ithica & Jordan Duff (Cinematographer) had the opportunity to show their graduation film ‘INERTIA’ in front of an audience of graduates, graduating from London Metropolitan University where they previously studiedThe ceremony took place at the British Film Institute (BFI) in London, where they were able to see their film on the big screen. After many cancelled events over previous years due to covid, their graduation event had to be held online. So they were honoured to be chosen to showcase their film where it was intended.We asked them a few questions about the ceremony and their journey to becoming young filmmakers:
6th August 2022 / Posted by: Matt McGough
Q: Was it rewarding seeing your film on the big screen at BFI?
J – I found it really rewarding to see INERTIA finally on the big screen. However, I was quite nervous as the biggest screen we’ve seen the film on is our TV’s at home so I was quite tense as I was DOP on the film so I wasn’t sure how it would look. But honestly, once the first scene started I was quite shocked and overwhelmed, it looked better on the big screen than anything else I’ve seen the film on. Quite a surreal moment.
S – Initially I was nervous about sound because when I edited the film I was EQing through headphones but it actually sounded great through big speakers. I felt like it was way more impactful. Another thing for me was having the opportunity to show it off to a massive audience. We’ve done it before but online, so you can’t really get a feel for the energy of the room. We had some laughs and a lot of clapping when it finished so I think it was well received and from that it has given me the drive to go and make the next one.
Q: While studying at a university in London, what motivated you to make INERTIA in the North-East?
J – Covid had just struck the world so we decided for our final year to head back home as we were going into lockdown. We had so much time on our hands we went straight into pre-production and naturally the story and the inspiration for locations became areas local to us. With these places being on our doorstep and nobody being around because of the lockdown rules, it really allowed us to fully plan scenes. I think we learned a lot from this process.
S – We always wanted to make a film in and about our home town however it was always a difficult prospect to travel up and down the country to do so. Covid forced us to move back up north and we took that opportunity to finally go ahead with our plans to make a film that was Northern through and through.
Q: Is there any advice you would give to young aspiring filmmakers?
J – Keep making stuff, keep watching films and experiment with your craft. If you want to be a cinematographer, learn lenses, lighting, composition and movement. You should always be learning and trying new things to expand your horizons and allow yourself to adapt to any situation.
S – Definitely pre-production, especially when it came to the edit. We shot for the edit so we would constantly go out and practice how we would shoot match cuts, blocking transitions and the blocking of a scene which is very important to get precise when working with multiple actors and a shallow depth of field. It also made shoot days a lot less stressful as we went in with the knowledge we gained from the practice shoots. The more time you spend on your pre – production, the less time you will spend on production and post.
