RITUALS: Participation Pack

Hi, I’m Tom, the director. Thank you so much for getting involved with this project and doing something creative to tackle coronavirus. This document contains everything you need to know!

This film is all about the little things we do that can have big impacts. It’s kind of magical that washing our hands when we come home can stop our loved ones from getting seriously ill, isn’t it? The final film will create a moving collage of people all over Liverpool filming themselves in their homes with the choreographed routines in this document. Thanks for being a part of it!

What you need
A spare hour.
Your mobile phone to film yourself.
A face covering.
You may need a second device to play music files on.

Please upload your videos by Midnight Sunday 30th November. If you get stuck at any point please email contact@tomshennan.co.uk for help.

THE WARM UP: BREATH - 10min

A simple one to get started. Our breath can be powerful: breathing exercises can calm us down and help us focus on the moment. However, right now our breath can also be dangerous and we are told that we should wear masks. I like to think about the magic of our breath when we blow out birthday cake candles and make a wish.

  1. This video explains the warm up exercise.

  2. Record your own video and upload it here


ROUTINE ONE: SANCTUARY - 25min

This routine is all about creating a space where you feel safe. A space that you own. So maybe you’d like to film this one in your bedroom. I want you to focus on embodying a sense of comfort and calm when you make this routine, almost like you’re snuggled in bed on a Sunday morning.

  1. Watch the example video of the routine, these have been put together by choreographer Shivaangee Agrawal.

  2. Now you can learn the routine with this tutorial video – spend about 15 minutes on this.

  3. Using this audio guide, you are ready to record your own attempt.

  4. Upload it here when you’ve filmed it


ROUTINE TWO: CLEANSE - 25min

We wash our hands many times every day, it’s become second nature. Try to put a gentle consideration and delicate care as you perform this routine.

This is about keeping those within your home safe from anything you may bring in from the outside world. You might want to think about filming this in a communal area of your home: the kitchen or the living room. 

  1. Watch the example video of the routine, this is what you’ll be recreating. Pay attention to how the phone moves as well on this one.

  2. Watch the tutorial video to learn step-by-step how to do the routine.

  3. Using this audio file, you are ready to record your video

  4. Upload it here when you’ve filmed it


And that’s it, you’re done. Thank you so much for your contribution to this project, if you successfully complete all 3 tasks you will receive a Certificate of Participation.


RITUALS: Call out

Want to fight coronavirus in a creative way? I’m looking for members of public, actors, a production assistant and director of photography for a new film, all locally based in the Liverpool area.

Public Health Liverpool and Creative Organisations of Liverpool have commissioned a short art film, RITUALS, from me. The film will show how the little actions we do for our loved ones are almost magical in their protective powers: hand washing, wearing masks and keeping our distance. The film will be highly visible in the city of Liverpool.

Applications from individuals in under-represented groups are strongly encouraged.

Rituals.png

APPEAR IN THE FILM

There are two ways to get involved (deadline Wed 18th Nov)

1) Open to ages 16-30. Whoever signs up with the link will be sent 3 ‘Ritual’ routines to replicate. No experience necessary: all you need is a phone that records video and a spare hour. The instructions for this will be sent out on Thurs 19th Nov and you need to film and submit your responses by Mon 23rd Nov. Here’s the link which will remain open until Wed 18th Nov:  https://forms.gle/ahWtQn4Nw7sRectY8

2) 3 PAID roles, 18+ (playing age 18-30), £130 for 1 day. This will be a one-day, small and socially-distanced shoot at a nearby beach and will be more similar to filming a music video than a scripted drama short. Please email contact@tomshennan.co.uk by Wed 18th Nov with your a brief summary of your experience (including movement/dance exp but not essential), headshot, reel/portfolio and your availability for the dates Sat 28th Nov / Sun 29th Nov / Mon 30th Nov. Auditions will take place on Zoom Fri 20th / Sat 21st Nov.

MAKE THE FILM

  1. Director of photography

  2. Production assistant

Please email contact@tomshennan.co.uk by Wed 18th Nov with a brief summary of your experience, reel/portfolio, availability for dates, your day-rate and any equipment you would be using. The film is non-narrative and I’m working with a choreographer to produce some movement sequences, you can think of it being more similar to a music video than a scripted drama.

1 Day socially-distanced shoot
Dates: one of 28th/29th/30th November
Location: Beach near Liverpool

Tom Shennan is an artist and filmmaker based in Liverpool, his most recent short film Walnut Men is premiering at London Short Film Festival 2021. He studied MA Film Directing at Edinburgh College of Art and is currently an Associate Artist with Radical Makers/Collective Encounters.

Directing a short film from my couch

four collaborators – four weeks – no budget – no crew

In July I heard about a remote mass theatre-making project on Twitter. They were looking for writers, directors and performers all over the UK to split off into little units who could make something, anything. The project, Virtual Collaborations, is Arts Council-funded and supported with a range of masterclasses by a collection of theatres (Soho Theatre, The Space) and production companies (Little Door, Balloon), they’re showcasing all of the work as a digital festival run from 17th to 31st Aug 2020.

I filled in my form, answered some questions about my interests, and they got back to me a week later with the good news.

from left to right
Director – Tom, Liverpool
Writer – Ben, Essex
Performer – Lizzie, Manchester
Performer – Theo, Dorset

Here’s my team of collaborators. As you can see, we were somewhat spread out around the country and I went into this project with no idea how filming it would work, just a sort of useful blind optimism. Let’s see how that pans out.

INTRODUCTIONS

We quickly decided we didn’t want to do ‘Another Zoom Drama’. Ben had written monologues already during lockdown, the actors wanted something a little different, and I was visually interested in the various exterior locations we had at our disposal. After a session hashing out our previous work and interests, some themes began to emerge:

classism
LGTBQ+
mental health

It was honestly a little spooky how much we all had in common, and how passionate we were about the above issues to the point where they featured prominently in our individual previous work. After this very swift introduction Ben went away to write the script.

GETTING STARTED

The turnaround was tight and as soon as the script was delivered I broke it down, storyboarded a little and worked out when everyone was free. Ben had included almost all our available locations, we were using the graffitied canals and railway arches of Manchester, as well as the white cliffs of Dorset and Theo’s bloody swimming pool.

I had Lizzie and Theo virtually walk me around their homes so I could get an idea of lighting, luckily they both had DSLR cameras even if they weren’t super confident in how to use them. I had them hold the phone camera up to the LCD screen while I said thing like “Press menu button, press down, press down, select 1080p”. I did rather enjoy remote cinematography, but it was around this point that we all sort of freaked out at how much there was to do. Maybe doing just ‘Another Zoom Drama’ wasn’t such a bad idea after all?

Screenshot 2020-08-12 at 11.26.58.png
it’s organised clutter, okay?

it’s organised clutter, okay?

DIRECTING A SHORT FILM FROM MY COUCH

The filming schedule looked like this:

Thursday pm – Dorset interior
Friday am – Dorset exterior
Friday pm – Manchester interior
Saturday all-day – Manchester exterior
Thursday all-day – A filmed Zoom call (yes we still did one after all that)

This was my favourite bit. I can’t think of any other time I could be on set in Dorset and then literally moments later shooting in Manchester. I existed mostly in voice only, talking through speaker phone to our actor’s partners about camera positions and chatting to Theo and Lizzie about their scenes. The rushes are quite funny to watch with this disembodied and distorted voice directing the room. When we were out shooting in nature, I would have to give directions, hang up and wait 10 minutes for a take to be sent through, as the signal was too bad to stay on the line for the whole thing.

I think directing like this was a really good experience, it forced me to be efficient with language and to focus on the most salient aspects of the performance. You can’t afford to have bad communication if you’re being relayed with the delay of a Whatsapp video call. It also created a closer relationship with the actors. There was no dividing line between them and crew: they were the crew. And while I had to make sure they were supported and comfortable with the technical asks I was making, I think it only created a greater sense of collaboration and trust which allowed us to try more bold choices when it came to performance.

I got to do the whole thing with a steady supply of tea and with my laptop open in front of me should I need to google anything or scroll through a pdf of the script. It was so CONVENIENT. I wish all filmmaking was like this.

THANK GOD FOR EVERYONE’S OTHER HALVES

Ben’s partner, a doctor, provided clinical insight and intellectual weight to the backbone of the script’s concept. Without him  I would have been very anxious about misinformation.

Lizzie’s partner, also an actor, played a brief role in the film and was a godsend on set with the tripod.

Theo’s partner, a teacher with a background in photography, had bundles of enthusiasm and created some stellar images.

Finally my partner, who has helped me on no end of artistic projects, was there to bounce ideas off and had my back (literally) on one filming day.

A CONFESSION

Okay, so the whole thing wasn’t directed from my sofa. I actually drove, with my partner Sarah, to Manchester on the Saturday to shoot the exterior scenes with Lizzie and her partner, John. It just made sense as we had quite a complicated long take, and I wanted to get some shots with my new drone too. We socially distanced the whole time and I didn’t go to into their flat or even use the loo. I can’t recommend this as much as being on my sofa.

For the long take, we started outside their front door and walked out and under these railway arches, where Lizzie’s character would be bumped into by John’s character. I had to walk backwards quite quickly while concentrating on the shot, so Sarah was on hand to hold me from behind and steer me over cobbles and other obstacles. It was a beautiful thing.

THE END FOR NOW

I’m writing this blog post just after wrapping shooting, so I’m currently in the middle of the edit. The festival has just begun and our premiere date is the final day, 31st August 2020.

But I have managed to wrangle out a few shots and hastily colour corrected them, so you can get a feel of the film. I really am impressed with what we’ve managed together. With no crew. With just a DSLR and a iPhone used as the microphone. All I can do is thank Ben, Lizzie and Theo once again for all the work they did. Oh, and our partners.

Go here to learn more about the Virtual Collaborations festival.

2 Hour Creative Roughs

1 week in lockdown - a daily creative challenge - 2 hours from idea to result - given a random word to start - an artist friend for critical discussion - not knowing keeping going

I began this project because I wanted to experiment with video art and expand my visual vocabulary in a short space of time. To this end I made a decision to stay away from words and narrative, there would be no story or any dialogue ‘delivering’ the idea. The idea was to force myself to express primarily through visuals and non-verbal sound. Below is a day-by-day recounting of the learning process.

DAY 1

Lush: is eye-poppingly, verdant green

Creative process: I didn’t stop and think. I grabbed my DSLR and headed straight into the garden and began capturing extreme close-ups of leaves. I knew I wanted to try and capture the depth and the lusciousness of the green of a summer garden. After returning inside, I decided to score the film before editing and sat with my guitar and improvised along to what I imagined as the basic structure of the film.

I learned that: Spontaneity is good, but having a bit of a plan to begin with will leave me with a more cohesive end result. When I got into shooting, I started having other ideas and so the end product feels like a couple of things stuck together. Even in a 2 hour limit, you can stop and plan for a little.

My friend Shivaangee says: it’s very dramatic, the moody music and stalking camera at the top particularly.

I would develop: the progression of leaves breaking through the concrete, it was almost like a stop-motion animation. I’d love to try this in reverse and make a piece about how nature can be squeezed out by drab concrete.

DAY 2

Therapeutic: is anything that helps me cope without harming me in the process.

Creative process: I did a little storyboarding today before setting out. I wanted to take the picture-in-picture editing of yesterday and try a different arrangement. I had the idea of opposing elements: the feeling of being low and anxious in these dark interior spaces – my bedroom or living room – with these bright, outdoor spaces and humble things that I employ in opposition to that.

I learned that: I have to think of the overall composition, not just where the smaller image sits within the larger image, but how the elements within those images relate as a whole. For example, I found that a busy composition in the smaller image complemented a larger, simpler shot.

Shivaangee says: she feels like she’s in my head: What can she feel and see as Tom? It’s very contemplative but there’s an eeriness to it too. She liked having the time to focus on the details of these still images.

I would develop: There are more locations I’d love to go to, as it was raining a lot this day. I want to be even more meticulous planning the composition and inter-relatedness of the shots with what I’ve learnt here. I’d like to have a tripod or some camera stabilisation. I’d not use a wide-angle lens when I intend on cropping shots as I think this looked bad because of the distortions being abruptly cut off.

DAY 3

Tire: is the physical result of the relentless trying, day after day

Creative process: I quickly decided I wanted to tire the viewer out and a staring contest seemed like a fun idea. It was simple: I shot my eyes first, then spent the remaining time on the graphics/edit and wrote and recorded a quick script. I excused myself for breaking my rule a little here on verbal exposition.

I learned that: it’s odd creating a piece that relies entirely on how much the viewer leans into it. A lot of my effort went into coaxing them to stare. This is probably something you can only get reliably right by trying, failing, and adjusting until it works.

Shivaangee says: it’s all about oppression. It’s sinister and authoritarian, particularly the line “if you care enough”. It’s about a system that convinces people to be responsible for their own oppression. The interactive nature reminds her of OK Future, an immersive dance performance.

I would develop: I could add more sound design and fancier graphics, but it feels like tinkering around the edges. I didn’t feel excited by making this video – it wasn’t much of a challenge. I think I just wanted to make something I knew how to do after the last couple days.

DAY 4

Plastic: is dangerous, ubiquitous and can be a little annoying

Creative process: Plastic is such a good jumping off point that I actually shot 3 very different films today, but this was the only one I edited in time. It was the lightest of the ideas and had a little humour in it. The idea I wrote down was “PLASTIC BAG RUSSIAN DOLLS” and I think it does what it says on the tin. A simple idea executed well.

I learned that: I wanted to get better at looping videos as there’s scope on social media platforms to share work in this format. I also published this GIF version of the above film too.

Plastic.gif

Shivaangee says: it was 50 seconds in before I realised what was going on. Then it was fun spotting where the jump-cuts were. She felt it communicated the point clearly and in relatable manner.

I would develop: with more time I could have made the jump-cuts imperceptible, but as it was I was racing against the clock. I like the idea of doing a suite of short looping films on a single issue, as by itself it’s a little too lightweight.

DAY 5

Whine: is the tone of self-pity and pain

Creative process: An image that popped into my head: of my forehead and a finger tracing back and forth. With a sound, a high-pitched whine emerging from somewhere. I simply expanded from here to include the other aesthetics: medical, Roman sculpture, anxiety. It felt a very natural process and I knew exactly what I wanted to achieve. The walls were a happy accident though, I came to grade the film and realised that my bedroom was painted blue.

I learned that: you can have a lot of fun making something. This reminded me of my shorts, the satisfaction of translating mental imagery almost exactly into film for someone else to see. I also feel like this communicates something about my health anxiety that I can’t put into words. This is exactly why I am doing this project this week.

Shivaangee says: it’s visceral. She feels like she’s watching the opening to a horror movie, there’s a general sense something bad is going to happen. The piano cutaways are a little absurd but she likes it.

I would develop: I’d love to shoot this with a budget: in a proper location like the sculpture hall in the Walker Art Gallery, or even just on an infinity wall with a pedestal and Roman robes, just not my cluttered bedroom. I think I’d get rid of the piano cutaway shots and simply jump-cut to the ‘X’s on the skin. It was be fun to use stereoscopic sound when the finger is searching out the skin patches.

DAY 6

Unbecoming: is a weaponised word that tells people to conform, particularly how they present themselves

Creative process: I wanted to do something completely opposite from yesterday. I had no idea what the film would look like in my mind’s eye. I also wanted to get myself involved, as a performer, because it felt challenging. My interpretation was very personal, and I haven’t explored my Queer identity through this medium previously. I simply took my camera and a mirror to the bottom of the garden and improvised for about 12 minutes until my DSLR battery died.

I learned that: if you do this very improvisational and unstructured approach, the edit is hard. It was really hard. I was relying heavily on intuition at all stages: what felt right in the performance, what felt right in the edit. There was no intellectualisation beyond the basic premise, and this was very freeing. I loved it, even if it was a little scary.

Shivaangee says: this is very human. It conveys a feeling, an impression, a sense. There’s an awkwardness and vulnerability. It reminds her of contemporary dance, she can feel that it is improvised and there is a certain ‘live’ness that comes with that.

I would develop: I’d love to do more in this general area. Shivaangee and I talked a little about a clunkiness or artificiality that often creeps in in the process of applying craft to ideas. Improvisation seems to be a way to side-step this. This definitely feels more human, more real, than any of my other pieces this week. It’s the most radically honest and vulnerable I’ve made myself.

DAY 7

Better: you can either compare yourself to others or to your past self, but neither is wise

Creative process: I was hitting a lot of walls with this one. I had the idea to shoot against a piano as an image matte, and then layer up all of these actions with emphasis on strong action lines. However, it didn’t really work in the edit of a test I did, and so I quickly reshot using the window as a white ‘green screen’. By this point I’d fallen out of love with the idea.

I learned that: today felt like a bit of a failure. Was ‘better’ a difficult word to jump off from? Had 7 straight days of creating with no time off drained me? I’ve got a resulting film that is a little ironic on this point. The artificiality crept back in for me and the final piece felt laboured. I just had no energy to maintain perspective and switched into panic mode when running out of time and ideas.

Shivaangee says: it felt like I was in a mental space and the business was tiring for me as a viewer. I was witnessing turmoil.

I would develop: Going forward, I’d like to continue with some of this project. Maybe Shivaangee and I can do this one day a month or so. I really valued our critical engagement. It was also great to do some filmmaking where the majority of the time was spent creating and not thinking or planning or writing. I’m reminded of the ceramics class metaphor that a friend retold to me recently.

You can watch a full playlist of the videos here.

And you can read my friend Shivaangee’s account of the week here.