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Ethics & Environment
I looked at a range of sources when making ethical considerations about my project; I wanted to think about how my project can give opportunities to young people from underrepresented backgrounds. This goes from my cast to my crew.
The British Film Institute has a range of diversity standards to meet. The diversity standards follow the 2010 Equality Act of Protected Characteristics. The diversity standards are ranging from on screen representations like A2, "minor on-screen individuals meet... the following targets: 10% LGBTQ+ 7% Deaf, significant amount of contributors from a lower socioeconomic background." to Industry Access and Opportunities such as C3 "Promotion to a role that constitutes career progression" which is for crew/team members from underrepresented groups. Standards C is Compulsory for all industry films to receive BFI funding. See Below for Grids.
Following these guidelines, I have considered an inclusive and diverse group of my crew and cast. I plan for my crew to be small: 4 people max, and my Cast to be around 5 including minor characters. As a storyteller, who happens to be black, I think it is important to cast black people. In my casting document 70% of the actors are black, 10% french national and 20% are English white.
I haven't assembled a crew yet, but will ensure an even gender split as-well as challenging people to progress what they are used to.
It is important to give consideration to where my film fits in a larger narrative
Film can and does have an impact, it is a form of media. Media forms impressions on the people that view it. As an example the film Birth of A Nation (1915) about the origins of the KKK saw the numbers swell to 5 million just a decade after the release. Even in modern cinema racism is still prevalent, for example The Hollywood Diversity Report in 2020 found only 26% of lead roles were from minorities and behind the camera it's even worse with only 10% of female directors black, 4% Latina and an increase yearly from 4% to 15% female directors.
Stereotypes are also a powerful thing, and something to be aware of; Typical stereotypes are Asian men are nerdy, Black men are violent, Black women are loud and aggressive. Latina Women are often cast for sex appeal. These stereotypes have been propagated in Hollywood for many years. Looking at my project. My character of an introspective and poetic black man provides the diversity of view, showing counter-type to the typical stereotype of a London black youth.
Stereotypes I do lean into are the cliche of "the Man" as a force of the 'system' and stereotyping commuters and working people as having soulless jobs. I have these stereotypes because they help quickly communicate information and allow my story to flow.
Another thing I am aware of is the portrayal of the Girl in my story, Personally I don't feel confident writing female characters because I am aware of the concept of the Male Gaze and writing authentic and deep female characters is something I don't feel like I do justice to. A consideration for this is to speak with female writers, show them my work and hear their feedback, another option is to watch films from female directors like Agnes Varda and learn from their writing and portrayals.
One personal concern of mine is having diversity for diversity's sake, this feels hollow and often seems to be what corporate types mean when they speak about diversity. For example a black side character merely exists for the reason they're black. This is very similar to the idea of Tokenism, prevalent in a lot of places from workplace to film.
I also made an effort to look into environmental impact. A wordpress blog called Greenfilm encouraged to think about.
Working digitally, sharing documents through email and google drive.
Encourage waste sorting
Public Transport/Carpooling
Reduced use of materials.
Eating organically/vegetarian
I also plan to cycle from location to location or use public transport. This will lower my teams carbon footprint but requires some preplanning to make sure we make each train/bus without wasting too much time.
Location Research
I plan to shoot in a few key locations, Honor Oak for the view at One Tree Hill and the nearby graveyard and recreational ground. This is where the closing and opening scenes of the movie will take place. Then traveling north to Shoreditch, I will film the journey and record the sound of the train. Then film around the central business district near Shoreditch.
The overground line is key for another reason.
It means I can take kit from college, get on the overground at Islington and bring it to location in under 40 minutes.
The Locations I've Researched Are
Camberwell New Cemetery
One Tree Hill
Abney Graveyard
Greenwich Tunnel
Bank Station
Barbican (Residential)
Camberwell New Cemetery Recce - Honor Oak
The location of Camberwell New Cemetery is nice because of the views it affords you around the city, you can see rows after rows of tombstones which lead into the vista of the city. The hillside is great, and it is close to another location called one tree hill that I want to shoot on. It is also in south London which is where most of my project will be shot.
One Tree Hill - Potential Location
One Tree Hill is a ten minuite walk from Camberwell New Cemetery, and a five minuite walk from Honor Oak Park Station. This is very useful to note when scouting as it means moving kit will not be difficult at all.
It affords great views of the London Skyline whilst being in a highly wooded area. I think this will juxtapose nicely with the themes of my film. Nature and the City
Abney Graveyard Recce - Stoke Newington
Abney was a completely different vibe to Camberwell,
I liked it visually, this is because it is very overgrown; extremely old gravestones that are tall and imposing; the vines are everywhere. I think this would give a weight to the look.
A con of Abney is the current construction works around the main area and the chapel, this coupled with the hard to navigate area makes some difficulties for the shoot - but doesn't mean its' impossible, far from it. Another con however is, Abney is in Stoke Newington which although close to the college is far from most other Locations I'm looking at.
Amy Winehouse shot her video Back to Black there, This is a nicely graded black and white music video that features the chapel and some of the gravestones. I think the chapel is what sells this and it is currently under construction sadly.
Greenwich Foot Tunnel - Potential Location
The Greenwich Tunnel is where I would want to shoot my underground tunnel scene. It is a pedestrian tunnel.
It has a disctinctly Victorian, gritty look to it and is easily accessed by the DLR station Island Gardens, meaning it is around 25 minutes from Bank station.
A con would be pedestrian numbers on either end, but early morning it should be pretty empty
Bank Station - Potential Location
I believe I would need a permit to shoot in the station, but Bank has a lot of winding passage ways when moving through to Monument. It could be shot there.
A mega con would be obtaining a permit which is expensive with TFL, another con would be the number of commuters there who would potentially ruin shots.
I think if I do shoot there it will be in transit and stealing shots.
Summary
The ethics and environment research really helped me to be considerate of my filmmaking. It is something I will carry with me into all films I make.
The Location Recce's were very useful and the planned locations although not recced were helpful in proceeding to plan my shoots.
Bibliography
Arnaud, J., 2022. Becoming a More Inclusive Filmmaker. [online] The Los Angeles Film School. Available at: <https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/becoming-a-more-inclusive-filmmaker/> [Accessed 25 April 2022].
BFI. n.d. BFI Diversity Standards. [online] Available at: <https://www.bfi.org.uk/inclusion-film-industry/bfi-diversity-standards>.
Equalityhumanrights.com. 2010. Protected characteristics | Equality and Human Rights Commission. [online] Available at: <https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/equality-act/protected-characteristics> [Accessed 25 April 2022].
Greenfilmmaking.com. n.d. [online] Available at: <https://greenfilmmaking.com/toolkit/production/> [Accessed 25 April 2022].
Vary, A., 2020. Women, People of Color Still Struggle Behind the Scenes, Study Says - Variety. [online] Variety.com. Available at: <https://variety.com/2020/film/news/diversity-hollywood-behind-the-scenes-ucla-study-1203494631/>.
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