Culture Mile x The Smalls: bringing the oasis of the City to life
How do you encapsulate the idea of a place in 60 seconds? We were commissioned by Culture Mile and video commissioning platform The Smalls to create a film focusing in on Postman’s Park, a tiny oasis in the heart of the City of London.
How do you encapsulate the idea of a place in 60 seconds? This was the challenge posed by Culture Mile, led by City of London Corporation. We were commissioned by Culture Mile and video commissioning platform The Smalls to create a film responding to the theme of “Ancient and Modern”, focusing in on Postman’s Park, a tiny oasis in the heart of the City.
To create our film, we first delved into the history of Postman’s Park. It’s a fascinating site, a mix of the ancient and modern that acts as a microcosm of the City as a whole. Dating back to medieval London, it was formed by the joining of several grave sites when burials in the area ceased after a landmark act in 1857. This untouched space then became a new space for Londoners looking for a respite from the hustle and bustle of the City - notably the workers of the Post Office, who were so regularly seen in the park that it came to be known by its current name. Now, the park is most well-known for its Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice, a Victorian addition spearheaded by Frederic Watts.
Influenced by psychogeographic film, I wanted to give a sense of what it was like to actually be in the park, while dipping into its history and historical role as an oasis in the city. Key to this was a contrast between grainy Super 8 film elements (our ‘ancient’ element, with no offense intended!) and ultra-sharp 6K digital filmmaking. The ‘home movie’ association of these analog film elements invites viewers to consider the role of memory in our sense of place, a sentiment echoed by the sensory recollections of our contributors. These disparate images were presented over a 24-hour cycle, drawing together a few days of footage and interview gathering.
Filming in the park fell on two of the hottest days in British history; the park was packed, but its natural protection from the elements and cool leafy surrounds kept us and other patrons from overheating. Observing the coming-and-going through the park, we saw the breadth of London: financial services City workers hurrying through, builders and cleaners enjoying well-earned breaks, grieving patients of St Barts seeking respite in the oasis.
Composer Nicola Perikhanyan, a graduate of Culture Mile partner Guildhall School, worked to reflect the ancient & modern theme in a specially composed soundtrack that mixes contemporary ambient influences with organ and choral instrumentation.
You can watch the film at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpyyB38azDE
And find out more about Culture Mile on their website: https://www.culturemile.london/about
To find out more about our work, get in touch, or visit our main site to find out more.
How to make remote production work for you
Remote production has become an alternative that brings in a lot of flexibility and the possibility of increasing diversity and inclusivity in productions. Here’s how to make remote production work for you.
The global pandemic and its social distancing protocols forced most industries to adapt to working from home. Production companies had the challenge to find ways to continue shooting video content without being in the same room, and that’s how we witnessed the rapid rise of ‘remote video production’.
In pre-pandemic life, if you heard the term ‘remote video production’, you might have associated it with sending a crew to remote locations of the world. Today, it basically means a decentralized production model, in which the creative team doesn’t have to be physically present in the same location. But how is that possible?
If the pandemic had happened 10 years ago, we wouldn’t have the infrastructure necessary to support remote production, but the technologies available today allowed for it to happen. Web-based solutions such as Zencastr make it now possible to record high-quality audio anywhere without installing anything, and in-person remote solutions like PTZ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras can be controlled by a remote operator to pan horizontally, tilt vertically and diagonally, and zoom in on a subject, making it possible to record broadcast-quality video remotely. These technologies make it viable to interview someone without actually having to be there, and through the power of the Internet, editing, mixing, color correction and mastering can easily be done at home.
Remote production has become an alternative that has brought flexibility to many and a solution to a problem, and many companies are now increasingly looking towards keeping a hybrid remote production model. As with other types of remote work, remote production brings in a lot of flexibility and the possibility of increasing diversity and inclusivity in productions. By not being restricted by physical location, it is possible to reach a wider range of participants, such as young people, people with access needs, and people from other parts of the world. It also allows filmmakers to be based in different places, breaking out of the London bubble.
What does this mean for clients? Remote video production is safe, cost-effective, flexible and efficient. It fits a wide variety of cases, including those in education, corporate settings and government. Recording, streaming, live broadcasting and post-production services are all available as part of the solution. Coordinating with filming crews can be a lengthy process, so remote production also allows for shortened production times and quicker turnarounds.
Through research and client collaboration, it is possible to develop best practices and strategies for each remote project to have the best outcome. If you have a project in mind, get in touch with Mountain Way today.
How to make your next video shoot sustainable
There’s no reason not to shoot sustainably these days. Ethical, environmentally-friendly film and video production is now an accessible and realistic aim for all projects; but where to begin?
There’s no reason not to shoot sustainably these days. Ethical, environmentally-friendly film and video production is now an accessible and realistic aim for all projects; but where to begin?
For a client planning video, or a small film production with tight margins, it can feel like yet another set of checks to contend with. But it doesn’t have to be— it’s about normalising small actions that add up to larger sustainable practices. Ultimately, your project won’t just be more environmentally-friendly, but a nicer place to work too.
A great place to begin is with ALBERT. Set up in 2011, ALBERT supports film and TV organisations, big and small, to “understand their opportunities to create positive environmental change”. ALBERT is built on two key mandates:
To Inspire; empowering the industry to create content that supports a vision for a sustainable future
To Restore: enabling the industry to make positive contributions to the environment while actively eliminating waste and carbon emissions from production
Still from Mountain Way Film, Growing People, Not Produce.
At Mountain Way, we’ve been incorporating the ALBERT guidelines into our production proposals for several years, and it’s becoming ever-easier to enshrine the guidelines into our clients’ projects. Being clean, green and sustainable isn’t a nice add-on anymore— it’s the way we do business. Here are some of the ways we’ve built a sustainable practice into our production model:
Meat-free, zero-waste catering. Our preferred caterer is committed to providing healthy meat-free meals that do not generate large amounts of waste. When we provide catering, portions and costs-per-head are carefully calculated to minimise food waste. We aim to use washable cutlery and crockery sourced as opposed to disposable single-use food containers.
No single-use bottles. On our call-sheets, all cast and crew encouraged to bring their own water bottles. Production water bottles are labelled and reused from tap-water throughout production.
Where print scripts and paperwork are required, double-sided A5 printing is preferred. Print copies of production paperwork are usually limited to master reference copies, held by the producer; digital copies are circulated to cast and crew, with additional printouts by request only. A tablet is your best friend here!
Use of rechargeable batteries wherever possible.
Recycling facilities provided on-set. It’s a tiny step forward from a black bin bag, but sorting your rubbish and recycling responsibly is one of the most significant impacts we can make.
Pre-production meetings to use video-conferencing to reduce travel. Even before COVID-19, the rise of video-conferencing tools meant that this was an important, and overlooked tool. Now, it’s something that we think will be hard to leave behind!
Where possible, we avoid using petrol or diesel generators. Check with location venues to access wired mains power and use responsibly!
Think about the distance that people, and equipment are travelling. Is there anything you can recruit closer to your location? A useful side-effect of this is helping to ensure employment opportunities in the areas in which you are filming. This saves on emissions and travel, and contributes to local economies.
Use of LED panels for primary lighting.
Encourage car-sharing and use of public transport to locations.
If you’re looking for sustainable video production for a new project, get in touch with Mountain Way Pictures today.
Why is Upskilling Emerging Talent Valuable
Mountain Way Pictures work with programmes and clients that offer early career development for creative people, and to provide that support for them through our own practice too
The creative industries are of huge importance to our country, with the UK being a global leader in the sector, but they have always been notoriously hard to break into. Often people have to hustle and pursue creative projects while working in other industries, and the routes to entry are usually informal, relying on personal networks and unpaid internships.
The economic effects on the job market since the coronavirus pandemic have made it even harder for young people to start their creative careers. At the same time, the impact of rapidly-evolving technologies are especially visible in the sector, and its future depends on skills, developing creative talent and the diversity of voices. Because of this, it is now more important than ever to create measures and opportunities to help young people access and develop those careers. How can this be done?
There are a number of programmes that offer early career development for creative people. A good example is Creative Kickstart, a job creation scheme founded by the Department for Work and Pension that provides funding to employers to create six-month job placements for 16-24 year olds currently receiving Universal Credit. There are also several charities, platforms and collectives that offer support for young people, usually aiming at advancing equality and representation in the creative industries.
Besides these programmes, employers play an important role in creating opportunities for young creatives. By recruiting and training new talents through apprenticeships and traineeships, young people from different backgrounds can earn money while they develop the skills and knowledge needed for their chosen occupation. At the same time, companies have access to a fresh and unique perspective from young minds, and can develop a growing talent pipeline to support the growth of the sector.
Still from Terima Kasih, our first Emerging Creators project.
Throughout the years, we at Mountain Way Pictures have made a concerted effort to work with programmes and clients that offer early career development for creative people, and to provide that support for them through our own practice too. We have employed a trainee in our shoots, we have worked with the Young Creatives programmes for the Barbican, for the Apprenticeships project for the Royal Opera House, and with clients like A New Direction, a non-profit supporting young Londoners to be creative.
We also run our own programme supporting young creatives. Through Emerging Creators, young creatives can apply to receive a free promo video for their creative businesses. You can find out more about the programme in an interview with Laura Cabañas, a graduate fashion designer we selected for the first edition in 2020. Our fashion film showcasing her most recent work debuted at the Milan Fashion Film Festival, and screened as part of a London Fashion Week event. We are currently running our second edition this year, focusing on the gaming industry!
If you’re working on a project involving creative careers or emerging artists and are looking to produce a video about it, get in touch to chat.
A film can be a powerful tool for your non-profit organisation
When it comes to nonprofits, charities and arts organisations, a film has the power of provoking strong emotional connections with their audience, and therefore is a great way to communicate and build trust with supporters and the public.
Video content is being increasingly consumed by people in digital media such as Youtube and Instagram. It has become an incredibly powerful marketing tool and research shows that video will make up 82% of all consumer Internet traffic in 2022.
When it comes to non-profits, charities and some arts organisations, a film has the power of provoking strong emotional connections with their audience, and therefore is a great way to communicate and build trust with supporters and the public. Every charitable organisation works in favour of an important cause and has an impactful story to share. This makes people more likely to understand the work they do, to give donations and to engage in taking action such as spreading awareness and volunteering.
Mountain Way Pictures specialise in producing films for charities and arts organisations. See below some of the different types of videos that can be used to engage your audience.
Students researching St Ethelburga for Barbican Centre project Barking Nuns.
Profiles and Case Studies
A profile video has the purpose of giving people an insight into what your organisation is about. It should be short and to the point while setting the tone for your brand. Adding it to your website home page is an effective way to get people’s attention. This allows you to tell a story while informing people about your work in an engaging way, and therefore increase donations and support.
Case studies videos allow your supporters to understand the true impact of their donations and feel like they are actually making a difference. By showcasing true stories of people you’ve helped, the audience can feel a connection with the subjects and imagine how others would feel in the same situation. You can watch here a video we created for the Barbican, showing their one year-long artistic residence Change Makers and the impact it had on a group of young people.
Reggie Nelson tells his story in campaign film Change Starts Together for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal.
Campaigns
Whether you are fundraising, trying to get people to engage in your programmes or need to put the word out for something important, video is probably the most effective way to communicate your message. There are many ways in which you can communicate to engage your audience according to the results you are looking for, and it is also a great way for people to share your content with others.
For example, we created a series of five films exploring social mobility in the City to launch the Change Starts Together campaign for the Lord Mayor’s Appeal. We focused on the life experiences of five key individuals, centering the telling of their life stories in their own words, and using emotive portraiture to forge connections with the viewer. You can watch it here.
We have also worked with the Royal Opera House creating videos to celebrate their apprenticeship programme. Following a number of hero apprentices during their day at work, we showcased the diversity of jobs across their different sites and departments. You can watch it here.
Animation helps tell the impactful story of Solly Irving in Jewish Museum London film Solly’s Story.
Documentaries
Usually longer than other types of videos, documentaries allow you to explore a subject or a story with more time, and it is a great way to inform and educate people about important issues that charities work with through storytelling. For example, our film Love Letters from Fandom follows pupils from two schools as they explore the theme of ‘love’ with an emphasis on the love that comes from fandom; Chance to Dance is a 20 minute film showing a programme run by the Royal Ballet that reaches out to local communities and dance teachers to devise a performance with a group of young people; and Solly’s Story is a documentary we did for the Jewish Museum about the life story of Solly Irving, a Holocaust survivor.
Mountain Way works through collaboration and giving voice to participants. We understand how to navigate sensitive topics and create a welcoming production environment. We research the topics we depict, experiment with new ways of working and devise new aesthetic approaches to create innovative, cinematic films. If you feel your organisation could benefit from a film, get in touch with us to discuss how we can work together.
Emerging Creators: making our first fashion film
When the pandemic stopped Laura Cabañas’ graduate fashion show, Mountain Way stepped in.
In 2021, we ran our first edition of Emerging Creators, a scheme that offers new talent a free film to promote their projects. From a range of talented applicants we selected graduate fashion designer Laura Cabañas and together we created our first fashion film.
Laura Cabañas knew from a young age that she wanted to work in fashion. Born in Spain, she moved to London when she was 19 years old, and studied Fashion at London Metropolitan University. A few years later, amidst a global pandemic, she managed to graduate.
Unable to do a catwalk show due to COVID-19 restrictions, she didn’t really know how to show her work to the world and start her desired career. While she looked for opportunities, she stumbled across Emerging Creators, and thought a fashion film would be the best way to show her pieces to a world that had suddenly gone mostly digital.
She applied, got selected, and together we started working in our first fashion film, showcasing her new collection ‘Terima Kasih’, which was inspired by a trip she did to Indonesia the previous year. Influenced by the country’s richness of colours, she wanted to do a homage to their culture by incorporating some of their techniques such as weaving and traditional dresses into her streetwear collection. She describes the process of working with Will and George:
“While working with Mountain Way, they helped me come up with a concept, look for the right location for the film, prepare everything for the shoot, and of course, film and edit the video. The whole process was so nice and easy with them. We have been able to achieve what we wanted to and I really recommend the Emerging Creators scheme for any emerging designers or creators who don’t have a budget.”
Cabañas’ fashion film was officially selected to debut at the Fashion Film Festival Milano later this year. Now she is working with two new clients that are creating their own clothing lines, and on her own fashion brand that was launched six months ago.
You can follow Laura here.
The Emerging Creators 2022 call for entries is now open, focusing on game developers. You can find out more and apply here.