Filmmaking Notes

Filmmaking Notes

Observations and reflections on documentary filmmaking

I make documentary films for artists, universities, museums and community groups across the North East. What I like best is getting proper time with someone in the space where they actually make things, whatever that looks like, and watching an idea take shape rather than hearing about it afterwards. These are notes from that work, written up in whatever spare time I get between shoots and edits. Some are about a specific project, working out how to film something that didn’t want to be filmed, or what happened when a shoot didn’t go to plan. Others are just me thinking out loud, kit, ethics, editing, why I still film the way I do. None of it is written with much of a plan. It’s closer to a working diary than a blog, so expect a fair bit of unfinished thinking sitting alongside the finished films.