Creative Videographer Project: Stunning Choreography film test with Peter Groom

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As a creative videographer, I’m often drawn to projects that blur the boundary between movement, performance, and place.

This choreography film test with Peter Groom was an intuitive and fast-moving exploration of dance and image-making in the Northumberland landscape. Shot and edited over just two days, it brings together the powerful physical presence of dancer Léa Tirabasso with fragmentary scenes featuring Peter and another performer—two figures whose relationship seems to shift between intimacy and estrangement.

Léa, wearing feathered angel wings, moves through fields, hills and a sandy beach, her presence at once striking and otherworldly. There’s no obvious destination—her journey feels internal as much as physical. She might be lost. Or searching. Or haunted by a sense of purpose just beyond reach. These sequences are intercut with more intimate and surreal moments featuring Peter Groom and a second dancer. Their scenes take place in a field and on a golf course, echoing rituals of care, repetition, avoidance, and tenderness. Together, these threads suggest connection and distance, memory and movement.

Creative Videographer Project: Stunning Choreography film test with Peter Groom

There’s a tone to this piece that occasionally evokes the spirit of Pina Bausch—the way the performers inhabit emotion through gesture, the way the choreography becomes porous to the environment. The characters often interact with their surroundings, yet remain emotionally sealed within their own worlds. Even when they’re outdoors, there’s a sense of interiority. A kind of beautiful dislocation.

Pina Bausch has long been an influence on how I approach movement and framing as a creative videographer. Her collaboration with Wim Wenders in the film Pina (2011) left a lasting impression on me—not only for its stunning use of dance, but for the way it places performers within striking natural and urban environments. The contrast between the fragility of the human body and the scale or texture of the landscape creates a powerful visual and emotional tension. That film helped shape my own sensibility, particularly my interest in filming dancers in wide, open, or surprising locations.

There’s something deeply cinematic about watching a solo performer move through an empty field, a city street, or an industrial ruin—something that speaks to isolation, resilience, and beauty all at once. In this choreography film test with Peter Groom, I tried to echo that instinct: letting the landscape become more than just a backdrop, allowing it to inform and shape the movement, and using the camera to draw out that layered relationship. As a creative videographer, those are the moments I find most satisfying—where image, movement, and place become inseparable.

For me, this was less about telling a clear narrative and more about capturing feeling through camera movement, performance, and pace. It was a chance to work responsively—to let landscape, light, and improvisation shape the film. Being a creative videographer on this project meant embracing spontaneity, holding ambiguity, and finding rhythm in the edit.

I wasn’t following a script, but rather tuning into subtle cues: a shift in wind, a flicker of eye contact, the unexpected shape a dancer’s body might make against a hillside. It was about noticing those transient, expressive moments and allowing them to lead. In many ways, editing this piece felt like composing music—balancing contrast, silence, repetition, and flow. Sometimes a single glance or gesture held more emotional weight than anything spoken.

It’s that kind of quiet intensity I aim to reveal when filming movement and dance, especially in open, unpredictable environments. Projects like this remind me how much of filmmaking is about listening—to the performers, the space, and the unfolding moment. That sensitivity is at the heart of what I strive for as a creative videographer.

If you’d like to watch more of my work exploring community stories, creative resilience, and diverse subjects across arts, heritage, and the environment, you can explore all my films here: https://alanfentiman.co.uk/films-by-alan-fentiman/

You can also find more of my films about artists and creative collaborations here: https://alanfentiman.co.uk/artists-culture/

The Durham Hymns – Kiss The Bairns

This video captures a powerful performance of “Kiss The Bairns”, recorded live at Durham Cathedral as part of The Durham Hymns—a deeply moving musical work commemorating the centenary of the First World War.

Performed in the majestic setting of the Cathedral, the song blends original composition with historical testimony, drawing on letters and memories from the people of County Durham. “Kiss The Bairns” stands out as one of the most emotional moments in the piece, expressing the quiet heartbreak of parting and the enduring strength of love during times of conflict.

Filmed with sensitivity to both the music and the space, the video offers a glimpse into an extraordinary event that brought together composers, poets, musicians, and local communities to remember and reflect through sound.

As a filmmaker based in Newcastle and Gateshead, I was honoured to capture this performance and contribute to preserving such an important cultural moment in the North East’s shared history.

🎥 Filmed and edited by Alan Fentiman

📍 Based in Newcastle and Gateshead, working across the North East | alanfentiman.co.uk

Music Videographer in Newcastle: Captivating Shoot with The Lake Poets Onboard ~Flow

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This past month has been one of the most inspiring moments in my work as a music videographer in Newcastle.

I’ve just finished filming a live session with The Lake Poets onboard ~Flow—a floating tidal mill that’s become one of the most fascinating new spaces on the Newcastle Quayside. The video features the band performing their song “Friends,” and it’s part of a collaboration between Evolution Festival and ~Flow.

Being able to film music on ~Flow has been a unique experience. The mill itself is a piece of art and engineering, gently floating on the tide, creaking softly as the river moves beneath it. The Lake Poets’ acoustic performance felt perfectly at home in this environment. There’s something about the combination of music, water, and the wooden interior of the mill that makes the whole performance feel incredibly intimate and honest.

Music Videographer in Newcastle: Captivating Shoot with The Lake Poets Onboard ~Flow — Filming The Lake Poets onboard ~Flow

As a music videographer in Newcastle, I’m always searching for places that bring a story or atmosphere to a performance. On ~Flow, the natural light pouring in through windows created beautiful highlights and shadows across the performers. The gentle rocking of the mill added a subtle, organic movement to the footage. Rather than trying to eliminate that motion, I embraced it—it felt like part of the performance, part of the river.

I filmed, produced, and edited the video myself, with additional camera work from Oliver Smith and sound captured by Rich Bate. It was a pleasure working with both of them, sharing ideas and figuring out how best to capture the space and the music. Projects like this remind me why I love working as a music videographer—it’s not just about filming songs, but about creating films that capture a feeling, a place, and a moment in time.

The ~Flow mill is open to the public on the Quayside until September, and it’s well worth a visit. It’s part boat, part sculpture, and entirely an experience. I can’t think of a better setting to highlight Newcastle’s creative energy, especially during Evolution Festival.

Evolution Festival has always been a highlight for the North East, bringing incredible artists and huge crowds to the Quayside. This year feels extra special with projects like these happening alongside the main festival stages. The Lake Poets are also set to perform at the festival, and if this session is anything to go by, they’re definitely worth catching live.

I’m excited to share this video with everyone and to keep exploring the creative possibilities around music and film in the North East. For me, being a music videographer in Newcastle means constantly discovering new ways to combine music, place, and story—and this shoot on ~Flow has been one of the most rewarding examples yet.

If you’d like to see the video or check out more of my music films, you can visit my music films collection. What made this particular shoot even more memorable was that Lulu James was also onboard ~Flow that same day. Her incredible voice and magnetic stage presence brought a completely different energy to the space. Filming both The Lake Poets and Lulu James back-to-back was a brilliant reminder of how diverse and vibrant the North East music scene is, and how a single location can transform to suit such different artists.

Capturing those performances in such a unique setting is exactly why I love being a music videographer in Newcastle. Each shoot brings new challenges and creative rewards, blending music, place, and atmosphere into something truly special.

Music Videographer in Newcastle: Evolution Festival — Evolution Festival 2012

And if you’re at Evolution Festival this year, come and experience ~Flow for yourself—it’s open to the public and full of surprises. It’s the perfect chance to see how music and art can come together on the Quayside.