North Devon Moving Image is delighted to be working with the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon to create a collection of oral history films for their new social history gallery.  The gallery which will be housed in the new wing, currently under construction, will be laid out in five themes and we will be producing one film for each theme.

The first film, focusing on The World of Work, features Russell Maynard who worked as an apprentice cabinet maker at Shapland and Petter in Barnstaple in the 1950s.  Russell kindly welcomed us into his workshop where he not only showed us the wonderful pieces he is working on now but a collection of work dating back to his apprenticeship days.  One beautiful wood carving Russell has goes even further back to when he was ten years old and it is this piece that Russell believes helped him win his apprenticeship at Shapland and Petter.

We are currently researching film subjects for the remaining four social history gallery themes; Hatched, Matched & Dispatched, Town & Country, Highdays & Holidays and House & Home.  If you know of anyone who would has some great stories to tell, a fascinating collection of artefacts, photographs or home movies and would like to feature in one of these films then please do get in touch.

RUSSELL'S FILM COMING SOON...

James - As political turmoil surrounding the Brexit result takes hold with cheaper, lower quality products set to be imported from abroad, affecting the future of British agriculture; farmer Wayne Copp is preparing to face Brexit and ready his children as they prepare to become the 5th generation to work his farm.

​Linda - Rose Manning was born in 1945 and has been in farming all her life. Rose is the eldest daughter of 3 girls and she took the role of future farmer in the absence of her parents having a son.  Lifelong Farmer will be told through memories of Rose, through informal conversations whilst she is working with the animals and in the kitchen.

Florence - The film will focus on the Eveleigh family's recently begun 'meat box' scheme, an enterprise which sees them take their own livestock from their farm on Exmoor to the local abattoir in Combe Martin and produce high-quality meat boxes which they can then sell. The focuses on the importance the family place on a small, local abattoir, as this is a crucial factor in the animals' welfare but is often overlooked by the general public. 
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Holly & Jo - All Down Farm’s produce is eaten within a 20 mile radius of the farm.  By engaging with their wider community, market gardeners Olivia and Henry believe not only does this help to strengthen the resilience of the farm itself but also helps rebuild local food networks, links and relationships - links that were once at the core of rural farming communities.

Michael - The lambing season on Michael's family's farm.  Focusing on Michael's Mother, Sister Mel and her 3 year old daughter, this inter-generational perspective exemplifies the importance of women in the continuation of farming life.

Alice - Smallholder Leighton was brought up by the ‘make do and mend’ generation.  He spent his childhood embracing nature and making the most of all it had to offer. This reflects in the resourceful way he farms today.

Ariel - Wife & husband team Tina & Dan Jeffery fulfilled a life's ambition three years ago: to run their own farm. The National Trust's award to the Jefferys of the tenancy at Lower Brownsham Farm meant a challenging, tough new start “at the deep end.” "Through Josh's Eyes” aims to tell the story of the Jefferys, their hopes and struggles as relatively new tenant farmers, from the point of view of their children.

Educational Charity Into Film invited North Devon Moving Image to a creative challenge... to support a group of students at Great Torrington School to make a film in a day! 

Written and created by the students, aged between 12 and 14, "Missing" is a chilling drama: "When Lucy goes missing, everyone is trying to pin the blame on others. But while they are doing this, they are completely blind to the reality as to why she’s gone."

The students threw themselves wholeheartedly into the task and demonstrated their creative skills both in front of and behind the camera.

Amanda McCormack, lead film making facilitator for the day, said "For any film to be successful you have to start with a good story and the students wrote a brilliant one!  The young film makers and actors were really professional in their approach to creating their film in a day and I think you'll agree that their hard work has paid off".  Click below to watch the film on the Into Film Shorts YouTube channel.

Into Film puts film at the heart of the educational and personal development of children and young people across the UK - supporting schools to run film clubs, providing educational resources and training for educators.  If you want to find out more about running a film club or to see what else Into Film has to offer, visit their website.​

Community film making organisation North Devon Moving Image CIC (NDMI) is partnering with the Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon to share a collection of short films about farming heritage in north Devon. 

NDMI is calling for film makers to apply for a £1,000 documentary short film commission, Down on the Farm which will produce six short films about farmers and farming in north Devon.  The resulting films will be on show at the new social history gallery being created as part of the Museum's £1.8 million Long Bridge Extension.

Museum manager Alison Mills says "Farming is of course the foundation of life in North Devon, and of our wonderful landscapes, but the everyday aspects of this work are not well known to our increasingly urban populations.  As working practices are changing and many farmers are leaving the industry now is the time to record our area’s practices and peculiarities to enable people learn about and engage with our local heritage."

Amanda McCormack, Creative Director of NDMI says “We work with local people to create, collect and share short films about north Devon and our projects give individuals and communities a voice whilst celebrating our local heritage.”

“An important part of NDMI’s remit is to support and nurture film making talent and Down on the Farm is our very first film commission.  Thanks to our funders, each successful applicant will receive £1,000 to produce one film sharing the heritage and promoting the work of farmers and farming within the boundaries of North Devon’s Biosphere Reserve, including the coastal Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.”

The selection panel, comprising members of the TV and film industries, as well as farming and environmental organisations, will be looking for the most engaging stories and fascinating characters with the spirit of north Devon at their heart.  Applicants will need to demonstrate strong story telling skills, creative outlook and examples of previous work.

Amanda added “Our consultation for this project drew out plenty of farmers with great stories to tell, so if you are a film maker from outside the area we can put you in touch with willing subjects.  We will also have local volunteers on hand to act as location managers and researchers if needed.”

For all the project and application information visit northdevonmovingimage.org.uk, email Amanda McCormack, Project Manager northdevonmovingimage@outlook.com or telephone 01271 860610.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 1 August 2018.  

Amanda McCormack from North Devon Moving Image has been working as Artist in Residence with children from Appledore Primary School as part of the HLF funded Beaford Arts Hidden Histories project.

​Hidden Histories is opening up the Beaford Archive of photographs by James Ravilious and Roger Deakins with a major photographic conservation and digitisation exercise.

To complement the work they have been doing on their Hidden Histories community trail, the children interviewed local people reacting to photographs of Appledore taken by James Ravilious in the 1970s and 1980s.  They then recreated those scenes in dramatic tableaux to create ten delightful films celebrating both the work of Ravilious and the heritage of their village.

These young creatives loved finding out more about Appledore and following in the footsteps of James Ravilious.  They developed new photographic skills as well as becoming film makers and, of course, the stars of the films!

To watch the films visit our Hidden Histories page. To find out more about Hidden Histories and look through the newly digitised photographs visit www.beaford.org and for more about Beaford's Community Trails project click here.

We have been having a fabulous time working with children from Appledore Primary School to create a series of short films inspired by the photographs of James Ravilious.  We were lucky to have poet technologist Christopher Jelley joining us on set and he wrote us this lovely poem which sums up the exciting time we have had on this project.

North Devon documentary maker Martin Kemp has won the very first 2018 ARRI Doc Challenge film competition for his three minute film, Where the Land Falls.  The film sees Ed Strawbridge, a third generation dairy farmer at Down Farm in North Devon, looking at photographs of his family by James Ravilious. Ed reflects on how farming life has changed during his lifetime.

As a supporter of North Devon Moving Image (NDMI) and former film judge himself (for our Wild Shorts competition) we are thrilled that Martin is sharing his film with us for the NDMI collection.

The theme for the inaugural ARRI Doc Challenge was “Millennial”. As the winner of the competition, Martin received a cash prize of £3,000.  “For me, having the chance to play with the ARRI Amira for three days was an unmissable opportunity. It’s a wonderful camera and I very quickly fell in love with it. The challenge to shoot and edit a film in just three days is certainly tough but it’s a great discipline. Plus you have the privilege of being able to make the piece you want to make without commissioning editors!” said Martin.

Thank you Martin and well done.  A great film and doing the job that Ravilious did with his engaging photographs - preserving North Devon stories on film.

Young film makers at Petroc college in Barnstaple worked with Amanda McCormack from North Devon Moving Image (NDMI) to produce two short videos to help promote the work of Survivors Alliance North Devon (SAND). 

SAND provides a specialist counselling service in north Devon for adults who have suffered from sexual abuse or rape.  Supported by a grant from the Wace Family Fund via Devon Community Foundation; two groups of learners from the foundation learning programme at Petroc took part in the project.  The learners  chose SAND from a number of local charitable organisations who pitched for the free digital media support.

Director of SAND, Karen Black says;  "We were so delighted and felt privileged to be chosen by the students to design a multi media campaign that would help raise our profile in North Devon.  The whole process was made simple and fun by both the students and Amanda and we were highly impressed with the level of student interest and maturity relating to this difficult subject. We are over the moon that through this project many more people in this area will be able to receive help from Survivors Alliance North Devon CIC, and realise that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Chantal Tonks, lead tutor on the Foundation Learning programme at Petroc adds; “The project is really beneficial to our learners, not only to find out more about the services that are available to them in their community but to support an organisation that they have chosen to raise awareness for and to take responsibility for the way the project is delivered. When they see the final results of their work it gives each learner a sense of pride and achievement at completing a media project, that can seem initially challenging, but through learning new skills and working together they have created something that is creative and meaningful. “

Click here to watch the videos: ​http://www.northdevonmovingimage.org.uk/survivors-alliance-north-devon.html

North Devon Moving Image was approached by the Life on the Verge - Biosphere project to create some short promotional videos to raise awareness of their work.  We spent time with project coordinator Clare Manning and Life on the Verge community volunteers at Fremington Cutting on the Tarka Trail and the village of Knowle near Braunton.

Life on the Verge is working with communities around the North Devon Biosphere to develop knowledge and skills for conserving and improving their road verges for wildlife.  It was great to see so many people of all ages coming together in the name of nature!  See the three short videos below.

North Devon Moving Image CIC are offering one local charity the opportunity to have a free promotional video produced by young people at Petroc in Barnstaple.  
 
We have received funding from the Wace Family Fund (via Devon Community Foundation) to work on a digital media project with young people who are on the Entry to Employment and Careers Skills programmes.  The young people will produce a short video and additional clips for social media to promote a local North Devon charity.  The project will run from the beginning of November 2017 until March 2018, culminating in a screening ceremony to which stakeholders and press will be invited.
 
If any local charities are interested please could they contact me, Amanda McCormack, by email northdevonmovingimage@outlook.com with a summary of the work of their charity and a named contact by Friday 20 October 2017.  We will then put all the proposed partners forward for the young people to select who they would like to work with.  We will then invite a representative from the selected organisation to meet the young people and give them an idea of what they would like the promotional video to do for them.
 
To give an example of what the short film could look like please see our recent project in collaboration with the Encompass South West youth homelessness project, Streetwise http://www.northdevonmovingimage.org.uk/youth-homelessness---streetwise-north-devon--torridge.html