VIDEO: The Creators, which screened at Screen Social: #HELLO, directed by the Academy Award nominee Nanette Burstein.
We’d like to thank everyone that submitted and screened their film at Screen Social: #HELLO.
The evening was in support of housing & homelessness charity Shelter.
The Next Screen Social is on 12th August 2015 at The Book Club, Shoreditch
Stay tuned for more details on Twitter: @Screen Social
WE CAME, WE SAW, WE SAID #HELLO
From game changing ‘YouTubers’ and stalking-cats to Chatroulette and Vimeo, Wednesday’s Screen Social: #HELLO took us on a roam through the social video jungle, presenting a full line-up of submitted and curated film content along with a few welcomed surprises.
The evening began with a documentary released earlier this year from Academy Award nominee Nanette Burstein ‘The Creators’ giving us a glimpse into the lives of rising YouTube stars while framing the overall success of independent creators and their communities using the platform. Aside from revealing the level of engagement and loyalty these stars have from their fans; the film explores what brings about that trust and retention. Featuring beauty blogger Zoella, filmmaker and artist Tomska and comedy twins Niki N Sammy ‘The Creators’ isn’t just a film to give brands and marketeers insight into engaging millennial audiences – Burstein does a touching job of displaying the human figures inside the frame, exposing us to some touching moments, confessions of fear and all the obscurities that come with the territory of being a YouTuber.
From there, the evening began to explore our endless search for true connections in digital culture, with fingers glued to phones and faces basking in the light of laptop screens.
MAN MEETS BOY
‘Windscreenwiperman’ is filmmaker Sam Baron’s latest piece which aims to explore these issues directly – telling the story of a man who makes friends with a young teenage boy via Chatroulette. Selected as Vimeo’s ‘Short of the Week’ earlier this year, ‘Windscreenwiperman’ has you held in moments, watching two humans interact over the web, waiting voyeuristically to see who gets in a tangle and how. We were lucky enough to be joined by Producer Aidan Grounds and Actress Rebecca Herod to introduce the film.
VIMEO INSIGHT
Later in the evening Screen Social was lucky enough to be joined by Jordan McGarry, director of curation at Vimeo in a live Skype discussion, opening up the floor for the audience to ask questions. Jordan took us through the origins of Vimeo and it’s on-demand service before examining the possibilities of Vimeo growing a commissioning platform and commenting on the potential flexibility film festivals may have to adopt when accepting films that are already freely available online.
#SOCIALVIDEOEXPERIMENT
As we beared witness to film going social with shorts, animation, documentaries and live discussion, it was time to try something a little different without breaking the flow. LIVE and uninterrupted Screen Social welcomed Olly Reeves who performed some lyrically stirring and rhythmically purring original songs along with several solid covers – in his final year at The BRIT School, he’s a name to look out for.
Olly’s performance was streamed LIVE via Periscope, while our Screen Social friends in the crowd helped to film on their phones and produce a citizen crafted music video in support of an up and coming artist. If you came along and saw the performance, we’d love to get hold of any pictures or videos you may have taken during the set. Get in touch via play@screensocial.com
MATCH MADE IN BRITAIN
Screen Social was determined as ever to give a platform to emerging talents in the spirit of independence by welcoming submissions of any genre, length and topic on Wednesday evening.
We were joined by directors Jennifer Sheridan and Matthew Markham, who together created their film ‘Match’ whilst calling in a favour to make the film using a Phantom Camera. Set in the near future, ‘Match’ follows the story of ‘Billy’ as she prepares to represent her country in a deadly Championship game of ‘Darkball’. A hard, oozing and eastern influenced underscore mixes with a magnetic pace and build up of sequences, culminating in a sharp, smart and brooding short.
Other submissions included ‘Japanese Dr. Who’, directed by Joshua Kahan. A bizarre yet entertaining short that felt almost like a secret tape found in a far-out bootfair. Patrick Cederberg and Walter Woodman were kind enough to screen their film ‘Noah’ – an intelligent and captivating short that looks at how we receive, send and perceive information online. Best thing is, the narrative takes place entirely on the main protagonists computer screen.