For this project, I was inspired by watching ‘Three miles North of Molkom’ (2009), and wanted to create a film that focused on the workings of community. Originally, I was planning on doing this on a housing co-operative within London. However, this was the first problem I encountered on this journey as plans to stay and record with the community collapsed. Disheartened by this setback, I decided to try and focus on something a bit closer to home, but still wanted to keep the overall theme; community.
Plans started to come into place upon talking to an old friend who had recently moved to Margate, a once popular holiday resort on the east coast of Kent. Here she told me about her discovering the town and its people here, and what an amazing sense of community it had. Enticed by her praised words, I decided that I wanted to take this journey of discovery too, and set a date to take my camera down and do just that- record my journey. Carter, S. et al. (2014) argues that anthropological films are a reflection of experience that “invite us to enter into a flow of lived events through the movement of our own lives” (Carter, S et al., 2014: p453). This is exactly what I wanted to do with my film, by recording my own experience of travelling to Margate and experiencing the community. It is in this way also, that I took inspiration from MacDougall’s analysis of the camera as an extension of the self (MacDougall, D., 1998), and this can be seen within my methodology. For example, during the film, you can hear me respond to my interviewees, as well as tell that we are holding a very informal conversation. In several parts of the film also, you can see me in the frame. Either way, my presence within the film is very obvious, and this I wanted to do in order to engage with the audience through my journey and so to entice resonance. I also wanted my film to be like this in order to be fully reflexive in my work. For instance, Ruby (1980) argues that for an anthropologist to be reflexive, they must show themselves and their methodology throughout their work, and it is this that I hope I have done- by portraying myself within my film honestly on my journey.
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One problem I have with the film is, that because I wanted it to be a raw reflection of my journey of a day within Margate's creative community, the footage is quite shakey and, at times the sound is interview audio is overunn by background noise. However, I hope that the overall theme of my film is able to be seen through this, and may even add to the journey aspect.
The finished product I called ‘Creating communities’ and consisted of just over 8 minutes of footage mainly taken on my first trip to Margate- whereby I talk to three different residents; a micro pub owner, a restaurant owner and a new home owner. When I first started on my journey, I was unsure what kind of community I was going to encounter, if any at all, and it wasn’t until I talked to the locals and experienced the town that I knew what to focus on. Everyone who I spoke to when I asked about community in Margate mentioned the creative community- those who are putting back into Margate with their creativity. They spoke of Margate’s decline in recent decades, and its slow revival through the introduction of creative industries, such as the Turner contemporary art gallery on the sea front. It wasn’t just through these interviews, but it also became obvious whilst walking around town, the immense sense of community here driven by different art forms and practices. It is this that I hope I have been able to convey. For instance, I cut in images taken on my trip of the different places and sub communities I encountered throughout the interviews, to visualize what they are saying, but as well to engage the audience in my journey. Here i took influence from David MacDougall's (1992) comments on his film 'Photowallahs', whereby he uses film to capture the cultural significance of photography in India, and ultimately shows how it is both socially and historically influential. I took influence from this whilst filming and editing my film, by showing lots of clips of the types of art that my interviewees and others have created in Margate, and thus creating a community. This is also coincided with audio talking about the towns history and sociality in relation to both art and wider issues, and in this way, I hope to of help visualise the connection between art and culture through film.
In conclusion, I have found this journey to be interesting and eye opening to different forms of communities and their practices, although it hasn't been without its challenges. overall, I feel as though I have reconnected with my creative side, not just through the filming process, but also through for a day becoming a part of the creative community. This has definatly inspired me to be more creative in the future, and I hope that this has come across in my film.
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Bibliography-
-MacDougall, D (1998). Transcultural Cinema. Princeton University Press
-Carta, S, Hockings, P, Tomaselli, KG, Ruby, J, MacDougall, D, Williams, D, Piette, A & Schwarz, MT (2014), 'Where Is the Theory in Visual Anthropology?' Visual Anthropology, vol 27, no. 5, pp. 436-456
-MacDougall, D (1998). Transcultural Cinema. Princeton University Press
-Three Miles North of Molkom (2009), Third Eye Productions
-MacDougall, D., (1992). " Photo wallahs:" An Encounter with Photography. Visual Anthropology Review, 8(2), pp.96-100.