Film-makers pass on the knowledge

Erin Hansen, Gleaner Writer

"It all starts with you taking the first steps, you just have to have the passion to do it," director Storm Saulter explained to a crowded classroom of students and aspiring film-makers during the Manifesto Jamaica Festival on the weekend.

While rain pounded on the rooftop of the Edna Manley theatre room last Saturday afternoon, attendees of the Reel Vibes seminar listened keenly to the experiences and teachings of local director Storm Saulter, film editor Mykal Cushnie and Canadian photographer Che Kothari.

The seminar was a crash course in film-making and its teachers emphasised the importance of attention to detail, continuity, and creating an atmosphere.

Cushnie, who has worked on projects as far-reaching as Damian Marley and Stephen Marley's The Mission video to Digicel commercials, explained, "Editing is one of the more technical aspects of the process."

Reminding the attendees that film-making isn't always as glamorous as it is made out to be, he explained the importance of the editor's tedious job in composing a film's storyline.

Editing process

Showing segments from Busy Signal's shadowy Tic Toc video and contrasting it against the brightness of Michael Franti's Lil Bit of Riddim video, Cushnie displayed the various colour tones used in the editing process that can "cool" or "warm" a video's atmosphere, therefore changing the viewer's perception.

Saulter used the New Caribbean Cinema project as an example of how to make quality film shorts with limited time and financing.

"Don't try and make a huge movie in one day, just be simple and straight to the point," Saulter told the attendees, encouraging them to use any accessible flip camera to tell their story.

New Caribbean Cinema is a unique venture in Jamaican film that promotes projects from young film-makers, allowing them to create film shorts with low budgets.

Saulter showed a short film from a project titled Coast, written and directed by his brother Nile Saulter, which was filmed in Negril over the course of one day. The film had the tight editing and glossy cinematography of a large production despite its meagre 13-member project team.

"Being resourceful is the nature of what we are trying to get into here," said Saulter who talked about taking the steps to build a creative story without the massive funding of a Hollywood blockbuster.

In attendance at the seminar to help support young Jamaican film-makers was Boyd Grant who plays Kapow in Saulter's recently released Better Mus' Come. Boyd stated, "With the amount of talented kids in Jamaica, we should be producing more." He continued by saying that films produced in Jamaica by Jamaicans have been slow despite the talent because "unfortunately they are not getting the support they need".

The Reel Vibes seminar was a step in the right direction.

The seminar ended with an interactive lesson in film-making. The class was asked to participate in editing a video segment for the Manifesto Festival's Meet the Artiste, an interview with Rocksteady legend Ken Boothe.

While logistics of downloading the footage and uploading for editing were sorted out, some students began to slip out the door, leaving only the most avid learners to congregate around their teachers.

As the deadline approached, Cushnie's laptop slowed to a leisurely shuffle, and under his breath he remarked how this was a true lesson in film-making which, like so many things, is a practice in patience.