The Slice: Somerset
Talking and eating cake with the people who make living, working and visiting Somerset great.
The Slice: Somerset
Talking with Pip Harris, Producer at Somerset Film
I so enjoyed talking to Pip Harris, a young producer at Somerset Film. She spoke with such eloquence and passion about how and why she believes film and digital media are important within our communities, giving people who are sometimes unheard a voice and enable wide sharing of unique stories, forgotten histories and important factual information in easily accessible ways. Oh yes, and we eat cake... at least I do, Pip was too shy to munch her's on air so scoffed it down earlier in the day... :)
Find out more about Somerset Film
Find out more about The Engine Room
Find out more about the British Film Academy (BFI) Academy and Club
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Lynne O'Halloran 0:08
Hello and welcome to The Slice. Each week I'll be eating a slice of something nice and talking to the people who make living in Somerset, great. My name is Lynne O'Halloran and my guests come from all walks of life. But they all share one thing in common, a passion for the county of Somerset and a desire to make it a great place to live to work or to visit. If you feel the same way about Somerset, follow The Slice on your favorite podcast player and give yourself some time to listen, relax and discover more about the people who are making Somerset life simply great.
Hello, and welcome to the slice Somerset. I'm delighted my guest today is Pip Harris, who's a producer for Somerset Film, which is an educational charity and film production company that's based in Bridgewater, Somerset. Hi, Pip. How are you today?
Pip Harris 1:03
Hi, Lynne. I'm very good. Thank you. Yes, keeping warm.
Lynne O'Halloran 1:08
It's that time of year! I think the first question really is, you know, what's the main purpose of Somerset Film? What does it exist to achieve?
Pip Harris 1:18
Well, it's mainly to help promote digital skills and film and media, and really in communities that might not otherwise access it, and so we do a lot of community based projects. But we're also a working production company at the same time. So we are commissioned to make films. But yeah, the main sort of purpose, and I think what we say in terms of, you know, our mission statement, is to empower individuals through film and technology. And it's yeah, really, in terms of helping people access that, which maybe they wouldn't have had the opportunity to in any other scenario.
Lynne O'Halloran 2:00
What is it you think that's sort of special, I suppose about film and digital technologies that you can enable communities to feel empowered? And makes it, you know, as an art form worth, I guess, investing in through, you know, taxpayers money and grant funding, and all the sorts of things that I'm sure enable you to keep going.
Pip Harris 2:23
Yeah, I think part of it is, in terms of arts, it is one of the more accessible mediums, I think, You know, a lot of people are able to watch film or television, whereas not everybody feels comfortable, or smaybe has access to a theater or you know, going along to a production, although there's some brilliant arts organizations that are helping to make that more accessible. Particularly, you know, with the advances in technology over the last, you know, really 10 to 15 years, since The Engine room started, you've got a recording device in your pocket with your phone, there's a lot of people now being able to record and film their own documentary or factual or fiction film. It's quite accessible for a lot of people now. But I also think, in terms of the art sector, there's a lot of artists or arts organizations that we work with as well, because generally, they want to document what they're doing and one of the best ways to do that is through film, really. So I think that's why it's still and will continue to have a place. And also I think it's just a brilliant storytelling device. What we do a lot of actually, at the Engine Room and at Somerset Film is archive, kind of digitizing archive films and some of that is really fascinating as a historical record as well, not just Bridgwater, but you know, Somerset as a whole. And that's something we kind of weave into our own projects and productions. And it's something a lot of people of all ages have a big interest in as well.
Lynne O'Halloran 4:06
So is that converting, you know, film, like 'real' film, shall we say, into a digital format?
Pip Harris 4:16
Yeah, so it could be anything. it could be, you know, from newer formats, like DVDs and those sorts of things into a file that you can then have on your computer. But we do a lot of kind of 16 mil 35 mil film, lots of cinema films, actually where people might have recorded it on a eight mil or a Super Eight camera in the 80s and don't want to kind of lose that record. Also something we're doing periodically with our own archive, we get donated a lot of films and we also have a lot of archive film that we've collected over the years or, you know, originally, when the Engine Room kind of started, we were using film, whether that be tapes or whether it be a traditional 35 mil film, so we've also got that to transfer and digitize as well. So, yeah, that's quite a big project. But it's fascinating, some of the films were donated, and especially in Somerset you know, you have all the accents. We did a project last year called Down by the River, which was a film commission from the Somerset Rivers Authority, looking at the flooding in Somerset, and the issues and the risks there. So kind of maybe focused on Martock, and you know, the areas they had that awful flooding. So alongside those screenings of Down by the River, we also had archive films from each of the areas we were filming it in. And that went down really well. And actually, people were fascinated by that kind of archive film. That is part of what we do and I think that is a really useful, but also necessary thing because film and any type of medium like that deteriorates so actually, there gets a certain point where that might not be an option any more to save the recording. And it would be such a shame, if that is completely lost. Whereas obviously, if it's digitized, you have a digital backup of it and something that's obviously in today's day and age a lot more shareable and can then put it online and a lot more people can then have access to it. Because it hasn't been digitized before, only a handful of people would have seen it in its original medium. So it's quite exciting. It's kind of new content in a way. But obviously, a time capsule at the same time.
We have college students that particularly want to use film, or a cinema camera and and have come to us for those sort of things. Because you do get a certain aesthetic from it, which you can replicate in editing programs now with filters and those sort of things, but the authenticity of the actual thing is very, yeah, it's very different, and you can tell, so yeah, there is definitely a growing interest in that. I think in the same way with music, vinyl is kind of, you know, come back around, isn't it? I think film and a lot of you know, even though it's very expensive, a lot of feature films, still film on film, although a lot of it has moved over to digital. Yes, some still film in that medium, because the quality is still up to standard. Really, it just it makes it more of an expensive production because obviously you're paying for something physical rather than like a digital format.
Lynne O'Halloran 7:57
Yeah, I mean, it's, it's good to hear because it just sort of broadens the choice, you know, that people have for how they want to, you know, create and deliver their creative project, isn't it?
Pip Harris 8:12
Yeah, and I think a lot of artists, you know, particularly people who are more tangible, in terms of their art do like something you can see something you can touch, and that is something film, as you know, obviously has to its credit, because when you're editing it, you are literally cutting it and self taping it back together, whereas digital editing is very different.
Lynne O'Halloran 8:37
Yes it just makes your eyes burn.!I mean, it's like people that, you know, want to go back into the dark room, for photography, you know, there's a certain sort of magical quality to that and, a skill and, you know, techniques that can be employed that like you say they can be replicated, but, you know, sometimes it's better to go the long way round isn't it really, the hard way!
Pip Harris 9:03
Yeah. And I also think there's a bit of nostalgia attached. Yeah. which always makes something a bit more magical, doesn't it?
Lynne O'Halloran 9:09
Yes, the challenge of it. So Somerset Film, when did it begin? And how did it get set up?
Pip Harris 9:16
Yeah. So we recently celebrated 25 years of Somerset Film, which was really started by our founder, which was Phil Shepherd, along with some other people. And it was mainly for, similar to what we do now, in terms of having a production company but also a charity that helps gives access to people to filmmaking skills. And originally it was kind of traveling around to different venues, because obviously there wasn't a base right at the beginning. But then Phil worked really hard to secure a venue and kind of get that funding and that's where the Engine Room came about in 2003. So we're celebrating 20 years of the engine room in 2023, which is fabulous, because actually, a lot of similar charities that would have been about the same age have kind of come and gone. It's a real feat to stay afloat. Things have changed throughout years, I think what's been great at Somerset film is they've really flexed and adapted to new technology, and the research and development side of that has really helped in terms of keeping it current, I think, to new audiences and new communities. And it's also just like a really accessible, really nice place to come along and learn a new skill or just kind of socialize, really. So yeah, it started started 25 years ago, obviously, with the engine room in 2003, that made kind of a media hub for the charity. So they were able to have a place to store equipment that people could then hire out for their own projects, also had drop ins, which meant people could come in and use the equipment. and, you know, learn a skill, whether that was editing, ask the technician about those sorts of questions they might have had if they've tried to do it themselves. So kind of like a free advice, service, I guess in terms of anything you might want to learn in the film and digital area. And that's really carried through to what we do still today, we still have the drop in sessions with our technical manager, Dan. So you can book in a technical session with Dan for an hour, and that's free to access and that means that you know, whether it's photography or piece of equipment, or whether you want to learn a piece of editing software, you can have a one to one session with Dan, and really get a great introduction to that. And then follow that on with potentially some of the workshops or courses that we deliver throughout the year, which we have kind of wide breadth of subjects and mediums. And then if you're a filmmaker locally, we do regular Junctions. So we do quarterly junctions, where you can come in and screen your work to an audience. And it doesn't have to be a finished piece of work. A lot of people who are filming documentaries and might want to come and show one or two minutes or an interview that they've shot and get feedback from peers. So that's a great way of not only networking, but also creating a community of local filmmakers. And that's something we're really passionate about as well in terms of developing local talent. So another thing that we deliver is our BFI Film Academies and clubs. So they're for young people, the academy is for 16 to 19 year olds, and that runs twice a year and one of them is a week course and the other ones kind of over weekends in January and February. And that's an amazing opportunity for that age group to get masterclasses from industry professionals, they'll script film and edit a short film and have that then as a piece of their portfolio to take away in terms of adding to a show reel if they're going to be applying to universities or potentially employers if they're going straight into the industry. So that's amazing opportunity and something we definitely recommend people applying to and checking out on the website if you're in that age group.
Lynne O'Halloran 13:38
Is that a free Academy?
Pip Harris 13:42
Yeah, there's a small cost. It's just 25 pounds, which goes towards funding. But otherwise, it's funded by the BFI because we're one of the BFI program partners. But if 25 pounds is an issue and you know, if that's a barrier for some people, then we do have a bursary, which means that that can be waived. But also we have a BFI Film Club, which we piloted last year, and have just delivered in October half term of 2022 in Minehead, and that's for slightly younger age group, so 12 to 15 year olds, but it follows a very similar format where they'll act and script and shoot and edit a short film. So that's an amazing introduction to film as well.
Lynne O'Halloran 14:33
Can I, perhaps with a tuck and a bit of extra makeup pass for 19?
Pip Harris 14:41
I've been trying to get away with that. Yeah, because it is I mean, we've had masterclasses, in the past have been Mick Audsley who's the editor of Pinocchio that's just come out, but also some of the Harry Potter films. So really, you know, amazing industry professionals. that will give you loads of great information. And I don't know where else you would get that kind of opportunity to ask question to people working in the industry
Lynne O'Halloran 15:19
The other thing that I know the Engine Room does have is a cafe. So you can just go in for a sneaky cup of coffee and a piece of cake, of course. And I'm wondering, did you bring along a piece of cake to share today?
Pip Harris 15:33
I didn't, I did have a cake earlier from the cafe.
Lynne O'Halloran 15:38
Well. So go on, tell me what you had then in the cafe earlier.
Pip Harris 15:42
It was a red velvet cupcake. And it was it was really good. And it was gluten free as well, because I try and eat gluten free. And they have loads of great options for anybody that is gluten free, or is vegan because it is a vegan and vegetarian cafe. So it's really inclusive in that sense. And it's something we're looking to expand in the future, because we've got plans for the building. Currently, the cafe is quite narrow in its size. Although it's kind of nice and intimate, we would like to open that out into what is currently Studio One, to create a more flexible space for people, especially artists, to exhibit their work. So it's kind of an exhibition cafe and also an opportunity for us to have a slightly bigger screening space as well, because we do screen films at the engine room too. And that would enable us to have a nice kind of open space.
Lynne O'Halloran 16:40
Yeah, so nice sort of a social space for people to gather.
Pip Harris 16:45
And yeah, Andrea our cafe manager's an amazing cook. And yeah, it just wafts up the stairs.
Lynne O'Halloran 16:57
So does she do all the baking then?
Pip Harris 16:59
Yeah. baking and cooking. So yeah, a lot of it is homemade. Yeah, it's, it's lovely to have that in a work environment.
Lynne O'Halloran 17:09
Yeah, it's lovely, but not good for the waistline. Well, I'm glad that you ate yours early because I also ate most of mine. But I'm gonna have a little nibble. I've actually gone just to Tesco today ,Tesco finest. I couldn't kind of get out to a bakery. But these are particularly good. So a caramel slice. Do people call this Millionaire's shortbread? Maybe..sometimes?
I'll have a little okay.
Pip Harris 17:40
This is why I ate mine earlier, i wasn't sure abuot the munching sounds!
Lynne O'Halloran 17:45
I'm used to it now. I don't care. That's very good. You know, I do like a local bakery. But you know, sometimes the supermarket does come up trumps and I can't resist anythingwith a big thick layer of chocolate on the top.
Pip Harris 17:57
No, nor, me. That's my vice , yeah anything chocolate.
Lynne O'Halloran 18:04
Yeah, well, next time I'm over in Bridgwater, I'll have to come in and try one of your homemade cakes, they sound delicious. Yeah.
Pip Harris 18:21
We've got great equipment. And sometimes that can be scary, you know, people might have a little bit of experience in filming or recording or maybe not none at all, but just interested in what we've got. And actually, like I said, with Dan's technical sessions, even if you have no experience, and you want to kind of learn more about kit, that's a great way to do it. You can spend an hour with Dan, he can talk you through what kit we've got. And yeah, it kind of makes it a little bit less scary.
Lynne O'Halloran 18:55
I'll head over and see if he can help me with some of my audio editing.
Pip Harris 19:00
Yeah, definitely. I mean, we've, we've run podcast, podcasting workshops previously. Yeah. I mean, the he's the best person to ask.
Lynne O'Halloran 19:09
Yeah, I mean, it's a steep learning curve for people I think, you know, there's a lot of people who might be interested, but it's like, how do you even begin? So I think what, you're offering and the work that Dan does is invaluable really? It's fantastic to have that on our doorstep. Yeah. So I guess I mean, we've obviously talked a lot really about the sorts of things that the people of Somerset can access at the Engine room, but I'm still kind of interested, I suppose in this idea of of how film empowers people.
Pip Harris 19:41
I think it's a really great way of sharing a story, actually. And there's lots of different groups that we work with, whether that's schools or you know, younger people, older people, or kind of marginalized communities. If any, yeah, any kind of group that has a story to tell, I think it's, it's empowering in that sense, because although it can be a bit scary to be filmed, and actually, I do prefer being behind the camera because that reason, but it's, you know, very quickly, once someone kind of settles in and relaxes into that, you can really capture some great interviews and experiences from people that might not otherwise be shared. And I think because people as I said, because film is a bit more accessible. and because you have YouTube and those sort of platforms, where you can access that freely, it means that those kind of stories that might not otherwise been shared very widely or might have stayed within a community, they can then be accessed by a large group of people. And I think that really helps us all to understand what it's like to be in someone else's shoes or another's perspective that we might not have come across in everyday life otherwise. So I think that's it's really empowering in that sense. So I think, although there is an element of, you know, technical ability in terms of being a filmmaker, it's a learned skill, really, and in the first instance, like I said, with the phone, with a device that a lot of people do have, you can start making your own documentary very quickly. You don't need to have industry standard equipment. And actually, there are feature films that have been filmed on iPhones previously. So you could argue that maybe in an iPhone is industry standard now. We see it a lot on social media, don't we? There's a lot of video content. So it's a way of sharing a story. It's very popular, but also in terms of longer form content, such as documentary filmmaking, or making a kind of fiction film, whether that's script writingiting that and then filming it. I think those sorts of things, particularly in rural Somerset, or in areas that are outside of cities, I don't know any other kind of charity or organization locally that does offer that access, particularly when the engine room first started, I can't imagine there was really anything. But yeah, now obviously, there's a few more kind of arts organizations that are leaning into digital, which is great. But in terms of a film focused organization, I think we're probably one of very few.
Lynne O'Halloran 22:53
Yeah, pretty unique. It's interesting I think you mentioned excuse me that there are BFI Academy was running in Minehead? You know, so not everything that you do is delivered from the Bridgewater location. Because obviously, in this county travel can often be a challenge for people.
Pip Harris 23:11
Yeah, it's something we're really conscious of, because in terms of Bridgwater with the engine room,you know, we do a lot at the engine room, we deliver a lot from the engine room. So, Bridgwater is generally well served by us, but we are conscious that, you know, Somerset isn't just Bridgwater, it's not just Taunton, it's the the whole county so we regularly do outreach in all different areas of the county and also the Film Academy for 16 to 19 year olds, that does tend to move around. So we have it in Bridgwater in January and February, and in October we recently had it in Taunton, but previously had it in Yeovil so that, you know, young people who don't have access to travel can access this easily. And we know, you know, travel links around Somerset aren't always brilliant. So yeah, it's something we're really conscious of, we do try and deliver when we're planning our year.
That's really good, really good to hear that, you know, an organization that's called Somerset film is actually actively and proactively thinking about, you know, the whole county, and not, like you say, the M5 corridor, shall we say.
Lynne O'Halloran 24:34
Were you born and bred in Somerset, or have you ended up here from somewhere else?
Unknown Speaker 24:39
No, I'm born and bred originally, Devon, but technically Somerset as I was born at Musgrove ,we wereright on the border. So then we moved up to Bridgwater when I was about 11. So more or less, you know, Bridgwater is my hometown ,I consider it to be so. Yeah, and I actually was beneficiary of the engine room. I went tothe engine Room in its very early days when I was a teenager, and used the drop in clinics and I volunteered for the organization and went on to be kind of a tutoring assistant on some of their workshops. And that really spurred me into the career that I'm in, I think, because I went on and did an animation degree, which was one of my passions. And then I've recently kind of come back to the organization when they had the producer role. So I've been in the post since September 2021. So kind of 18 months, nearly so yeah, in terms of that, it was a great opportunity to kind of come back to something that I knew really well, when I kind of graduated. I was still in Somerset, I never really moved out of county, I'm a bit of a home bird. And I'm definitely a country bumpkin. In that sense I never wanted to really go to a big city, which I think is kind of a story for a lot of people. And particularly if you want to be in the creative industries and film, there is that feeling, oh, you have to go to London, or you have to go and live in London. And whilst I love visiting London, it's not something that's ever kind of drawn to me to want to live there. So yeah, I was kind of still always here and in touch with them. And I think that's the same for a lot of people, people who not necessarily move around. But some people have, who've gone various places, we recently had our 25th anniversary screening party, we had Chris Luck, who was previously part of the engine room and kind of been in touch through drop-ins and various things. He's a script writer now and has recently had a film produced by Apple TV, with Tom Hanks in it. So it's an amazing achievement. And we've got great alumni from the BFI Academy, from across all the kind of people that we've been in touch with, who've gone on to do amazing things, and be part of the industry. But even if that's not the case, and they've not gone on to have a career in film, or television, or creative, and digital, they still expressed that some of what they got out of those kinds of courses, or those opportunities is kind of that self confidence, and I think because like sometimes that's, that's a great, great thing to take away from what we do at the Engine Room, you know, whilst we are a film and education, and that's kind of our focus, we just want people to really enjoy their experience with us and kind of the result of what is produced is sometimes secondary. Although we love to have a great film at the end of it, and something that can be showcased, really, if they've had an amazing experience that's kind of first and foremost.
Lynne O'Halloran 28:01
Yeah. So it's feeling positive about what you can achieve really with a little bit of a little bit of help and support and guidance from, you know, some experts.
Pip Harris 28:13
Yeah, because I think it is, yeah, it can be a bit mysterious in terms of creative industries. How do you get into that? And am I good enough? There's the imposter syndrome that a lot of people feel , and how'd you get started? And sometimes you just need that encouragement.
Lynne O'Halloran 28:32
Over the time that you've been a producer, o sorts of things, or groups of people perhaps that you've come across and made films with that have opened your eyes to some of the different ways of life in the county.
Pip Harris 28:45
A lot of what we've done since I've been a producrd is some commissions from other charities so we were commissioned to make a few films for Headway charity, Headway, Somerset, which is a local brain injury charity. And some of the stories from those interviews are really heart wrenching. You know, these acquired brain injuries, someone's whole life just changed, you know, in a day or so. And that was a great project. We also recently produced a film for the project factory in Wells, which was all about the Antony Gormley sculpture that sits on the wells Cathedral, which is called "Doubt" and we interviewed the sculptoras part of that so Antony Gormley did an interview with us. And yeah, so kind of learning all about the west front of the Cathedral and the sculptures that are on it, the medieval carvings and everything, like, you know, I don't know if I would have ever had that opportunity to learn everything about that in any other job, really. And I think that's what is one of the great things about film is that you can combine all of that expertise into a short film and get that across was really, really quickly and really engage, in an engaging way.
Lynne O'Halloran 30:05
Because I think what you've just said sort of makes it very crystal clear how valuable film is in as much as there isn't very much that you can't communicate in some way with film, whether it's a personal story of tragedy, you know, or whether it's, you know, the lifecycle of a microbe of some sort, or, you know, a shifting, you know, changes of the tides. I don't know, there's sort of everything and anything that can be filmed and communicated creatively. I guess that's the sort of value of film in a nutshell, isn't it? Really?
Pip Harris 30:38
Yeah, definitely. And I think even when it comes to fiction, we did it previously in the year, we put out applications for commissions for us to commission films from young people. So there were two categories. One was for under 18s and one was for 18 to 25 year olds. So they submitted scripts, and then the successful script writers were then given a budget and our support and equipment to help them make those scripts into a real film. And what has come out of that is two brilliant films, which we also screened at our 25th anniversary event. And it's something we would like to do more of in the future. And that was part of theBFI partnership that we were able to give them the budget to do that. So yeah, so it's not just necessarily kind of factual documentary films, but there's, you know, obviously, stories can be shared through fiction as well. And there's lots of amazing ideas for storytelling. And, you know, it was a very difficult process in terms of picking out just two scripts to take forward.
Lynne O'Halloran 31:48
Ican imagine. So can we give a shout out to whoever the two people were that was successful in that?
Pip Harris 31:54
Yeah. So it was Rafe Hutchins, who was the under 18 category. And he went on to make 'Bonfire's. And then James Gardner who was our 18 to 25 category, and he made 'Southfield Hill'. But yeah, they both did incredible jobs. We had a theme of kind of 'environmental awareness', because that's something we're really passionate about Somerset film, and we wanted that to kind of be a theme of the scripts.
Lynne O'Halloran 32:21
What are the sorts of things do you think could happen locally to sort of further promote film and digital technology as a way of giving people a voice?
Pip Harris 32:31
All the time, we are kind of consulting with various different groups. So we've got young people's forum, we've got a Disability Forum. So we're, talking to those communities to think about, actually, what would you want from us in terms of accessibility to our resources and to, you know, training or experience, and particularly within our Ignite project, as well. So that's what our Arts Council funding is mainly for is our Ignite project, which helps local artists be able to incorporate digital into their work, into current art and gain digital skills to help them be able to do that. So I think, in terms of going forward, we really want to just continue talking to those groups and seeing what people need from us. And just make sure those opportunities are available.
Lynne O'Halloran 33:29
So really, the message is that you're there, Somerset Film is there in Bridgwater and around the county. Come along, get involved and see how you might be able to use film and digital technology to have some fun or get your point of view across.
Pip Harris 33:46
Yeah, definitely. And if it's first and foremost, you're just curious, that's enough. Just come along, drop us an email, give us a phone call. Like we're always Yeah, happy to chat about anything you have questions about, really,
Lynne O'Halloran 34:01
Of course, you know, if you're feeling particularly shy, you can always sneak in cup of tea, piece of cake and just introduce yourself slowly that way. Which I think is a great way in for a lot of people.
Pip Harris 34:13
Yeah, just by being in the cafe, you'll find out about the things that we're doing. As I said, we want the building to be buzzing. So there's always lots of things going on and you'll just naturally kind of get to know us I think yeah, you won't regret popping in.
Well, it's been brilliant talking to you, I'm blown away actually by the sort of scope of the of the work that Somerset film does. So yeah, well, good luck for 2023 and I'll put the links for your website and your social media on the podcast website page.
Thank you. Lynne
Lynne O'Halloran 34:30
Bye,
Pip Harris 34:30
Bye.
Lynne O'Halloran 34:58
Thank you for listening to The Slice the show for lovers of Somerset where I talk and eat cake with the people who make living working and visiting this county great. If you've enjoyed the show, please tell everyone you know help others find out how fabulous Somerset is. Share episodes or share The Slice on social media. If you know someone who's making life in Somerset great and who likes to chat, let me know. message me on Instagram or Facebook. Thank you to Pixabay for the music.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai