Final project
A friend of mine, Sara, previously very active in the pro-Palestine movement (had to stop as she feared for her career), said that she wanted to help with my documentary without being a part of the final production. Hence, she began helping me with research, and will be credited as research assistant. She helped me come up with some of the questions.
Documentary questions:
Do you consent to being interviewed sound and image?
Can you tell me a bit about the history of palestinian activism here at **your university*, and how you began to participate in that?
This movement is obviously so much bigger than university student activism. Why do they feel it’s important for students to make their voices heard?
What challenges do activists face in the academic setting, whether as a professor or a student? (Especially in relation to the political neutrality policy much of the faculties at UCL adopt)?
Have unis done anything with a chilling effect on your free speech
What do they want to see on a Uni National and international level
What are your specific demands today?
Do students feel unis adopt a uniform stance on political and humanitarian conflicts?
Do students feel they can talk freely about the topic?
Do they feel they’re putting anything at risk by taking a stand?
If so, what convinced them to come out and talk about it anyway?
Interview | Location | Date and time | Camera & Sound dep |
1: James (Student Action for Palestine UCL) | UCL 88 tottenham court road (booked room via AFP) | December 12th 2023 6pm | Equipment: Black magic 6k DoP: Myself |
2: Wafa (Student Action for Palestine UCL) | UCL 88 tottenham court road (booked room via AFP) | December 12th 2023 6:30pm | Equipment: recording software |
3: Carlos (Student Action for Palestine UCL) | B06 Drayton House (UCL) (booked room via AFP) | December 13th 2023 7pm | Equipment: Black magic 6k DoP: Myself |
4: Fadwa (Student Action for Palestine UCL) | B06 Drayton House (UCL) (booked room via AFP) | December 13th 2023 7:30pm | Equipment: Black magic 6k DoP: Myself AC, AD: Mazin |
5: Heng (Student socialist alternative UCL) | B06 Drayton House (UCL) (booked room via AFP) | December 13th 2023 8pm | Equipment: recording software |
6: Angela (UCL student active in the pro-palestine movement) | Outside UCL student center | December 13th 2023 9:30pm | Equipment: Black magic 6k DoP: Myself AC, AD: Mazin |
7: Dr Etienne Von Bertrab, a UCL professor active in anti war movements since 2003 (when he was a here student) | Room 301, 34 Tavistock square (UCL) | December 14th 2023 10am | Equipment: Black magic 6k DoP: Myself |
8: Amna (Student Action for Palestine UCL) | Ucl campus | December 19th 8pm | Equipment: Black magic 6k DoP: Myself AC, AD: Mazin |
9: Alex (Soas MA student active in the pro-palestine movement) | Soas campus | December 20th 4pm | Equipment: Black magic 6k DoP: Myself |
About the cinematography:
As an active member of the movement, the camera work on all the interviews and footage collected reflect that. It is mainly hand held, and there are a lot of zoom ins. When emotions are felt on either side of the camera, you can feel it. I'm a subject in my own film even when you can't hear me. However, I strived for a journalistic approach: I had no agenda. The questions were all broad enough, and I just let the interviewees say the things they had on their mind about the cause and about their institution.
Furthermore, the process is highly inspired by guerrilla filmmaking. Guerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by ultra-low micro budgets, skeleton crews, and limited props using whatever resources, locations and equipment is available. The genre is named in reference to guerrilla warfare due to these techniques typically being used to shoot quickly in real locations without obtaining filming permits or providing any other sort of warning. According to Yukon Film Commission Manager Mark Hill, "guerrilla filmmaking is driven by passion with whatever means at hand".
B-Roll:
While I was interviewing some of the students, the others were working on an Action: Ribbons for Palestine. They were writing down names of the 7000 martyrs (whose names were officially released by the Gaza ministry of health) on ribbons, and they will be hanging them around campus the next morning. The idea came from Professor Von Bertrab (a member of Action for Palestine), who did the same ribbon tying movement at UCL while protesting the Iraq war in 2003. I filmed their process.
I began the editing process immediately after filming. I colour graded some of the footage. I wanted the shots to be vibrant, jarring, uneven, irregular, loud, I wanted them to scream 'Ceasefire now'. I aim to communicate the feel of desperation and urgency for this cause through tonal clashes.
Clashes between audio and images is a technique at times used by Soviet trained African filmmakers such as Abderrahmane Sissako (For instance in his1993 film October ).
Coursework (Music video and scene recreation assignment):
A screening was held at UCL east’s cinema to showcase our work from the term, and it goes to show just how much one can accomplish with precise instructions and limited time in terms of short pieces. I surprisingly got positive feedback about my acting in the scene recreation, and briefly (for two minutes) considered abandoning my studies to pursue acting instead.
In order to enhance my collaborative spirit, I helped and contributed with my short film tasks group while they filmed their term documentary about the brazilian dance Capuera. They filmed in the black box studio in Marshgate, and learning about the space was interesting. I considered doing an interview here, but opted out. I wanted my documentary to feel more real, like an active moving present ever changing piece. I was a part of it, I was in it. I was not just the woman behind the camera.
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