Short Political Documentary

ak007

Focusing around the effects Margaret Thatcher had on the mining industry in the Stoke on Trent area.

I am a Film Production student at staffordshire university, just finishing my first year of studies. I have just made my first fully independent film and I am keen to get some feed back and to show it to as manny people as possible so i can learn from your feedback.

http://vimeo.com/23380267

I hope you enjoy...

thesecretagent

I liked your cutting and use of imagery. The background music went well with the piece, and although the naration was dire and monotonic, it fitted well.

However, it was utterly one-sided. There was no explanation of as to why Thatcher took on the unions (themselves funded by government money) or the cost of union work stoppages on the nation as a whole. I liked your analogy of comparison of mining thirty years ago to tuition fees now, but it is hardly comparible really. As the conservative government of thirty years ago had to deal with economical and viable alternatives to national production of coal and the cheaper importations from places like Indonesia, eastern europe etc, this coalition has to deal with 160million (double any previous figure) a day interest on a debt created by an outgoing government. Tuition fees seem a viable cut especially when there are so many out of work students with next-to-useless core subject degrees. The public should not have to fund further and higher education any more than it should fund my next holiday. I own two businesses and know that when there isn't any money in the pot, cuts and alternatives have to be made. I don't like these cuts either, but the alternative is quite sickening and we will find ourselves out of the G8 the G20, and then frankly, a 2nd world country...

ak007

Thanks for the feed back, i would have to say i agree with you on the voice over.
As far as the political message is concerned, yes i understand your point. perhaps i should have explained a little more in my first post. The reason why it is so one sided is purely because in the brief i was given for this project, i was told that the film could be no longer than 3 minites. As a result i chose to focus the film more around the effects on the area itself. I showed the abandoned houses and Colliery that were the results of the decisions made by Thatcher and her government. in the same way i am trying to suggest to the audience how universities and there communities might also be left abandoned and unused due to the current governments policies. I agree that cuts and alternatives have to be made, but certainly in here in Stoke on Trent (which is where the film focused on) the local economy is completely centered around the university and students.

Once again thanks for your feed back, it is very helpful for me to here your views.

Napoleon Plural

Is that your voice? It's good, nice timbre.

It's a bit OTT. Almost like a borderline spoof. Poor lonely dog wandering around. I mean it's not like he would have been down the pit now is it? It sounds a bit like a Chris Morris spoof.

Those drawings of Thatcher look awful. And who's that on the doorsteps of no.10 in the second picture, two people standing there...

Yeah, it's a bit clumsy putting it alongside the uni fees, perhaps a bit of an uptone, suggestion in your voice then, a teasing lilt like what's going to happen, will it be similar? Not, it IS similiar.

And last scene of uni could have a sudden visual effect like making it go all silver and black and white to make the viewe think, will this setting also go all rundown and crappy like the coal mines? Ask in one line, that if fees are high and no one has jobs, who will take advantage of this setting?

BTW coal drawing? Is that the term?

Napoleon Plural

Besides, do you mention in the piece that Stoke on Trent is similarly dependent on students, as it was with coal. Otherwise the comparison is lost on the viewer, it seems a bit far fetched.