"A Mother's Story"

Doing interviews and recording footage of subjects with strong, emotional stories can be a real challenge, and must be treated carefully. We're honored to talk to Ian Gamester, who has made some stories about the West Lancashire Women's Refuge.

- This particular video, "A Mother's Story", was shot as part of a much bigger project, says director Ian Gamester.

- I was commissioned by the West Lancashire Women's Refuge to shoot a documentary with the women of the refuge to be screened at their annual conference. We embarked on a six month project engaging with the women, issuing them with video cameras and encouraging them to document their experiences.

- At first, the women were quite understandably reticent about the project and their involvement in it. It was a delicate situation at first and it took many weeks to build up the trust and confidence to get the women in the position where they were ready to share their thoughts on camera.

- Each week we would meet and watch the footage as a group, and this support network was a crucial factor in the project's success. The refuge and I had hoped that the project would have some cathartic benefit for the participants but the whole experience exceeded our expectations.

- It seems the process of opening up to a handheld camera, on your own, on your own terms, at a time when you are ready to has been tremendously liberating for the women and they have all gained something from this experience.

"A Mother's Story" from director Ian Gamester

- After six months of working together, I had hours of footage that the women had shot. These were weaved into individual chapters that covered the many aspects of starting a life after coming out of an abusive relationship. In these episodes I kept the editing to a minimum, so as not to distract from the raw power of the footage the women had shot.

- No music or FX were added, no cutaways. It was important to maintain the integrity and intimacy of the footage. To be woven between the video diary footage I also filmed with the staff, local MPs and Norma, the mother of one of the women using the refuge.

- For these films I added music and edited to maximise the emotion in each video, and although they are moving when watched in isolation, as part of the larger documentary they offered some light relief from the very serious nature of the other footage on screen.

"A Mother's Story" from director Ian Gamester with video commentary

- I probably spent about an hour with Norma, from walking through the door to completing the shoot. I tried to make the whole process as unintimidating as possible. I work alone, so that adds to the intimacy (I don't think Norma would have been as comfortable if there was a crew present).

- To minimise fuss I used the natural light that was available, a simple tripod, and a Rode stereo mic fitted to the top of the camera. I didn't want to mess about with radio mics and maybe make Norma feel more uncomfortable than necessary by sitting under a few red heads.

- I work quick so was probably set up and ready to shoot in a few minutes. Norma seemed content sitting in her chair in the kitchen, so I left her there and set up in front of her. It seemed nice and cosy, she seemed comfortable and it worked compositionally on camera.

- I had notions of where I wanted to go with the interview but essentially I let it run organically and just tended to let Norma work her way through the topics. A few times during the interview her parrot went mad in the cage in the corner of the room, which lead to a natural break in procedings and lightened the mood!

- For such a sensitive subject it seemed appropriate to keep the style of the piece as simple as possible. I used two lenses, a 50mm and a 28mm. As and when it seemed appropriate to switch them I did. Norma spoke for about 30 mins and I recall as I filmed I knew that only maybe 4 or 5 of those minutes would be releveant. The only time Norma broke down was at the end of the interview. I decided to keep this in the final edit.

- It's nice that people have felt moved by this. I suppose the crucial element in the piece is Norma and her story. There is real emotion in her words, this is her actual experience of having a daughter brutalized and how helpless she felt to stop it.

- To accentuate the emotion spoken on screen there are manipulative choices made in terms of music and editing. I tend to shy away from using music in documentary as I find it unnecessarily manipulative, but in response to my brief from the Refuge to move the audience at the Conference I make no apologies in maximising the emotional content in the piece. It is meant to be emotional, it is meant to move.

- So, concious choices were made in the editing to elecit a certain response from the viewer. The music is subtle, but adds to the melancholy in the story. When screened at the conference the film project was a great success.

- The screening ensured continued funding and support from those attending the conference, as well as maybe more importantly, galvanizing and inspiring the women who took part in it. Incredibly, after our six month journey together these once timid and broken women had found the self confidence and belief to sing as a choir at the conference after the screening. As you can imagine, there wasn't a dry eye in the house!

- The new DSLRs gives cinematic choices to filmmakers at a reasonable price. It's an incredibly exciting period. To think that House, the biggest TV program in the world chose the Canon 5D Mark II to shoot their last episode of the series validates what owners of the camera have been saying all along. Of course there are limitations to the new DSLRs, but any negatives are outweighed by the images it gives you.

- We can safely assume that things will only get better. Cameras will improve. Prices will drop.

Ian Gamester is a filmmaker and artist currently living in the UK. He only returned to filmmaking 2 year ago so he's been playing catch up ever since. After picking up the camera again Ian's been fortunate to shoot music promos in Asia, Europe and Australia as well as exhibit at galleries in the UK and Spain. Several times a year Ian also runs music video workshops for the youngsters in his community. Working with young people keeps him on his toes!