The Influence of Film on Film part 2 – Bellows to the Wind

Back in 2020 I wrote about my first venture into DIY film making with my short film Preserve. I was asked to contribute to 35mmc and felt it right to talk about the film, and how analogue had inspired it, through its innate ability to connect memory, imagery and nostalgia. As well as my beginnings as a photographer, and the steps it took to make the short.

Five years later, and my new self made short film, Bellows to the Wind once again celebrates and explores analogue in all its forms. Through the eyes of a child I explore a young boys grieving process, with a love for large format photography that brings him closer to his late Grandfather. We follow the boy through a series of locations and flashbacks as he pieces together memory and connection. Though a work of fiction, I have taken great inspiration in its concepts from the photographer Simon Riddell. Whose large format photos are the ones shown in the film itself.

I met Simon back in 2020, and we’ve been friends and creative collaborators ever since. After the death of his father, he discovered a love for collodion process and wet plate techniques, helping him to overcome the grief and PTSD of his own father’s passing. Something he himself is capturing in his new documentary Peak Perseverance, which is coming soon. In my short Bellows, his son Isaac leads the film with a gentle but powerful performance on screen. After discussing with Simon my ideas, he was fully onboard to make it a reality with Isaac in tow, having an interest in acting himself, Isaac was more than will to be the star. Bellows often makes me think I have come full circle in a creative bond between Simon and I.

Although not shot on film, instead I used a digital camera for ease and budget. My trusted Canon 5d mark 2 made another appearance, as it did for Preserve. And for the flashback scenes, I used my trademark vhs style, where I manually create the aesthetic by re-recording onto real vhs tape and converting it back digitally. Which you’ll see more often see stylistically in my music videos on Youtube.

There aren’t that many films centred around photography, in particular large format, so I wanted to do the process justice, and see it in all its forms, from being on location to the darkroom itself. For the interior darkroom scenes we used a pop up darkroom, and as you can see I may be the only filmmaker to shoot scene in their slippers. That we have evidence of…

It’s been quite a while since I completed Bellows, and thinking of it now does fell like a distant memory. Although it has been screened at a few festivals and community cinemas. I find it hard to not wish it on a wider audience. Although large format photography is niche there is an unmatched magic to it and to this short. A tragic fairy tale, other worldly. Yet, with it now being online the response so far has been all I could have hoped for and more. There is no clear way to remember those who are no more. We are only left to piece together fragments to make some sense of it all.  My only hope is that you are touched by the story, and the small world we have made, if only for a moment.

Watch Bellows to the Wind here

I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading. I shall leave you now and go back to what is next, what creative ventures do I have in store…

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