I’d like to introduce my next film in the BBC Radio Norfolk On Series. My latest sitter is Simon Pritchard, a local artist, originating from the Midlands. Some of you will recognise Simon from my recent short film “Two tickets, please?”, where he played out the role of cinema manager in the aptly placed Hollywood Cinema situated at Anglia Square. Much of our work together on this film revolved around a deep-rooted love for cinema itself, aesthetically and conceptually, we aimed to create a feeling of attending the movies, a homage to the medium itself. And when shooting wrapped, and the more screenings the film received, I knew I needed to return to work with Simon to dig a little deeper.
My aim for this series was to create a portrait of each sitter in a way that crosses both audio and visual platforms, whilst reflecting the personalities in question. Each film would be different, and yet stem from the same format, with a strong essence on sound design ready to be broadcast, on The Sophie Little Show Friday evenings, as well as online. Following on from Dibs McCallum: On Photography, where the feeling was very much about the solitary process of photographic capture, and I knew I wanted to up-the-tempo when approaching Simon’s world.
The film is a mixed-medium piece, the experimental seat I take in this edit, is partly where I work best. I didn’t restrict myself in the slightest. During the first BBC critique of my first cut, my producer responded with, “I love how, you’ve just gone out, and done exactly what you want”, there’s no rules here. Not to say it wasn’t planned and off-the-cuff, that’s not my decision-making process in the slightest. On the surface, people respond to Simon in a very different manner to how I present him here. Texturally, you will see him as the presenter, the star, but once I dig a little deeper, into his past, and his influences for his eclectic lifestyle you may see someone entirely different. You will hear the director’s voice, deliberate and glitchy, bookended with an outtake reel, mixing reality with the imaginary.
I question representation, I want you to question what you see on screen? The production of the film utilises film and photography, the animated sequences were created frame-by-frame, by hand, working directly with the film stock itself. Toying with a traditional interview format, a technicolour talking head presentation, which pops with a fantastic soundtrack created by long-time collaborator Brandon Jacobs.
You can tune in to The Sophie Little Show on Radio Norfolk, this Friday evening from 7pm, where I will be introducing the edit on air with Simon himself. The full length film will be released retrospectively.
I present; Simon Pritchard: The Cinema Man.
