Phone Fictions online

Apr 27 2020 | By More

Visible Fictions host Watch Party

Glasgow-based theatre company Visible Fictions, whose aim is “to get people thinking, talking, sharing and creating” is premiering the results of a project to create short films on mobile phones.

After an open call out for artists living in Scotland to create one minute films on their mobile phones whilst in lockdown, the team at Visible Fictions selected 15 pitches and commissioned them. The results will be shown online on Tuesday, 28 April 2020 at 3pm – and remain online afterwards.

Stewart Ennis: Granny and Grandpa

The chosen artists include Edinburgh-based playwright and director James Beagon of Aulos Productions and actress Sophie Harris who were inspired by a suspicious-looking dragon puppet, and Elspeth Chapman, a designer and puppeteer living in Edinburgh whose inspiration came from making her favourite lunch – avocado toast.

Introducing the films, Douglas Irvine, Visible Fictions’ artistic director, explained: “When lockdown started, the company really wanted to creatively respond to give artists an opportunity within these crazy times – and also of course for us to connect to our audiences.

“So we put out a call out, to artists across the nation for pitches for ideas of short films, short stories, that they could tell using their mobile phones, to film it from the comfort of their own homes.

“We intended to commission ten of them, but I have to be honest the pitches were so varied, so inspiring and so interesting that we had to commission fifteen of them.”

The fifteen films will be initially available through a Facebook Watch Party, at 3pm on Tuesday 28 April. They will also be available for viewing on www.visiblefictions.co.uk and will be released individually, day by day, on Twitter @VisibleFictions, Facebook @VisibleFictions and Instagram @VisibleFictions.

The artists joining the Visible Fictions party-line

Roberto Cassani
Roberto carries his double bass everywhere. He comes from Milan, but now he lives in Scone. This little melody was inspired by the Italian children in lockdown, who started drawing beautiful rainbows and sticking them on their windows to tell everyone not to be scared, because we will be alright again: “Andrà tutto bene”. Now kids all over the world are doing the same. The voice in the recording belongs to Roberto’s daughter Ruby, age 7.

Elspeth Chapman
Elspeth is a designer and puppeteer living in Edinburgh. The inspiration for this piece came from making her favourite lunch – avocado toast. More information about her work can be found here: www.elspethchapman.com.

Christine Urquart and Zoe Bullock
Christine is a Set and Costume Designer based in Glasgow with many previous adventures as an artist abroad, always seeking new collaborators and different narrative points of view. This project is the perfect excuse to play with her food and pretend to whizz around in space – quite frankly her two favourite things to do.
Zoe is a writer and performer based in Glasgow, who loves playing with magic, fantasy, and everything in between, as well as collaborating with artists of different disciplines and learning new things all the time. She sees a lot of herself in Little Spoon, and would like nothing more than to explore space on a rocket made from cucumber.

Little Spoons Adventure by Christine Urquhart and Zoe Bullock

Stewart Ennis
Stewart is an actor, playwright, novelist and poet, living and working in Glasgow. Granny and Grandpa is of course inspired by his own granny and grandpa. But the idea really came to him watching grandparents and grandchildren together in Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens, and seeing what a special relationship they have. More information on Stewart’s work can be found at www.stewartennis.com.

James Beagon and Sophie Harris
James is a playwright, director and drama tutor based in Edinburgh. This piece was inspired by the suspicious-looking dragon puppet sat next to his desk. More information about his work and company, Aulos Productions, can be found at aulosproductions.com.

Simon Macallum
Simon is a Dundee born actor and writer who lives in Bishopbriggs. The piece is based on memories of growing up in a family of three brothers who all enjoyed terrifying each other.

Nikki Kalkman
Nikki Kalkman is an independent theatre maker and director based in Glasgow. Her most recent work credits include co-director, The Dark Carnival: Unplugged (Vanishing Point); rehearsal director, Black Beauty (Traverse Theatre); producer, Puppetry Scratch Night at Assembly Roxy and director of a new young people puppetry piece Odd Socks currently in development with the support of Creative Scotland. Her inspiration for this piece comes from her love of high heel shoes but her inability to walk in them – let alone dance.

Martin McCormick
Martin is a writer, actor and director from Glasgow who now lives in Perthshire. The idea for this piece came about when he was walking to get messages on week one of self-isolation. Things sounded different. No human voices, no cars engines, no shops door slamming; just from the song of the birds

fairytale industries

Patrick Wallace
Patrick is an actor/musician living in Glasgow. After a chat with his fiancé about what would happen to the Easter Bunny during lockdown, he started to wonder about the other fairytale industries and how they’d operate during this uncertain time. You can follow Patrick @prwallace92 on Twitter and Instagram!

Tim Reid
Tim designs video for theatre and other forms of live performance. The idea of projection onto balloons has been stuck in his head like a catchy tune for several years now. More information and images of his work can be seen at www.timreidvideodesign.com.

Laura Berni
Laura is an aspiring screenwriter and cinematographer and a 4th year student at The University of Glasgow. The inspiration for this story came from staring at her sad plants, which she cannot keep alive even being in the flat 24/7. For more updates on her work follow @lauraberni97 on Instagram Or @lauraberni7 on Twitter.

Cameron Strachan
Cameron is a young filmmaker living in Glasgow. The Daily Paw was inspired by his own dog’s absurdity in day to day life, and how her thought process works. Cameron’s short film credits can be found here.

Amanda Aiken and Emma Butler-Cole Aiken
Amanda is a storyboard artist and animator based in Selkirk. This animation was inspired by the work of her mother Emma, a stained glass artist. More of Amanda’s work can be seen at www.ajaiken.com and more of Emma’s at www.ebcaglass.com.

Calum Coutts
Calum is a secondary teacher who is very passionate about the arts in education, in both formal and non-formal sectors. The social and learning effects of engagement in the arts are the main focus of his work. The inspiration for ‘Drawn Together’ came from his children missing time with their grandparents during this difficult time and how the arts and creativity can be used to help people stay together.

Daniel Padden
Daniel is a musician, composer and performance maker. This piece hopes to show the absurd challenges of trying to create work in a house with small children. Visit www.danielpadden.com for more about Daniel’s work.

ENDS

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