I met with Ben in a vibrant Southampton coffee shop for a quick half an hour chat about Portsmouth based 48-hour film challenge, DVMISSION. Why would he do something as crazy as write, shoot and edit a short film in 48 hours. From an outsider’s perspective this task sounds intense.
“Well it’s really helpful as a creative to have challenges like DVMISSION, that will hone your skills and help develop your thinking in a weird high but low pressured situation.” Ben tells me. Catching my confused expression, he explains. “It’s high pressure because you literally have a 48-hour turnaround time, to write, film and edit. But low pressure because it really is only 48 hours, if it all goes wrong it isn’t the end of the world, it’s just a bit of fun. It helps in terms of those transferable skills, having that pressure when really, it’s just a bit of fun, because then when you’re working in a high-pressure environment, on a bigger production or set when there’s no room for error, you’ve experienced that. You’re used to it.”
How did you find out about DVMISSION, were you hesitant in taking part?
“It’s a weird one for me…” he continues. “I’ve been aware of DVMISSION for but 5 years now. I’m a Southampton based filmmaker, but that never stopped me from taking part. It was really where it fell in the year. In the past when it fell at the end of the year it was difficult for me to take part in it because of other commitments and festivals, that also fell at that time on my calendar. I first took part in DVMISSION last year when it moved to February, March time, which is a great time to be doing it. There’s a lot less going on, so you can really focus on it.”
We carry on discussing how he got into these 48-hour challenges and his journey to DVMISSION. “I started doing these challenges about 5 years ago now, it was pretty much the first thing I did in a team. I had done lots of silly things on my own and stuff with mates, but these challenges were really pivotal in terms of my experience as a beginner filmmaker.” Ben continues telling me of how before these festivals and challenges he would have never considered himself a filmmaker but taking part in challenges like DVMission turned him into just that.
Experiences like these helps open you up to a whole industry of opportunities, for Ben, his early film “Spanner in the Works” made at a challenge like this, was a real turning point. “Not only did the film win awards, but I used it as a portfolio piece that ultimately enabled me to get onto a Southwest Talent Module course run by Creative England.”
Talking about his background, Ben revealed that he in fact didn’t have any formal training as a filmmaker. “I worked in extreme sports for about 5 years, doing event coverage, so I knew my way around a camera to a certain degree, but in terms of narrative filmmaking, I had absolutely no experience whatsoever. Then I started doing film challenges, like DVMission.” Looking back at his journey, he says “Now I’m a professional filmmaker…I make money through making films, which is amazing. Five years ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed that would even be possible. It really is these film challenges that started me on this course.”
So why did you want to do DVMISSION in particular?
“I was really excited to try DVMISSION. It had a reputation of being this really challenging but fun. I was about, and it fitted into a not so busy time for me, so I thought why not, let’s give it a go!”. DVMISSION is a Portsmouth based film challenge but that isn’t a restriction for people like Ben who aren’t based in the city. “You didn’t physically have to be there for the read out of the challenge, you only had to be there for the screening night” (not something you would want to miss anyway). “Our team could all meet up in our local pub at 5pm when the categories were announced and work out what we were going to do. You don’t waste a couple of those 48 hours travelling back home from Portsmouth, when you really do need every moment of that 48 hours to make your film. As long as you can make it to the screening you really can be anywhere in the country. You could be in Barcelona for the weekend and make your film there if you really wanted to, you know?” He smiled saying “That would be quite cool actually”, following it up with a chuckle.
What really interested me is where the ideas and inspiration for those ideas comes from. Before the challenge begins they have absolutely no idea what theme, title or prop they will be given, so where do they start?
“The first thing we do is get a pint…then another one,” he laughs. “So, you’ve just been given your title, prop, line of dialogue or whatever it might be. The first step for us as a group is to look at how we can subvert those things. What is everyone going to do? If there’s a conventional way to go about this, lets cross that out and go a different way.” Putting this into perspective, Ben continues, “last year’s title was ‘Night Dreams’, and the genre was zombie rom-com. Conventionally, that would direct you in towards the horror theme…well to me, ‘Night Dreams’ sounded like some kind of bed emporium, so we went down that avenue. It got weird, but it was different and at DVMission especially, different stands out.”
We finished off our chat with some advice. What advice would he give to someone who was considering taking part for the first time?
“Have fun, don’t worry…make sure you’ve got lots of caffeine” he laughs. “Try to split roles if you can. People have different methods. If you’re like me and want to direct, write and edit…it will kill you, I’ll tell you from experience, you’re going to need at least a day after to recover. Stack up on the food and make sure you have fun, ultimately, that’s what this is!”
To find bens work, visit his website bengrace.co.uk
By Lucy Goodyear
