A green room scuffle in screen production research: Glass Shards as an ‘electromentary’

ABSTRACT

Screen Production Research (SPR) is a developing field within the academy. SPR blends theoretical and practical methodologies to produce creative outputs, such as films, scripts, multimedia projects, etc. as research. This article will review my short documentary work with an emphasis on the most recent project, Glass Shards (2020). All of these creative projects will be contextualised within SPR frameworks to highlight the successes and challenges of lo/no-budget ‘Do-It-Yourself’ (DIY) filmmaking. Discussion of my previous films, Portrait of an Artist: Alice France (Co-Director Kim Ayres, 2014) and Artefact 93 (2019), will serve as critical reflections on specific practices that fed into the creation of Glass Shards. This latest project began as a traditional music documentary exploring local experimental musician Oliver Stewart and his songwriting talents. However, as filming progressed, new themes and complexities emerged that reshaped the final result. By examining the various filmmaking processes (pre-production, principal photography, and post-production), this article will review notions of identity, mental health, and performativity that developed throughout filming which, arguably, pushed the boundaries of music documentary. Effectively, through post-textual analysis, it will be contented that spontaneity and collaboration foster a creative environment that enhances the final outcome.

KEYWORDS:

• Screen production research
• documentary
• DIY filmmaking
• communities of practice
• performativity

Acknowledgements

I wish to thank Kim Ayres, Alice Francis, Emit Snake-Beings, Adam Turner, Oliver Stewart, and Archie Porter for being excellent collaborators and continuous sources of inspiration. I also wish to express gratitude to Prof. Gareth Schott whose feedback on the film provided the initial stages of enquiry for this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kyle Barrett

Kyle Barrett is a Lecturer, researcher, and an award-winning filmmaker at the University of Waikato, Aotearoa (New Zealand). His research focuses on global, low-budget production cultures and cinemas, gender and class representations, and creative practice. He has been published in Directory of World Cinema: Scotland, European Journal of Communication, The Routledge Companion to Transmedia Studies, MECCSA Special Edition Journal on Screenwriting and Gender, and AMES: Media Education Journal. He has also directed several documentaries which have been screened internationally. Kyle has skills, knowledge, and expertise in the following areas: Transnational cinemas, film production, creative documentary practice, gender representation, LGBTQ+ studies, DIY cultures, small nation cinemas, punk cultures, transmedia, multimedia arts practices, interactivity, auteur studies, Hollywood cinema, screen production research, television studies, experimental film practices.