2:00pm (The Story of Mambo Miller) is the film that I created for my final project at university.
When starting the project, I was slightly confused as to which genre I wanted to explore. From doing a documentary module at the beginning of the year I realised how creative and flexible documentary storytelling can be. However, I wanted to do something non-fiction for my final project and make a short drama, so that I could express my own ideologies and really produce it from start to finish. However, we were given two options: make a documentary, or make a drama. I really wanted to merge both, even though we weren’t allowed. After chatting to the module leaders for both documentary and drama, I was given the option to choose Docu-Drama, combining both storytelling approaches. I was the only student in the whole year group allowed to do this because of their trust in my ability.
I know that I wanted to use the documentary approach of storytelling as I feel that you can easily tell a short story through this genre, and use the drama aspects to write characters and a story that is non-fiction. Essentially my goal from this is to make a drama, expressed through a creative documentary style to convince the audience that the story is real (it isn’t). I was able to take the viewer on a journey through my world, as well as Mambo’s, whilst blurring the lines between the two.
The process of planning this film was extensive, with consistent reflection and improvement. After multiple drafts and scripts and storyboards, the mould of the film started to take place, with revisions and changes continuing to be made throughout the entire process. The process of improvement involved regular meetings and reviews with both of my mentors. Seeing as I was the only one to combine both documentary and drama, they decided to both act as my mentors; I was the only student who had both mentors at my disposal. After speaking to both mentors, different versions of edits were reviewed to find flaws to then go back and improve on them.
Essentially, 2:00pm is a documentary film, following the events of Mambo Miller, the up-and-coming creative who had a passion and natural ability for filmmaking. After entering a competition designed by the BBC, his life now consists of making a feature length film. He asks a trusted friend to start making a documentary on his journey of making this film, no one knows why. Whilst battling his own battles, a post competition win combined with a messy and complicated relationship, we realise his documentary was to act as his legacy.
The process of editing the film was extremely fun. I took advantage of the editing suites on the campus in Media City, where I was able to edit across three different screens. I wanted to make everything in this film myself, even down to the music. I had help to create a soundtrack that reflected the film, its mood, and how it can add to the quality of the film.
I originally debated with putting out a casting call for the film, but I decided instead to take advantage of my network. Having people in the film that I know and trusted was important to me, so that we could work together to deliver a performance that I visualised, but also for them to work alongside me during the filming process. Jacob Kelly, who stars as Mambo, is a friend from university whose skill and ability I took advantage of. With Jacob being on-screen for the majority of the film, the filming process was intense and interesting. Due to the pseudo-documentary style of the film, I needed to create a story that feels real, even though it isn’t. To do this, I spent two weeks filming footage with Jacob that is meant to look like archive footage in the film.
To add to the fake nature of the ‘true’ story, I had to expand the film beyond archive footage to deliver a sense of authenticity. This included interviews. To be able to add to the non-fiction approach, I had to make the interviews look authentic. However, to be able to adhere to the false nature of the film, these interviews had to be scripted and directed. This was a meticulous filming process where every detail needed to be addressed to maintain the authenticity of the film, to continue to make it seem real.
I used multiple references for this film, as a pseudo-documentary was a style of film that I had seen before and admired. Specifically, the ‘The Goof Who Sat By The Door’ episode from Atlanta acted as a heavy reference from this film, as that episode so successfully portrayed a fake story as real. It took advantage of false interviews and archive footage to give it an authentic feel. Other references included the Count Me Out – Kendrick Lamar music video, Jeenyuhs documentary and Amy documentary.
It was filmed at university, in Salford. I was determined to make this project myself, but I was supported by fantastically talented people throughout. The amazing Jacob Kelly starred as Mambo, with appearances from Luke Rados as Jermaine, Me as Myself, my Dad as Mambo’s Dad, and my Mum as the Therapist. The team behind the camera consisted of Luke Rados on Cinematography, Josh Love on co-writing and music producing duties, with myself looking after the filming, editing and of course, directing. The project went on to be nominated for Best TV Drama at the uni’s end of year awards night.
2:00pm was nominated for the university’s end of year awards, known as the BAFTARs. It was a proper fun night. I got all dressed up and went to the event with my mates who also had their own films nominated. It was a great evening where we were able to celebrate finishing our projects and see everyone for one of the last times. Whilst I didn’t win my category, I was grateful for the nomination. Here’s a sneaky pic of me and Luke Rados looking dapper.
2:00pm (The Story of Mambo Miller) is the film that I created for my final project at university.
When starting the project, I was slightly confused as to which genre I wanted to explore. From doing a documentary module at the beginning of the year I realised how creative and flexible documentary storytelling can be. However, I wanted to do something non-fiction for my final project and make a short drama, so that I could express my own ideologies and really produce it from start to finish. However, we were given two options: make a documentary, or make a drama. I really wanted to merge both, even though we weren’t allowed. After chatting to the module leaders for both documentary and drama, I was given the option to choose Docu-Drama, combining both storytelling approaches. I was the only student in the whole year group allowed to do this because of their trust in my ability.
I know that I wanted to use the documentary approach of storytelling as I feel that you can easily tell a short story through this genre, and use the drama aspects to write characters and a story that is non-fiction. Essentially my goal from this is to make a drama, expressed through a creative documentary style to convince the audience that the story is real (it isn’t). I was able to take the viewer on a journey through my world, as well as Mambo’s, whilst blurring the lines between the two.
The process of planning this film was extensive, with consistent reflection and improvement. After multiple drafts and scripts and storyboards, the mould of the film started to take place, with revisions and changes continuing to be made throughout the entire process. The process of improvement involved regular meetings and reviews with both of my mentors. Seeing as I was the only one to combine both documentary and drama, they decided to both act as my mentors; I was the only student who had both mentors at my disposal. After speaking to both mentors, different versions of edits were reviewed to find flaws to then go back and improve on them.
Essentially, 2:00pm is a documentary film, following the events of Mambo Miller, the up-and-coming creative who had a passion and natural ability for filmmaking. After entering a competition designed by the BBC, his life now consists of making a feature length film. He asks a trusted friend to start making a documentary on his journey of making this film, no one knows why. Whilst battling his own battles, a post competition win combined with a messy and complicated relationship, we realise his documentary was to act as his legacy.
The process of editing the film was extremely fun. I took advantage of the editing suites on the campus in Media City, where I was able to edit across three different screens. I wanted to make everything in this film myself, even down to the music. I had help to create a soundtrack that reflected the film, its mood, and how it can add to the quality of the film.
I originally debated with putting out a casting call for the film, but I decided instead to take advantage of my network. Having people in the film that I know and trusted was important to me, so that we could work together to deliver a performance that I visualised, but also for them to work alongside me during the filming process. Jacob Kelly, who stars as Mambo, is a friend from university whose skill and ability I took advantage of. With Jacob being on-screen for the majority of the film, the filming process was intense and interesting. Due to the pseudo-documentary style of the film, I needed to create a story that feels real, even though it isn’t. To do this, I spent two weeks filming footage with Jacob that is meant to look like archive footage in the film.
To add to the fake nature of the ‘true’ story, I had to expand the film beyond archive footage to deliver a sense of authenticity. This included interviews. To be able to add to the non-fiction approach, I had to make the interviews look authentic. However, to be able to adhere to the false nature of the film, these interviews had to be scripted and directed. This was a meticulous filming process where every detail needed to be addressed to maintain the authenticity of the film, to continue to make it seem real.
I used multiple references for this film, as a pseudo-documentary was a style of film that I had seen before and admired. Specifically, the ‘The Goof Who Sat By The Door’ episode from Atlanta acted as a heavy reference from this film, as that episode so successfully portrayed a fake story as real. It took advantage of false interviews and archive footage to give it an authentic feel. Other references included the Count Me Out – Kendrick Lamar music video, Jeenyuhs documentary and Amy documentary.
It was filmed at university, in Salford. I was determined to make this project myself, but I was supported by fantastically talented people throughout. The amazing Jacob Kelly starred as Mambo, with appearances from Luke Rados as Jermaine, Me as Myself, my Dad as Mambo’s Dad, and my Mum as the Therapist. The team behind the camera consisted of Luke Rados on Cinematography, Josh Love on co-writing and music producing duties, with myself looking after the filming, editing and of course, directing. The project went on to be nominated for Best TV Drama at the uni’s end of year awards night.
2:00pm was nominated for the university’s end of year awards, known as the BAFTARs. It was a proper fun night. I got all dressed up and went to the event with my mates who also had their own films nominated. It was a great evening where we were able to celebrate finishing our projects and see everyone for one of the last times. Whilst I didn’t win my category, I was grateful for the nomination. Here’s a sneaky pic of me and Luke Rados looking dapper.