Short Ends
Irregularly updated short odds and ends by Mike Paterson.
ICHEP 2010 for the Guardian
The Guardian newspaper in the UK commissioned a short film about the ICHEP 2010 conference in Paris, where particle physicists get together to discuss their latest ideas on the fundamental nature of the universe. Edited on the fly, the shoot at the natural history museum reception at the end nearly got ugly when staff inexplicably refused to serve any drinks for the first 90 minutes - physicists like a drink!
The Battle for Central America
I worked as DoP with director Steve O'Hagan on this story of Liberation Theology - a radical form of Catholicism - in Central America. The film investigates the rise of evangelical christianity in Central America and the decline of the traditional Catholic church. Funded by CBA/DfiD, we travelled to El Salvador, Guatamela and Nicaragua exploring a violent history of politics and religion.
Philip Pullman on Freedom of Speech
I've been producing a series of films for a UK publisher - this short clip was part of the campaign around the launch of Philip Pullman's book 'The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ'. Nothing special visually, but content and delivery is perfect. It racked up over 100,000 views within a week.
Astrotagging
A short piece for the Royal Observatory in Greenwich to explain an innovative new celestial mapping tool for the astronomy community. Produced with animator and PFILM collaborator Jim Le Fevre.
The Question Box
A short promotional film for TED about the Question Box project, a California-based NGO with a fantastic way to help people from communities with no access to information technology make informed decisions about their lives. The footage was filmed researching a future PFILM project in India — watch this space!
Time to Talk
An extract from a DVD produced for Multistory, a multi-disciplinary arts organization in the UK. The DVD follows the work of numerous artists in primary schools across the West Midlands. This short montage was used as a promotional piece for the project.
Tipton — The Sandwell Project
An extract from another project for Multistory exploring 6 communities in the West Midlands, a region in the UK which has seen many of its' tradional industries disappear.
The Referee
"A beautifully photographed short about a Ukrainian migrant called Nikolai who officiates at Sunday League football matches on London's Hackney Marshes. Across that green expanse he runs and, for ninety minutes, he reigns. The rain beats down. Furious Turkish players yell at him. In the changing room, talking to fellow officials, he rues how costly it is to travel home and about the corruption that he might find there. He radiates authority, but isolation too. The film is over all too quickly, but it lingers in the imagination, reminiscent in its mood and milieu of Tony Richardson The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner and of Wim Wenders's The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty Kick" — The Daily Telegraph. Commissioned by Film London.
Night Bus
Completed as part of a Masters degree in documentary film, 'Night Bus' explores, well, the world of the London night bus. 'Night Bus' was nominated for numerous awards at film festivals around the world.
