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Uncle Roy

Film Proposal:

This film will follow my relationship with an elderly West Indian man who owns a

garage at the end of my street. Referred to as Uncle Roy, he is often found sitting

outside his garage where he engages in friendly hellos and nods with the odd passer

by. Until recently Uncle Roy’s garage was a fully functioning business where he

would spend his time fixing and restoring damaged vehicles. Since then he has

transformed the space in to somewhat of a hoarders heaven full of old antiques,

collectables and found items of bric-a-brac. It is questionable whether his intentions

are to sell these items or if they are simply just a collection of years’ worth of things.

His car is much the same and if he is not sitting outside the garage you can be sure

to find him in there reading the newspaper, sleeping or even having a shave. Having

lived in the area for over 10 years now I cannot remember a time that he was not

there at the garage at bottom of the street, it soon became second nature to say hello

and wave at him when passing by. Despite him seeming very content with his

lifestyle he also appears to be lonely and vulnerable.

Recognising him as a vital member of the community and someone who clearly has

a very detailed past; I became intrigued about his history, his reasons for immigrating

to Britain, the success of his business and more pressingly why he returns to this

place almost daily, despite its closing. Almost actively policing his old venture. In

addition, I am also interested in his view of Britain now in comparison to when he first

came here and what he thinks about topics such as gentrification, immigration and

cultural identity. I will take a direct and reflexive approach to questioning with he

intentions of creating a casual but detailed exchange between the subject and

myself. I will also use refined editorial decisions to dictate how the viewer receives

the subject and his story.

Reflective Comments:

The film became a more observational encounter with Uncle Roy due to him

becoming unresponsive during the filming process. So I was unable to ask the

questions I initially set out to. As a result I decided to document his area and

surroundings and capture my process of trying to track him down. His absence from

the area made me more and more intrigued if not worried about his whereabouts. I

began to leave him notes on his car in the hope to communicate with him somehow.

When I did finally see him, he did not wish to be filmed, so I decided to collect

information from local people in the quest to try and discover more about Uncle Roy.

My presence is evident throughout many aspects of the film; the first scene shows

me writing and leaving one of my notes for him on his car. Following this, the film

consists fully of voiceover made up of a series of dialogues between myself and local

people, asking whether they have seen Uncle Roy or if they know who he is and

myself. We also hear a series of telephone messages I left for him on the number I

found on the sign of the garage. Here I am hoping to find out if he’s still interested in

filming and we hear my genuine concern about where he’s been as I question him

not being by his garage. Through out the 5-minute piece, I really tried to capture my

investigations and constant attempts at trying to film with him.

What I learnt mainly from this project was my responsibility as a filmmaker. I am

concerned that my initial encounters with Uncle Roy and the style of questioning may

have come across as intrusive, which could have resulted in him not wanting to co-

operate and be filmed. Following this, I think it is important to create a relaxed

environment for your subjects; the camera equipment may have contributed to his

discomfort about being filmed. On my first visit I used the Black Magic pocket

camera, which is where I collected these lovely shots of him proudly standing outside

of his garage. However I think the transition too the larger Sony PMW200 may have

caused a more reserved reaction from him. I think I should have gone with the Sony

on the first shoot because although I captured really nice imagery the sound on the

Black Magic Pocket is compromised for the visual quality. Again this introduction to

the more advanced camera from the beginning may have allowed him to establish a

relationship with it early on.

Crucially, I have also learnt from this project about becoming comfortable with the

editing process. In the beginning I had great difficulty with how I would collate the

footage that I had into a captivating short film that really documented and explored

my relationship with Uncle Roy’s. I was really struggling to find a strong narrative

arch and although I lost my subject, in a way I think this redirection of trying to still

communicate with him and speaking to others about him and documenting his

surroundings, really forced me to come out of my comfort zone and work with what I

had access to.

Finally this was the first real experience I had working to a strict brief. Coming from

an artistic background that has seen me work off my own merits when it comes to

creating a piece of work this was a challenge at first. However I realise that it’s a way

of working that I need to have the ability to adapt to in order to flourish in the film and

television industry. This project has really helped me outline areas of improvement

and I hope to continue to learn new skills in order to adapt both the visual and

contextual nature of my work.