Midlands Spotlight on filmmaker Ben Crawford
midlandsmovies • August 12, 2020
Midlands Spotlight – Filmmaker Ben Crawford
Even in lockdown the filmmakers from the Midlands have been hard at work in front of and behind the camera to tell their stories despite the difficulties in production right now.
And none more so than up and coming local filmmaker Ben Crawford who has finished not just one but three films in the past couple of months.
Based in Birmingham, Ben is a part-time postgraduate student at the University of Birmingham.
The three films he’s undertaken during the pandemic are all shorts with two of them being documentaries and both of those take a look at the workings of two foodbanks/meal kitchens.
Ben has captured how difficult life has been during Covid-19 through interviews and footage of the daily processes at these organisations.
First up is 'Selly Oak's Community Response', which Ben prefaces with how a group of University of Birmingham students and local community members felt compelled to act. They set up a grassroots foodbank in one of their houses to distribute donations from students moving away.
Since then the operation has grown rapidly, moving to larger premises, coordinating a complex network of volunteers - all to be able to send parcels to hundreds of people in need.
For more information, how to get involved, donate or receive a parcel: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sellycommunityresponse
The second film is 'Cooperation Birmingham: Solidarity Kitchen' where The Warehouse Cafe, a workers cooperative, had to close but instead they set up the Solidarity Kitchen, a meal donation service helped by over 300 volunteers.
Cooperation Birmingham: https://cooperationbirmingham.org.uk
As well as capturing real life stories Ben has also turned his hand to fiction and his experimental short 'Within, without' follows the travails of someone confined and unable to live how they would like to.
Find out more about Ben’s work at his official website here: https://benjamin-crawford.com
UNCANNY Directed by Liam Banks 2025 Superfreak Media Liam Banks follows up the excellent Run For Your Life! ( review here ) with a short, sharp horror experience that takes influence from the glut of uncanny, ‘imposter’ horror content across YouTube and gaming currently. James Podmore plays Jordan, a successful singleton who is looking for love on an online dating platform. After a brief, comical interaction with one lady (played by Run For Your Life! lead Rosie Frost), he connects with Amanda (Racheal Caulton). However, there is something clearly very wrong with Amanda, especially when she finally turns her camera on to reveal a distorted, not quite human façade. Podmore is great as the confused lead, recognising that something is clearly wrong, but also wanting to give his match the benefit of the doubt. And the script kicks him into action just before he risks becoming a stereotypical horror victim. Similarly, Caulton manages to shine through the layers of special effects and voice manipulation, proving she’s just as effective an antagonist, as she is horror victim. Banks, who also co-handled script duties with Charlie Brentnall, does an excellent job with the effects here. Playing it safe by keeping Caulton in low light for the most part, the effects on her face look great, even as the film quickly shifts to more of a home invasion style piece. There are also some neat little ‘did you see that?’ moments, with Amanda placed in the background of scenes; standing out just enough to heighten that uncanny feeling, only occasionally marred by a too-obvious sound design that fills the silence with stingers to make the scares obvious. Overall, it’s an excellent short. One that continues the streak of high-quality horror productions that Superfreak Media has been delivering. At just 20 minutes, there’s no fat to trim here, delivering a genuinely tense, uncomfortable experience that will keep the Halloween vibes coming. 3.5 / 5 Matthew Tilt Instagram https://www.instagram.com/tiltmatthew90/ Watch the full short for free on YouTube below:
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