{"id":7882,"date":"2015-12-07T11:22:42","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T18:22:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/?p=7882"},"modified":"2016-11-23T08:19:59","modified_gmt":"2016-11-23T15:19:59","slug":"storm-saulter-portfolio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/?p=7882","title":{"rendered":"Storm Saulter | Portfolio"},"content":{"rendered":"

6-2 | Table of Contents<\/a>\u00a0| http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.17742\/IMAGE.CCN.6-2.2 | Saulter | Martens PDF<\/a><\/p>\n

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STORM SAULTER and EMIEL MARTENS<\/p>\n

FRAMING STORM SAULTER’S WORK<\/h4>\n

I<\/span>n January 2015 Storm Saulter was appointed as Filmmaker in Residence at the Department of Literatures in English, University of the West Indies (UWI). During his tenure, which lasted until May, the Jamaican filmmaker contributed to the Department\u2019s Film Studies programme by teaching the course, Creative Writing: Screen\/Stage, and offering guidance to students interested in the world of filmmaking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn’t sure what to expect teaching this class but very early I realised that there was a room full of great storytellers with really strong and deep ideas and who were passionate about film. We ran it like a script development workshop and each student had their own idea to develop into a feature film. Young Jamaicans are way more exposed to all kinds of media and are influenced as much by Japanese anime as they are by Hollywood studio films. Thankfully they are trying to break-out of the Hollywood storytelling archetypes and develop a new aesthetic. That is what I encouraged and that is what the students set out to achieve, and the results were really surprising and powerful. I definitely want to see some of those stories on the screen. I never went to a classic university myself so working with students that age was a new and energizing experience for me as well.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Besides teaching, Storm also participated in the annual \u2018March is Movie Month at Mona\u2019 series hosted by the Department. He named his talk, which was supported by different excerpts of his work, \u2018Towards a New Caribbean Cinema\u2019, after the title of this interview.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIn my talk I really tried to hammer home the importance of developing our own aesthetic. In looking at the things that make the Caribbean unique, our landscape, the physicality of our people, the mixed up languages and sounds, the richness of colours in our world. Not to shy away from those things\u00a0but to intentionally weave them into the fabric and texture of our filmmaking. To create a filmmaking language that transcends any one film. This was also the aim of a short film workshop I ran in the summer months. This workshop consisted of four intensive weeks where participants came with ideas and left with a fully developed script that was ready to be produced.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Following the residency, Storm was selected to take part in the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart at the tenth edition of the Trinidad + Tobago Film Festival. Co-financed by the ACP Cultures+ Programme, funded by the European Union (European Development Fund) and implemented by the APC Group of States, \u201cthe primary goal of the Caribbean Film Mart is to foster direct relationships between the Caribbean and the international film industry, by stimulating and creating viable cinematic co-productions\u201d (ttfilmfestival.com<\/a>). In total fifteen filmmakers were selected to pitch their projects (in development or pre-production) to international film producers, commissioners, sales agents and funds\u2014and one of them was Storm with his fiction film project, Spinter<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis was one of the most helpful development programs I\u2019ve participated in because of its focus on Caribbean films specifically and because of the quality of industry professionals brought in to meet with us about our projects. The collection of filmmakers there was a great representation of the new wave of Caribbean cinema and all projects involved in the mart moved forward in some way. This was the unanimous feeling of the filmmakers. I developed new partnerships for Sprinter<\/em> and I know the seeds planted there will bear fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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STORM SAULTER PORTFOLIO<\/h4>\n

\"Web<\/a>Photograph of Storm Saulter by YardEdge<\/a> founder Karin Wilson Edmonds.<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Still from Storm\u2019s early work Waterboot<\/em>, a 2003 video art piece that was part of the exhibition \u2018Infinite Island: Contemporary Caribbean Art<\/a>\u2019 at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. \u201cI regularly returned home and just documented everything with my digital camera, little random Jamaican things, which I then edited in a certain way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Poster of the third and last edition of the Flashpoint Film Festival<\/a> in 2008 in Port Royal. \u201cI believe Flashpoint kicked a lot of people on the island in the butt in terms of realizing that this is what we need to do to get the film industry going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Official film poster of Storm\u2019s first feature film Better Mus\u2019 Come<\/em> (2011) featuring Sheldon Shepherd<\/a> and Sky Nicole Grey<\/a>. \u201cI really wanted to make a film about the seventies. I had always been fascinated with the Cold War and the international geopolitics at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Commissioned film poster of Better Mus\u2019 Come<\/em><\/a> made by Jamaican artist and graphic designer Leasho Johnson. \u201cIt became clear that, for me, the ultimate story of the Cold War era was about the poor people who were the sufferers, so the story had to represent them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"05Film<\/a>

05 Film still from Better Mus\u2019 Come featuring main actor Sheldon Shepherd. \u201cThe Green Bay Massacre became the endpoint of my story which I then built backwards \u2013 into a journey of one character in particular.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n

Film still from Better Mus\u2019 Come<\/em> featuring main actor Sheldon Shepherd. \u201cThe Green Bay Massacre became the endpoint of my story which I then built backwards \u2013 into a journey of one character in particular.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Film still from Better Mus\u2019 Come<\/em> featuring Everaldo Cleary (front), Sheldon Shepherd (middle), and Ricardo Orgil (back). \u201cWe pretty much auditioned anyone in the community who was interested. This is how we found Ricardo Orgil, who plays Flames.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Production still of Better Mus\u2019 Come<\/em> showing Storm at work. \u201cAlthough we did everything in a really low-budget way, we were very meticulous with getting the look and feel right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Storm together with Michelle Serieux, co-founder of New Caribbean Cinema<\/a>, at the British Film Institute in London (photo by freelance photographer Frederique Rapier<\/a>). \u201cMichelle and I decided to join forces to create opportunities for young filmmakers to produce work that could put them on the map.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"web<\/a>Four members of the New Caribbean Cinema<\/a> team: from left to right, Nile and Storm Saulter, Joel Burke and Michelle Serieux (photo by Jamaican photographer Marlon James<\/a>). \u201cNew Caribbean Cinema became a mix of a feeling of getting work done and a method of how to get it done\u2014a \u2018by any means necessary\u2019 approach to filmmaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Film poster of Ring di Alarm<\/em><\/a> (2013), the first round of films by the members of the New Caribbean Cinema team. \u201cWe all made one short film and worked together on each other\u2019s films.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Announcement of the screening of Ring di Alarm<\/em> at the 2013 Pan-African Film Festival in Los Angeles. \u201cI definitely think New Caribbean Cinema is a driver for Caribbean cinema in general. I just see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Film still from Watching Him Kissing Her<\/em>, the Ring di Alarm<\/em> film directed by Storm. \u201cAlthough the Ring di Alarm<\/em> films are very different from each other, I do think they have something in common and that is a slight interest in the dark side of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Film still from Coast<\/em>, the Ring di Alarm<\/em> film directed by Nile Saulter on which Storm worked as a cinematographer and co-producer. \u201cThe Caribbean film aesthetic is still very much open, but it is definitely magical, colorful, kaleidoscopic, language-rich and musical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Image from Storm\u2019s photo-shoot of the band Arcade Fire at the Trident Castle in Port Antonio, Jamaica, published in the Rolling Stone<\/em> magazine (2013). \u201cThroughout the week I am often in touch with a couple of production companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Photograph by Storm of Trinidadian fashion designer Ayana Rivi\u00e8ra, also published in the Rolling Stone<\/em>magazine (2013). \u201cI oversee treatments, I deliver edits, I go to meetings, I scout locations, I am in pre-production or I am actually shooting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Production still of Storm shooting the music video \u201cWho Knows<\/a>\u201d by the Jamaican artists Protoje and Chronixx. \u201cI usually have a few of these projects going on at the same time, in different stages of development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Still from the music video \u201cWho Knows\u201d featuring Protoje and Chronixx. \u201cWhen I have a deadline, I just have to stay up for a few nights and get it done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Photograph by Storm of Chronixx as part of a campaign for Lifted Research Group (LRG), a creative lifestyle clothing company (2014). \u201cI do quite a bit of commercial work; that is actually what I do most of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Film still from a video piece Storm did for the Canopy Guild<\/a>, a community photography, fashion, and object-design project-cum-exhibition initiated by Trinidadian artist Rodell Warner. \u201cI feel any moment now we can make the big hit films, I definitely feel that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a>Screen shot of Storm\u2019s homepage http:\/\/stormsaulter.com<\/a> featuring a photograph by Storm of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt for media technology company Soul Electronics. \u201cI want to make the films that epitomize Caribbean cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n

Links |\u00a0<\/strong>Better Mus\u2019 Come <\/em>Official Trailer<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Interview with Storm and Better Mus\u2019 Come lead actor Sheldon Shepherd<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Feature on the Better Mus\u2019 Come<\/em> premiere in Philadelphia on the Lavonne Nichols Show<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0New Caribbean Cinema Featurette<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Feature on New Caribbean Cinema on Dutch television (VPRO Cinema)<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Ring di Alarm<\/em> Official Trailer<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0\u2018Who Knows\u2019 Music Video<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Storm\u2019s Official Homepage<\/a><\/p>\n

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Copyright Storm Saulter and Emiel Martens. This article is licensed under a <\/span>Creative Commons 3.0 License<\/a> although certain works referenced herein may be separately licensed, or the author has exercised their right to fair dealing\u00a0under the\u00a0Canadian <\/span>Copyright Act<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6-2 | Table of Contents\u00a0| http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.17742\/IMAGE.CCN.6-2.2 | Saulter | Martens PDF STORM SAULTER and EMIEL MARTENS FRAMING STORM SAULTER’S WORK n January 2015 Storm Saulter was appointed as Filmmaker in Residence at the Department of Literatures in English, University of the West Indies (UWI). During his tenure, which lasted until May, the Jamaican filmmaker contributed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4062,"featured_media":8282,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Storm Saulter | Portfolio","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[128,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ccn-6-2","category-guest-artists","wpautop"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Web-000-Storm-Saulter-Director.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p707hj-238","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4062"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7882"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8502,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7882\/revisions\/8502"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imaginations.space\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}