FILM - ANIMATION - COMMISSIONS - WORKSHOPS
FilmAble
About 13 years ago HFP set up FilmAble, a film production company run by and for people with learning disabilities. Skilled members of FilmAble sometimes also work on commissioned shoots for HFP.
Just some of the artwork for The Three Bairns (film below)
FilmAble made this film about climate change. They chose the name months before the Italian town of Seregno suffered ice-laden floods - in July 2023 (first five seconds are soundtrack only)
(Northumberland County Council Climate Fund)
This film shows how FilmAble made Snow In July - Research, writing, scripting, storyboarding, shooting editing, SFX.
The Three Bairns was a commission from the Devil's Porridge Museum in Eastriggs, Dumfries and Galloway for FilmAble to make a short stop-frame animation introducing children to the history of the biggest munitions factory in the world, through the lens of the many disabled people who worked there. Will, Tom and Jess find themselves inside this terribly dangerous place in the middle of the night...
In A Flap was made by FilmAble for the Sill, National Landscape Centre. They rotoscoped clips of bird flight, then animated their drawn and animated images. The birds were all species likely to be seen in Northumberland National Park.
Swan Bride was made by Tessa Bolt. FilmAble work on both personal, individual projects, and together, often supporting much larger HFP projects, particularly in Heritage.
Spare Parts was written, animated and edited by Josh Burl. It was a commission from The Projectors, a theatre company for young people with autism. The animation screens inside a cinema in which the main action of The Projector's own film takes place.
FilmAble made Set In Stone for Hexham Abbey so visitors could learn about the building's history before visiting. They went to planning meetings with the Abbey, scripted, shot and edited, supported by HFP. The film was premiered in the Abbey to over two hundred people.
FilmAble/HFP collaborated with The Sill National landscape Centre, and Headway Arts (Blyth) exploring how geology affects folk tales, and their connection to the landscape. Originally intended to produce a touring show of projections film and live theatre, of necessity because of the pandemic we produced a series of films (Heritage Fund):