Pre-Production - The Gentlemen's Brewing Collective

This was the second film I created for my portfolio. This film was inspired by the numerous and humorous stories my father would share about him and his friends and their escapades in their small brewery.  Through these stories, I got to understand how, besides being a very hilarious group, the brewery provides a refuge for the men, allowing them to escape their work lives in order to create something meaningful as a community. I felt inspired to create this film because I loved seeing such a powerful example of men who love and support one another.

Mood board for the Gentlemen’s Brewing Collective

When I was collecting visual ideas for The Gentlemen’s Brewing Collective, I wanted to find ways to communicate a clear contrast between the world within the shed and the outside world. To achieve this, I decided that I needed to fill the shed with fairy lights to help create a warmer atmosphere within the shed, contrasting with the cooler colours of the garden outside, which was covered in darkness. This would help me to communicate the sense of warmth and refuge felt within the shed and within this community.

I also wanted the objects within the brewery to communicate what matters most to these men. Therefore, I asked, on the evening I filmed, that the brewery be covered in objects of significance or meaning for the men. For example, having posters of the beers they have made or photos hung up on the walls of family memories. This I believed would help convey more about the men than what is mentioned in the interviews.

Storyboarding the Gentlemen’s Brewing collective was difficult. The start and the end of the film was scripted. I knew I had to have a narrative arc, which would be difficult to find amongst the footage if I did not structure the beginning and the end of the story. I had an idea of what the introduction and the ending could look like, but I knew that I was filming in an active brewery. For the middle part of the film, apart from the sit-down interviews, it was “run and gun” type of filming. I used a set of questions to try and elicit natural responses that I could use to fill the holes in the middle of my narrative arc. I did not give the men the questions before the interview. I wanted to try and capture their natural responses. I thought that this would make the film feel more authentic.