Pitch Feedback

After pitching these ideas to the group they both received an equal amount of votes meaning it was left for us to decide which one we would go for. However Debbie pointed out that focusing on a specific artist rather than just interviewing different ones around the establishment. We took this on board and decided that we would do a documentary on one of the artists situated at Bluecoats.

Megan suggested an artist called Michael Phoenix who makes violins in the old fashioned way that Stratovarius used to do including by candlelight at night. We decided to re write the pitch and contact Michael to see if we could work with him.

See below for pitch:

Treatment for ‘Scouservari’

‘Scouservari’ is a five minute long documentary film about Michael Phoenix, master violinmaker and restorer based at The Bluecoat in Liverpool. Michael first started working on musical instruments when he was eleven years old and has become a master in his field, recently working on a historic instrument made by Antonio Stradivari, the ‘Englemen’, crafted in 1709 and worth £10 million. What sets Michael apart from fellow violinmakers is that he keeps absolutely true to the style and techniques of the great Cremonese master, Antonio Stradivari (1644 – 1737). This means that he uses no electric power tools to craft his musical instruments, only hand tools and 400-year-old techniques to work the wood. When night falls, Michael continues working by candlelight to further heighten the authenticity and quality of his instruments.

We will capture Michael’s passion for music and the art of making musical instruments, as well as showing his great sense of humour and love for life in general. The film will begin by showing the audience a glimpse of Michael’s background, exploring what led him to pursue this unusual and highly skilled career. These will be in the form of interviews, which will take place in his workshop. As his techniques are so interesting and unique, these will be a major focal point of the documentary. They will be shown through beautiful close ups as Michael crafts by candlelight as well as natural light, showing the dedication to his work and making the highest quality instruments possible. The film will also include stories from Michael’s career and life in general, giving the audience an insight into his personality and character. We also plan to explore Michael’s emotional connections to the instruments he works on, and his passion for music and how he thinks it is a vital part of the human psyche to appreciate it.

Michael has incredible care and attention to detail when working on his instruments, and this will be reflected in the visual style of the film. We intend to use numerous close ups of the instruments that Michael has made and worked on, as well as close ups of his hand-made tools that he uses to craft them. This will show the audience the level of care Michael has over his instruments, making sure that the wood on every one is perfectly finished. The soundtrack to the film will consist of classical guitar music played by Michael himself as well as violin music recorded off-set. This will compliment the footage and help set the tone that we want to create.

‘Scouservari’ has been influenced by the documentary, ‘The Archive’ (Sean Dunne, 2008). We have taken inspiration from the way the subject’s love for his record collection is portrayed and intend to capture that same dedication in our subject. We have also been influenced by documentaries about luthiers, particularly ‘The Violin Maker’ (Dustin Cohen, 2013), which uses beautiful close ups of the violin making process. We intend to broaden our audience’s knowledge of the art of violin making and heighten their appreciation of music itself. Michael’s character will make this film stand out to others on the subject by highlighting his unique persona, adding a touch of Liverpool humour. We intend the film to be accessible to all audiences; however, the subject matter will predominantly appeal to those with an interest in music and the arts.