Profile: Danielle Swindells

Danielle's film Another Place considers the attraction of the sea and the power of home.

Why did you pick this subject for Fresh?

The only way to get better is to keep making films, making mistakes and learning from them

I think the film presents emotions that everyone can relate to and I feel Another Place shows a significant development in my personal style as a filmmaker. It was the first film I shot myself – I usually take on a producer/editor role.

What motivated you to make this film?

Since leaving my family home in Belfast and pursuing university in Manchester, I have felt like I have no real home in either. I’ve not spent enough time in Manchester to have yet built a significant emotional connection with the city and when returning to Belfast, my nostalgia overshadows the reality of its actual character.

In response to this feeling of detachment and need for belonging, I thought it would be appropriate to focus on my best friend’s relationship with Portsalon, a small town on the North West coast of Ireland. Mollie has been travelling to the coastal area from Belfast 4-5 times a year for the past 19 years and regards it as a second home. I believed that by exploring emotions and a situation that contrasts my own, it would provide a therapeutic and insightful filmmaking experience. I decided to analyse this personal issue indirectly, showing my best friend and her experience instead of myself, as I believed this would avoid the film perhaps being too self-indulgent and overpowering.

What equipment did you use to shoot and edit the film?

It was shot on a Canon EOS 7D, mainly using 50mm and 24 mm lenses. I edited the film myself, using Final Cut Pro X. The colour was graded by Thomas Payton-Greene, another filmmaker I work closely with. He also mixed the sound using Soundtrack Pro.

Who/what inspires you?

Documentary photography like Nan Goldin. The artist Edward Hopper. Larry Clarke’s Kids will forever be my favourite movie. It’s an important film to watch. I channel my inspiration for each project I do into an online moodboard, which I find really useful.

What are your plans for the future?

I’ve just finished my second year of filmmaking at Manchester School of Art, so I plan to make the most of my last year, to continue networking in and around the city and to get better at what I’m doing. In the next year, I want to find my niche and start specialising - recently I’ve been exploring Production Design.

What is the most important thing you have learned so far?

The only way to get better is to keep making films, making mistakes and learning from them. Networking is essential and to do this while at university where you can work for free and have free time is pretty smart. And organisation is half the battle.