Here - Philip Larkin
Challenge: 2010 saw the 25th anniversary of the death of one of Britain’s most popular post-war poets Philip Larkin.
The Larkin Society and the city of Hull (where Larkin was resident and wrote many of his most famous works) decide to commemorate with a 6-month programme of public events called Larkin25. They wanted a short film to both introduce Larkin to newcomers and work as an artwork in itself.
Solution: As the primary audience for the film would be residents of East Yorkshire, we chose to base the film on the poem ‘Here’. It was written about a journey through East Yorkshire and Hull and offered an opportunity to present viewers with the unusual and intriguing images of the very places that surround them and which inspired Larkin to write the poem.
We shot locations that reflected the poem’s mood, meaning and imagery and that hadn’t changed greatly in the near half century since it was written. We then secured Hull born acting legend Sir Tom Courtenay to provide the read and commissioned a score from a local musician to complement the images.
Result: The film was seeded on social networking sites, shown on TV and at cinemas, made available as a mobile phone download and used to introduce events during Larkin25. It went on to be selected for two short film festivals and nominated for two awards including the Royal Television Society Award for Best Promo 2010.
Visit the Larkin25 website
Testimonials
The best video i’ve ever seen, it gave me goosebumps!