Arts University Bournemouth has provided £900 of match funding
Secondary Strobe
Poole, Dorset, United Kingdom
Aim: We're making a short documentary focusing on deaf swimmers and their success in an environment that puts constant barriers in their face.
In Great Britain, deaf swimmers currently receive no funding to compete at high level competitions, this is because the S15 category does not feature at the Paralympics meaning that swimmers don’t receive national lottery funding or support. This usually results in less than a number you could count on your hand actually competing for Great Britain at the deaf world championships and the Deaflympics.
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The film will follow the Great British Deaf Swimming Club, and the swimmers who come together to make the club. GBDS is run by volunteer's who are keen to create opportunities for deaf swimmers. Deaf for the purposes of competitive swimming is defined as a hearing loss of at least 55 db pure tone average (PTA) in the better ear (three-tone pure tone average at 500, 1000 and 2000 Hertz, air conduction, ISO1969. Within the film we aim to focus on varying levels of deafness within the club, as well as with varying levels of success, hoping to capture the experience from different perspectives and different people, while keeping a close link to the sport of swimming.
This film is being made to show the world of deaf swimming, the success and putbacks that come with the sport, especially in the lack of funding given.
While the film focuses on success we want to inform people that the success is not recognised, when it should be. Swimmers, want to compete to the highest standard and at the highest competitions but now they are not capable to without funding themself. The film will hope to play a key importance in the swimming clubs future and the development of any young deaf swimmers who wish to compete at the highest level possible.
This film follows the themes of success and determination especially in the face of adversity, the desire to win when all is not in your favour. I know the feeling of determination, success and just how hard it truly is to be a swimmer, from my time as a swimmer, but there is more to this story in which it is deserving to be told, how the adversity of being a deaf swimmer is often overlooked and I hope to be able to show this through the film alongside our contributors. Within the film I aim to work alongside the contributor for almost all the process, the main part of the film is to be led by a signed/subtitled voiceover which will allow the film to take its shape and allow the crew to work with it, paired with beautiful water imagery which can aid the viewer in being immersed into this world.
For my key inspirations I have looked at films like The Swimming Club, Last Chance U, Name Me Lawand and Becoming Cousteau for how you can mould documentaries into something more than just a winning story. For me Becoming Cousteau is a key example in how to use a voiceover story and make it different, which has elements that I wish to produce throughout this film. They all carry the feeling of possibility and to succeed and that’s what I hope to mirror in my film.
At its core Secondary Strobe is a story about the sport of swimming and it’s diversity of differently abled athletes. Creating a sense of strength and grandeur for these athletes in their environment is of pivotal importance in being faithful to them and their stories. This will be done through a contrasting and simple colour palette, bringing out their skin tones against the light blue surfaces of the swimming pool. We will be seeing these professional swimmers in their element, witnessing their full ability through close-up and intense shots taken from both above and below the surface of the water with higher shutter speeds to emphasise the erratic motion of the water and the skill on display.
When necessary we can take a step back to wider shots to show the intimacy of the swimmers relationship with each other and the swimming pool as they interact with each other and as we speak to them face-to-face. Our goal in telling this story visually is not explicitly to portray the genuine experiences of the deaf swimming community, but also to create an ambiance that drives the message of this group of people being equally as skilled and versatile as any other competitive swimming group, deserving of support by anyone who is a fan of the sport as well as the sporting bodies that back them professionally.
Secondary Strobe is a lot more than just a student film, from the subject to our crew we are showing to the world to a topic not really delved deeply into before, with the hope to raise awareness of deaf communities striving to make a difference and also aiming to help them get the funding needed to compete alongside other deaf athletes at high level deaf competitions such as the Deaflympics and the deaf world championships happening in Argentina in August 2023.
The majority of the budget will help to accommodate and transport our crew when travelling to meet our contributors as this will allow us to fully immerse ourselves in the contributors world.
With your support we are confident that this film will achieve everything we want it too and it will made to the best possible quality for us to be able to submit to festivals allowing us to promote awareness in deaf sport.
MADDIE BARNES – DIRECTOR
I’m Maddie, the director of ‘Secondary Strobe’ and am very excited to bring this film to life. I have been a swimmer since I was a baby but competitively since I was around 8, competing up to a national level. Deaf swimming is an under-represented community within the swimming world, and I hope that this documentary shares a light on it.
Having made documentaries throughout my three years at AUB, creating documentaries comes naturally to me, I enjoy capturing real thoughts and emotions through the camera and being privileged enough to be let into worlds not often seen by people. That’s why I am really excited to create this film and work the amazingly talented crew I have.
JOE KELLY - PRODUCER
Hi, I’m Joe and I’m the lead producer for this great project, I’ve been specialising in producing for the past couple years at Bournemouth Film School and am now ready to put it all to good use. I’ve been travelling to and from the USA for many years shooting all types of content as well as lifeguarding on the beautiful lakes of New England so a film about swimming was a no brainer for me! Maddie and I think we’ve got an amazing subject and a great crew to make this documentary that’ll hopefully bring to light the successes the Deaf Swimming Community have had along with the barriers and difficulties they face.
NICK MERCIECA – CO PRODUCER
Hi, my name is Nick, I am the co-producer on Secondary Strobe. Growing up in Malta I spent most of my time in the water, either swimming or playing water polo, this along with having a passion for sports drew me to join this great project. I feel that this film carries an important message and brings awareness to the deaf swimming community as well as the successes and milestones achieved within the community. Using what I have learnt whilst studying producing at AUB, along with the help of this talented crew, I am excited to bring this project to life!
JOSHUA BALDASSARRE – DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Hello, my name is Joshua Raffaele Baldassarre and I am the Director of Photography for Secondary Strobe. Growing up in a variety of coastal areas, from the coasts of southern Italy, Western Australia, and Dorset itself, I have a deep and personal connection to the joy of swimming. I joined this project with the goal to portray the deaf swimming community with a sense of grandeur and strength while intimately highlighting the personal successes of each athlete and hope to accomplish said goals by the end of the production.
DEA XHERRI - EDITOR
The thing that drew me into film making was the process of editing. I love how many different ways there are to cut a sequence.
I was drawn to this film due to my own experience as a person with a sensory impairment. Although being hearing impaired and visually impaired are very different, I can relate to certain aspects of the experiences of the subjects and I know I can represent them authentically. I feel like film can do so much good for the world and documentaries like these can really help the people they are about and get others to understand aspects of living with a hidden disability and some of the obstacles they face from government bodies.
HAYDON ANDERSON – SOUND RECORDIST
What interested me in Secondary Strobe is how the application of sound can be used to tell the stories of those who can’t sense it. This will require much care and sensitivity in how we tackle expressing the experience of people in a language they can’t fully appreciate whilst also communicating their lived experience to those who aren’t afflicted by deafness.
DAN FORWARD - GAFFER
Hi I’m Dan and I’m the Gaffer for Secondary Strobe. I am currently a third year film student at Arts University Bournemouth and for my graduation Film I chose to work on Secondary Strobe. I chose to work on this project because the idea stood out to me as I had not come across a documentary discussing similar challenges faced by disabled athletes and I wanted to involve myself in finding out how deaf swimmers go about on their journey. I have been swimming since I was a young teenager and always enjoyed the swimming pools, so I am interested in how such a sport can bring everyone together. Finally this documentary was appealing to me due to the possibilities of visual storytelling. Aspects such as sound design and cinematography can be used very creatively to convey a narrative fitting with the situation.
EMILY DIXON - BEST PERSON
I’m Emily and I’m the best person. I have been studying cinematography at Arts University Bournemouth and I’m now in my third year. I chose to be on ‘Secondary Strobe’ for my graduation film as I love to help make documentaries, I enjoy being part of the lighting team as you can portray a wide range of information through the lighting itself. I’m very interested in this particular film with it being about deaf swimmers and we are going to use our skills to visualise this through the camerawork and lighting. We can experiment with the lighting, camera and sound and some of the filming will be carried out underwater, so the lighting for this project is very appealing to me.
IF YOU WANT TO LEARN MORE, FOLLOW THESE LINKS:
https://ukdeafsport.org.uk/deaflympicsgb/