Pre-production: Review PRIDE

LGBT MEDIA REPRESENTATION: PRIDE

"Pride" is a comedy film set in the summer of 1984 when Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers is on strike to prevent closures of coal mines. During the Gay Pride March in London 20 year old Joe is taken under the wing of a group of gay men and Steph the Lesbian. It's during this march the group decide to raise money to support the families of the miners however they're met with backlash from people who do not want to be associated with them. The film follows them on their journey to Wales to directly help the minors. It deals with issues of homophobia and events such as the AIDS epidemic.

The film was released in September 2014 and has received good reviews from the public, with one reviewer saying it does have is spine-tingling charm by the bucket-load - The Guardian Mark Kermode

The film is based around the true story of LGSM (Lesbians and Gays Support the Minors) and it's characters are based off of real people three of them being; Mark Ashton (Founder of LGSM), Jonathon Blake (One of the First people to be diagnosed with Aids) and Sian James (Member of parliament/wife of a miner).
Mark Ashton is one of the main characters in the film and was the driving force behind LGSM, he died in 1987 from an aids related illness at 26. He was a human rights activist and who is described by friends as an "everything person...he was an Irishman, a communist, an agitator, a lapsed Catholic who still went to mass very occasionally. He was very charismatic. His communism governed everything he did. He spent a couple of months in Bangladesh in '82 and the poverty really politicised him. I miss him terribly. People tell me I didn't smile for three months after he died." - (The Guardian interview)

Jonathon Blake with Dominic West who played him in the film

Jonathon Blake was one of the first people to be diagnosed with aids in 1982. His character is the one who encourages Sian James to go to school and become a politician. However these were only three of the characters and unlike most films it covers a few and a lot of them were based on real people too. The cast were able to meet their 'characters' in real life allowing them to fully be able to become a character and convincingly pull it off.

Did you get to meet the real people you brought to life on screen?

Andrew (who plays Gethin Jonathon's partner): “I met the real Gethin… It was really important for us. And Mike Jackson, who is played by Jo Gilgun, came to a rehearsal and gave us a very eloquent speech about what life was like in 1984. And a lot of the people who were on the Gay Pride march in 1985 were involved as extras when it was recreated for the film. Gethin is actually an amalgam of two characters. Unlike the film the real Gethin’s mother is a gay rights activist but she was incredibly supportive.”
Faye: “I met Steph at the UK premiere before the film so don’t know if she hated me in it or not! It was quite emotional. It’s a big responsibility because you want to honour these people and their achievements and belief in human beings. It was a privilege to be a part of an important film like this one.”
Ben: “Mike Jackson was instrumental on illustrating to us what the world was like back then. He gave me all the information I needed to understand his relationship with my character Mark Ashton. It was a crash course in the history and politics of that time.” -(NME Interview)

Screen shot from PRIDE

The film uses archive footage in the beginning to denote the time, setting and atmosphere the film is set in. Though out the film they also use it for things such as Margaret Thatcher's speech and the AIDS adverts. Link to opening sequence of PRIDE The archive footage also supplies authenticity to the film's time period and information using old AIDS adverts and other speeches that were aired in the time.

The films budget came from multiple companies who were either in participation with or presented the film, these were; Pathe, BBC Films, Proud Films, BFI, Canal+, Cine+ and Calamity Films. Things like kit then came from other companies on loan such as camera equipment from Take 2 Films and extras for casting from Casting Collective.

In the year Pride released the audience attending cinemas were largely 15-24 year olds, 20% of their audience was 45-54 and a further 39% were over 55.

Table taken from the BFI

 It had a higher female viewing audience with a lot of their viewers coming from Wales, possibly due to the use of Welsh locations.

Pride was filmed between October 2013 and December 2013, it had 8 filming locations that were between England and Wales. A run of closed shops were chosen in North London to serve the location to recreate the 1980s street which the original Gay's The Word Bookshop resided. "I chose the types of shops that may have been around the bookshop at the time; from an old Victorian cobblers to a modern 80s television shop. Breathing life back into this disused row of shops was a wonderful experience". - (Simon Bowles website (Production Designer) Interior sets were built in Pinewood Studios.

When in the designing process all locations/sets had colour schemes and mock ups before being make.

All the exterior scenes of the mining village were shot in South Wales, the interiors of characters houses shot in London. "I did't want to portray any cliche interiors, I wanted the audience to believe they were visiting real people with a strong sense of their own pride of family history. I kept their colours simple with hints of warmth in the cold atmosphere". -(Simon Bowles Website)

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Pride is a film where LGBTQ+ people have been represented very positively, it takes a story that actually happened and brings it to the attention of a modern audience showing that this activism has been happening for years. It champions the characters who are based on real people and who were lead people in creating the LGSM group and gaining support for LGBT people. The film looks at the subject matter from a new perspective and takes on themes like the AIDS epidemic subtly but effectively. Rather than having a us against them mentality it's a feel good film that brings people together.

From this I have learnt the importance of locations for the schedule, the film was shot in a few months and the crew was able to get away with this by using London interiors for the majority of it. This would save time and money which is something I would be keen to replicate as we are filming in two locations too. I also learnt the impact of focusing on positive stories has on the audience, the film did this by having it's lead character (not based on anyone intentionally) go on a journey of discovery and break free from his homophobic background, to go on to be accepted by new people. We will be doing this by sharing with our audience the new aspects of Drag and how each one is as valid and accepted as the stereotyped one of a man in a wig and makeup.