[Film Making - Akenfield Suffolk]

Anglia TV news item; behind the scenes on the set of 'Akenfield', including interviews with film director Peter Hall.

A group gather on a local farm in Suffolk which is being used for the set of the film ‘Akenfield.’ Two men shake hands in front of the camera and a group of men stand around talking and laughing. Close up of a man with a piece of straw in his mouth. People are shown lifting a camera. Reporter Malcom Allsop gives viewers the background to the film ‘Akenfield’, saying that what makes it special is that no actors or actresses are used as it is made entirely using local people. In the background people are busy setting up the farm so that it is ready for filming. Shot of a clapper board. A group of men unload gear from the back of a lorry and wheel a cart along the path. Pans across the general activity of the film set. A cow can be heard mooing in the background. A little girl sits on a white horse in the middle of the set. Men are interviewed on set about their role in the film and what they have to do. They said that they are unsure exactly what they are supposed to do. When asked if he gets along with the film people one answers in the affirmative, but claims that they are slow to get things started. A man is shown with a clapper board and announces take one. Shot of ducks and chickens on the farm. A boy runs through them and slips over in the mud while laughter can be heard from behind the camera. A shot of a cow in the shed peeping through a hole. A man leads horses across the yard in front of the camera. Close up of the camera men and cameras as filming continues. The film director Peter Hall is interviewed. When asked what it’s like working with local people, he replies that it’s been a joy so far. He talks about the reason he is doing the film without a script and how he’s encouraging people to use their own experiences and improvise. He says that it’s special to have people who actually know something about the situations their characters are in. He claims that he couldn’t have made the film with professional actors. They discuss the people he is using in the film and the different roles. Peter says that the film is different from the book it is based on. Shot of people pulling a cart along the path. Zooms in on the camera men. Back to people pulling the cart along by hand. Close up of a man’s foot stuck in the mud which he then pulls out. Men continue to pull the cart along the mud. Close up of the cow looking through the hole in the shed. Close up of horses. A man leads horses across the set. Peter Hall and another man are talking by the camera. Camera pans over the general activity of the set. Close up of the girl on the white horse. Close up of notes on a clipboard followed by a close up of a camera and the cameraman. A group of men carry a butter maker through the set.

Keywords

Akenfield; Film Directors; Filmmaking; Rural Life.

Background Information

Akenfield is a film made by Peter Hall in 1974, based loosely upon the book Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village by Ronald Blythe (1969). The actors in the film are non-professional, drawn from the local population in Suffolk.