‚Swindon – A Portrait of Youth‘ is a snapshot of opinions about growing up in the UK.
Teenagers rarely have a voice and a platform to speak about their aspirations and fears. With far-reaching political decisions being made around them, I wanted to explore what this group thought about growing up in Britain.
We chose Swindon because it was the closest major town to where I grew up and always seems to be a litmus test for which way the country will vote on major political decisions.
It’s not a particularly wealthy area nor a town that suffers from intense poverty. It doesn’t have a single industry which the town’s economy is reliant on, but instead has benefited from cheap land, ideally located – making it a good place for company headquarters and manufacturing. For these reasons, it seemed an appropriate place to get a snapshot of youth in Britain.
Interviews were conducted with 15-18-year-olds on the phone throughout 2017 and the piece completed in 2018.
It was shot on 35mm Kodak and Master Primes with only available light.
Director: Robin Mason
DOP: David Bird
Producer: Phil Myers
1st AD: Tedz
Camera Assistants: Dan Henderson, Brendan Harvey
Colourist: Toby Tomkins @ Cheat
Development and Scanning @ Cinelab
Craft Films 2018
@robinrmason