These stories will create an archive which will be kept safe by the local councils, be accessible to the public and preserved for future generations. One of my interviewees described the archive as a ‘time stamp’ and I rather like this phrase. It sums up what we’re trying to do – provide a snap shot of Black Country life in 2012. But instead of burying this time capsule of stories, we want to share it with you – both now and in the future. For that reason, I’ve been listening back to the interviews and picking out a few extracts for our website.

As an oral historian, I firmly believe that you need to hear the recordings… not just read transcripts of them. There’s something very important about the way people say things… the words they use, the pace of their delivery, the emphasis they put on things, and their silences; what they don’t say, the pauses, the sighs, the hesitations. And of course there’s the accents too. Listening back to more than 20 hours of recordings has reinforced my passion in the ‘orality’ of oral history.

So if you find Martin Parr’s gallery of photos, you will also see an audio symbol on some of pictures. Click on them. You’ll be taken to a world of hairdressing, brewing, school life, pubs and partying, churches, dancehalls, factories, fashion and adventure. Enjoy listening to the voices. They reveal as much as the photographs do about Black Country life.

Where We Dream is featured in a conversation on episode 3 of Chris Goode & Company’s Thompson’s Live podcast. Joining Chris for this recording at Stoke Newington International Airport were:

• Phelim McDermott, co-artistic director of Improbable
• Rajni Shah, performance maker
• John Hall, poet; Professor of Performance Writing, University College Falmouth

The panel were asked to talk about something in the arts that they have experienced lately. Rajni Shah chose François Matarasso’s Where We Dream book and DVD. This discussion takes place at about 8:20 into the podcast.

You can listen to the podcast here

There’s a bit of interference on the audio of this episode, particularly in the first minute. Apologies for that — we hope it doesn’t spoil your enjoyment.

The book Where We Dream (with DVD) mentioned by Rajni can be ordered from the Multistory shop.

The Ira Glass video mentioned by Phelim is here: http://vimeo.com/24715531

The Sara Maitland piece mentioned by Chris is here: http://www.aeonmagazine.com/world-views/sara-maitland-wind-farms-beauty-and-justice/

We welcome your comments.

Katy and Torange are proposing a pop-up shop and cafe in a row of shops, on Charelemont Estate, West Bromwich, which will take place over 1-2 weeks in February 2012. Leading on from their previous research in the area, the shop would have multiple functions including: acting as an archive space for collecting and displaying artefacts and memories about the estate; holding classes and activities for adults which reflect the lost trades and knowledge of the community (and providing a space for ‘local experts’; holding games nights to re-enact lost games; and generating funds through a cafe which people can then pitch for to make small local projects happen.

Main project objectives

• Continue to collect and display material with the longer term objective of creating a more permanent ‘Museum of Charlemont’
• Re-enacting old activities which will attract different users to the space and create interactions, generating mini-organisations or groups which can pitch for money
• Providing a forum for ‘local experts’  to display and share knowledge
• Generating income which can then go back into making community projects happen

This is one of four Small Change:Creative Projects managed by Multistory in 2011-2012.

What Is Black Country Stories?

Earlier this year we (Black Country Cinema) were contacted by Sandwell based charity Multistory about the possibility of working on a project to tell the story of the ‘everyday life’ in the Black Country. With our earlier work including Luv’in the Black Country and Walk 17 being instrumental in our development as filmmakers, it was clear that Multistory wanted us to take this project in the same direction. So the project itself is called Black Country Stories which is a multi-commission programme, produced by Multistory, that invites artists to document and record life in, yes, the Black Country. Our commission was to produce 4 short films that would run with the theme of the project, and not a coincidence that this meant we would direct a film each using the other 3 as a production crew.

The Brief

A great honour for us in that we’d be joining a project that has internationally acclaimed artists such as Martin Parr, Mark Power, Margaret Drabble and David Goldblatt already working on it. But approaching things from the angle of film was something we could do differently, in our own style and as always something we wanted to capitalise on. Having gone away to think about the project as individuals, we locked ourselves away to pen down just exactly what it was we each wanted to say with our films. Matthew chose to focus on the people of Bilston markets as it was already something Multistory were interested in. He had already been toying with the idea of a film about the markets immediately after finishing Luv’in, so it seemed the natural choice. While filming The Passing Spirit I was shooting in my granddad’s old allotment which inspired me immensely, so an allotment was going to be the setting of my film. Jaspal’s earlier research lead him to discover that King Charles II had taken refuge in Willenhall, and so built his idea around this. Finally, Andrew decided to broaden the scope and create a journey throughout the Black Country, travelling through the local towns and meeting people along the way.

The entire brief was discussed some time in April, but filming didn’t begin until late August. Obviously essentials such as equipment, contracts and insurance need to be sorted before any of the good stuff can start.

We started shooting as soon as we laid hands on the camera, and although we had gotten used to the luxury of DSLRs, we were soon planted firmly back at our roots with a solid camcorder. As the cinematographer on three of the films, I can say it was in some ways refreshing and in some ways unsatisfying. The ease of control, precise reach of all dials and indeed the absence of a rig, meant it was great to hold and the speed in filming off the cough and obtaining focus fast for Andrew’s film was amazing. However when it came to shooting mine and Matthew’s film where aesthetics and composition were much more important, it proved difficult to achieve shots that lived up to our previous work. However it was all a process and one thing I’ve learnt is to never assume exactly what you want the film to be before hand, let it happen naturally and you’ll be much happier with the results. Jaspal being more of a camcorder veteran was always going to feel at home however, and after looking at some of his rushes you can tell. Andrew was our dedicated sound recordist and dealt with some of the strongest local winds I think we have ever filmed in. Getting to know new equipment is always a challenge and something that took us time to adjust to, but the results I think are shaping up nicely.

Where Are We Now?

As you can tell by the manner in which I’m writing we aren’t finished yet, but getting there quite fast. We came into this project as usual having all sorts of pre conceptions about what we wanted, though I speak for everyone when I say what we’ve come away with has been a completely new experience in film-making. Andrew and Matthew more than ever in this case, as they’ve experimented a lot with pace and style, and believe it or not we actually have an entire film with non-stop camera movement!

We’ll keep the blog updated with the progress, and hope to have some screenings real soon.

Ever wondered what it’s like to work in a brewery? Yesterday I got the chance to interview Phil Parkinson at Marston’s in Wolverhampton, to record his personal story of living and working in the Black Country. Phil doesn’t come from this part of the world, but he calls it home now and is deeply proud of both the brewery and the beer that he makes.

Even if you’ve never visited Marston’s, you’ve probably smelt it from the ring road. As Phil says, you either love the smell or hate it. Luckily he loves it.“The smells for me are fantastic. You’ve got the warmth of the mash room floor with all the lovely malty smells coming off… and then when you’re adding the hops, we’ve got so many varieties now, really fragrant hops, really floral and zesty and citrusy ones are tending to be all the rage at the moment, so some lovely grapefruity smells.”

Phil’s is just one of three oral history interviews I’ve recorded in the past week. I’ve also met Trisha Uccelinni, who’s been selling vintage clothes from her shop in Wolverhampton City Centre for nearly 40 years, and in Wightwick, I visited hairdresser Nick Malenko. Nick travels the world with celebrity clients but is never happier than when returning to his Wolverhampton roots.

This is the joy of oral history. You learn so much about what’s important to people, what makes them tick and why they’re so proud about the places where they live and work. Martin Parr captures this in his wonderful photographs, which you can see in the gallery on this website. My interviews give our subjects a voice… a chance to record for future generations what they think about living and working in the Black Country in 2012.

Hole in the Wall Curtains, a shop based in Walsall selling fabrics and accessories, have written an article on their website to celebrate being part of Mark Power’s Black Country Stories exhibition.

Boot Camp, Chris Jewkes Fitness, Tettenhall, 2012

Back in July, Martin spent four days in Wolverhampton and its wider region with visits in Compton, Tettenhall, Willenhall and the city centre again. The shoot also included revisiting Walsall as we wanted to document the last remaining brick manufacturer in the Black Country.

As often happens when out shooting with Martin, we ended up in some unforeseen circumstances as we got invited to two weddings: one in The Royal Wolverhampton School and the other, a reception party, at Bushbury Social Club. We found unique characters like ‘Cowboy Pete’ outside Shepwell Green WMC in Willenhall and exclusive barbers Nick and Royston in Compton with their glamorous salon, second branch in The Dorchester Hotel, London no less!! At The Wolverhampton show we stumbled across vegans, The Inspirational Women’s Group, The Fuchsia Society, knitted jumpers and the incredibly energetic retired Rev. Tim Fyffe who has been one of the main advocates for inter-faith Wolverhampton.

We used our ear plugs from the brick factory to attend Diamond Head’s gig in The Slade Rooms, a band that were so incredibly loud and dubbed by so many fans as responsible for Metallica and the likes of Megadeth. After that we found the back doors open to rock nightclub The Planet and caught a wrestling match then went dancing with the young and the beautiful in The Prince Albert nightclub.

Apart from all this we went to Boot Camp in Tettenhall, the dogs, The Giffard, a foodbank and school. The Black Country again was full of surprises and stories…

Where We Dream is being shown at Oldbury Library as part of the Sandwell Arts Festival from 6 August to 18 August. The film will be shown in the reception area all day during the week with no set showing times as the film is constantly being played on a loop. If you manage to see the film, please let us know what you think.