Four days before the country entered its month-long Independence celebrations and a focus on all things Bajan, a young film-maker was being heralded for his work in the local industry.
Stockton Miller was this year’s recipient of the Barbados Film & Video Association’s (BFVA) Award of Excellence which was presented during the Barbados Visual Media Awards on October 28 at Accra Beach Hotel & Spa. This came after a successful showing of his film, The Land We Call Home, at the same venue during the association’s film festival.
Before presenting him with the award, BFVA president Damien Pinder described the 27-year-old as a “true artist”, noting that when Miller started, his aim was not to make money but hone his craft. He also said that he had recently flown to London to work on a project.
In his acceptance speech, Miller told the audience the award meant a lot to him and he pledged to continue practising his craft.
After the ceremony, he spoke about why he became involved in film and had some advice for youngsters. He was mum, though, on the film he is working on.
“I started in 2011,” Miller told THE NATION. “I started visual effects because of the types of films I wanted to make – sci-fi and horror, those types of films. So, at that time there were no Barbadians to my knowledge that were into visual effects. I told myself that if I wanted to make sci-fi films I would have to make the visual effects myself. That’s why I got into it.
“First thing, I bought was a Nokia E66 cell phone which at that time was a good camera phone. Then, I started to record my friends playing cricket and football. I started to like it and it was something that I really enjoyed doing. I’m a person who watched a lot of movies, so I wanted to make films.
“The main thing is that in Barbados you’ll find more action and comedy and drama films but for some main reason I never saw horror or sci-fi and . . . I told myself I would be the first to do it,” he said.
Miller created quite a stir about a year ago when people sighted these “creatures” along Waterford, St Michael. The images quickly made the rounds on social media.
“When I do videos I upload them to my YouTube page. I have 5 000 subscribers with most of them from the US. Sometimes they send me CGI computer-generated imagery models to do videos, so I did one, uploaded it to my channel for practice because I have to create the creatures and the monsters. I guess somebody found the video and started sharing it and claimed it was real,” he explained.
At secondary school, Miller never gave a thought to being a film-maker because he was more interested in music.
“Back then I focused on the guitar,” he added.
Miller creates his music for the films and videos. He also edits, writes scripts, and directs. He taught himself through watching YouTube, practising, and learning how to use Adobe After Effects. Now he can make someone appear to be on fire using visual effects because, after about eight years, the programme is like a second language to him.
His intention is to “continue making films and putting the Barbados film industry on the map”.
“People really don’t take our film industry seriously, but I want them to know it is a serious thing and we have great film-makers here. There are great things to be done. My advice to anyone interested in film is that at first you’re going to feel like if you’re alone and just doing it because.
“Keep pushing, keep creating, keep sharing your work and keep showing Barbadians that great content can come out of Barbados too. The film industry in Barbados is getting bigger and better,” he said.
Miller’s Award Of Excellence will be added to the others, which include Best TV Show Web Series, People’s Choice Award (Daybreak), and Best Short Film in the New York Horror Film Festival. He won BFVA’s 48-hour film challenge project with In Dreams which was nominated for six awards this year. The lead actor Brandon Blackman won the Best Actor In A Lead Role award. (GBM)
