Mill Study

Shot at Spa Mill, a textile mill in West Yorkshire, this short film uses sound and image to evoke the working environment of the mill shop floor. It does not attempt to tell the story of how the yarn produced is made, rather it gives a sense of both the everyday and surreal aspects of the place and people who work there. At times the camera is used to reveal hidden elements of the machinery and the film is loosely organised into sections that depict varying types of mechanical and human movement. The rich soundworld of the mill takes a prominent role in this depiction of movement and evocation of sense of place via naturalistic representation as well as drone-like transformations of machine sounds. Combined with fragments of poetry by Andrew McMillan, this allows a more reflective and musical experience.