Experiencing Interruptions?

Gimme One

In a vogue ballroom, ‘gimme one’ is what the MC would ask the judges in deciding the winner of the dance battle. The ballroom scene is an underground community that was started by trans persons of colour as far back as the 1920s. Although it revolves around extravagant competitions, at the heart of the scene is a sense of community, shared experience and empowerment. GIMME ONE is a virtual reality documentary experience telling the story of five members of the UK ballroom community which examine ideas around cultural appropriation, the preservation of safe spaces and the power of identity and self-expression. The documentary listens to the burgeoning UK community of this international movement as they explore sexuality and gender through dance. Their self-expression is seen through dance using digital volumetric and motion capture techniques, visualising the unique voices of this vibrant subculture.

  • Montague FitzGerald
    Director
  • Harry Silverlock
    Producer
  • Montague Fitzgerald
    Editor
  • Joshua Pawlowski
    Volumteric Capture Artist
  • Euella Jackson
    Project Support
  • Aysha Chamberlain
    Key Cast
    "Aysha 007"
  • Brandon Okeke
    Key Cast
    "Gadget 007"
  • Diva Miyake-Mugler
    Key Cast
    "Diva Miyake-Mugler"
  • Karteer Miyake-Mugler
    Key Cast
    "Karteer Miyake-Mugler"
  • Kenzo Miyake-Mugler
    Key Cast
    "Kenzo Miyake-Mugler"
  • George Jasper Stone
    Animation Artist
  • Becky Street
    Sound Designer
  • Joseph Summers
    Score Composer
  • Karteer Miyake-Mugler
    Co-Producer
  • Rosa Eaton
    Sound Operator
  • Sophie Le-Roux
    Photographer
  • Fi Nicholson
    Post-Production Manager
  • Dom Okah
    Artwork Designer
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Documentary, Short, Student, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Dance, LGBTQ, 360, Linear, 3DOF, Virtual Reality, XR, Oculus, Animation
  • Runtime:
    14 minutes 12 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 7, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    15,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    5096x2880
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes
  • Dok Leipzig
    Leipzig
    Germany
    October 18, 2020
    International Premiere
  • BFI London Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    October 8, 2020
    World Premiere
  • Bolton International Film Festival
    Bolton
    United Kingdom
    August 18, 2020
    Best Immersive
  • VRE Fest
    Rome
    Italy
    October 13, 2020
    Italian Premiere
  • Bogota Shorts
    Bogota
    Colombia
    November 18, 2020
    South American Premiere / Colombian Premiere
Director Biography - Montague FitzGerald

HARRY:
Harry is a producer and expanded performance fellow working across a range of physical and digital mediums including digital installations, virtual reality / augmented reality, dance and film. His work seeks to better understand the potential of storytelling beyond the boundaries of traditional media, building on his knowledge of digital narratives and leveraging new technologies to create immersive alternate realities. He is a Berlinale Talent (2018), resident of The Bristol Virtual Reality Lab, trained at The Scottish Documentary Institute (2016), Locarno Industry Academy Alumni (2015), a member of the Queer Film Network, producer of The Palace International Film Festival, Bristol’s queer film festival and a member of UWE Bristol’s 2019 MA Virtual Reality cohort.

MONTY:
Monty is a self-taught editor who has made his directorial debut with Gimme One. He is a creator who has previously worked on a range of moving image projects. His work includes film, dance, performance and installation exhibits with a focus on social impact. Previous work has explored environmental issues, cultural identity, minority subculture, as well as liminality and the subconscious. He is interested in expanding on these themes through the affordances of digital mediums and technologies.

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Director Statement

Inspired by the use of volumetric and motion capture in expanded performance, we (Harry and Monty) collaborated on the double debut XR project, GIMME ONE. Having previously worked with members of the Bristol Ballroom Community in a curatorial project, we came to appreciate the radical everyday activism which can be found in this underground subculture as its members perform their own self-identity. One of the aims of this project was to spotlight the role of allies in the scene. For example, female-identifying persons have always participated in the ballroom space, and act to protect the freedom and rights of the community as well as nurturing its safe spaces.

The project was co-created with the direct involvement of the ballroom community using methods set out by MIT in order to ensure that the project remained true to the core beliefs of this vulnerable community. Early on in the project, we realised that the international community has previously experienced whitewashing and exploitation by documentary filmmakers. Therefore, we felt it was necessary to collaborate with an established member of the Ballroom scene (Karteer Miyake-Mugler) to act as impact producer. It was important to us that our contributors were allowed to take ownership of the project and so we gave our contributors all veto rights and asked them to collaborate with us in naming the project and having agency over their story.
Using GIMME ONE as a case study, Harry went on to write a paper about the mechanical reproduction of safe spaces in virtual reality and the use of co-creation in this politically sensitive subject.