Bluescreen at 21: “One film was just a bunch of overweight men in bondage gear eating multicoloured chicken wings”

The pitch was a simple one. Bring in any film and they’ll bung it on screen. It can be anything, in almost any format. There’s no selection process and no censorship. The only restriction is that it shouldn’t be more than 20 minutes in duration. And so Bristol’s first and only genuinely open screening night was born at the Cube microplex. Twenty-one years later, Bluescreen – or Blue Screen, as it was originally known – is still going.

These bi-monthly independent film programmes give everyone from first time filmmakers to seasoned professionals the opportunity to show their films on the big screen. Although Steve Bluescreen has been the host since 2002, Bluescreen is actually a collective of artists and filmmakers, currently numbering eight people in total: Steve, Dom, David, Tom, Marcus, Tess, Ben and Elena.

The very first Bluescreen ad

Since 2003 Bluescreen has hosted short film screenings at festivals in the UK (Glastonbury, The Big Chill, Shambala, Ashton Court Festival, Encounters short film festival, etc) and across Europe and USA. The collective has also organised multiple themed events at the Cube: Pinkscreen, Greenscreen, Redscreen, Bikescreen, Bluescreen Presents, etc. Even the pandemic couldn’t stop them. In 2020, they launched Bluestream.

Bluescreen at the Glastonbury Festival, 2005

Bluescreen’s big birthday bash takes place on April 26 2022. And, as always, admission is pegged at just £3. Go here for more info. We took the opportunity to grill three of the team about their experiences.

Congratulations on turning 21. Did you ever imagine you’d reach this milestone?

Steve Bluescreen: No, never! Its an amazing feat really. I actually showed a film at the first one, but never dreamed I would become involved a year later or be still involved 20 years later! But it also goes to show the importance of the short film format and how a story can be told in under 20 minutes and how it still resonates with people.

Tom Bluescreen Hi-Fi DJ: I’ve been involved for less than 10 years but as long as there is a grassroots cinema, i.e. The Cube, and a grassroots filmmaking scene in Bristol, Bluescreen will continue!

David Bluescreen: I wasn’t part of the Bluescreen team at the beginning, but was part of the Cube and aware of it. At the dawn of The Cube, there was no expectation of it lasting in the way it did – what is now 24 years was pretty unthinkable in 1998, when 24 years stretched back to 1974! By 2001, when Bluescreen was established, the general Cube project had got into a stride – soon to be slightly scuppered by the fire in the Mayflower Restaurant, which meant we had no public entrance for a year. But nevertheless, there was a sense of something really happening here. 2001 was a time that the Cube’s identity had formed by all sorts of creative people coming together and sharing ideas and creating opportunities and space for each other. They were also involved in the burgeoning new festival scene – particularly The Big Chill, which was more DIY and experimental at that time. I think three years on from the formation of the Cube – which initially felt could have been just another 6-12 month project like others in the city – the fact that it had survived and blossomed meant that other possibilities were more conceivable, so it was more imaginable that Bluescreen could survive well into the future. Though whether any of us were doing that imagining at the time, I don’t remember. It felt more like just getting on and doing in the moment.

Bluescreen celebrates its tenth anniversary back in 2011

How has short independent filmmaking changed over Bluescreen’s lifetime and how have you responded to accommodate these changes?

Steve Bluescreen: Technology has definitely made things easier for filmmakers to film and edit their films together, both quicker and slicker. Bluescreen has managed to ride out the tech wave OK! We have incorporated all the new formats, so we can get all the films on screen. Early days we received U-matic and VHS tapes (we still have boxes of these!) and Super 8 also. Then came DVD and Mini DV tapes and more recently USB memory sticks. Currently, people are sending us MP4 films digitally.

Tom Bluescreen Hi-Fi DJ: Obviously film formats have changed and Bluescreen has been able to move with the times – there are pros and cons to this, but in essence the spirit of film making feels the same.

David Bluescreen: The obvious changes are technological, but the more interesting ones are perhaps social – though both are inextricably linked. The early 2000s was a time where digital filmmaking became properly accessible with DV and Digital8 now editable on computers, particularly the iMac. Prior to that, people could shoot camcorder footage but needed access to expensive editing suites to construct films, if they were hoping to do anything more sophisticated than start/stop in camera. There was still a continuation of 8mm and 16mm analogue film –  as a standard rather than a specialist legacy format – and we were able to provide film projectors in the early Bluescreen days. We still could be if someone wanted to, though now they’re more likely to be transferred to be played from digital. Early days a lot of what was shown was from VHS tape – which we still have a set-up for – and then onto DVD when home DVD burning came in. There was a transition from the DVD-R days to the present USB sticks days – at first bringing lots of technical headaches as different formats and codecs and Mac/PC issues meant lots of files not playing back on nights. Navigating those challenges in the chaotic events could actually work to bond people – problem solving together in a collective way. More recently, the technology has evened out somewhat, and it’s quite rare for someone’s MP4 not to play.

There’s still, and always has been, the feel of chaos to it though, even if it’s generally a bit slicker overall now. An issue we have now is the creeping up of file sizes as computing power and storage generally increase. Lots of very big files make it harder for us as we like to archive everything. There was a point in the mid-2000s when YouTube became established that the question to ask was: is something like Bluescreen needed, when people can get an audience via their internet connection? Ultimately though, the more important thing we offer is the cinema. The cinema screen, and the space – the social space to experience with a live audience and make connections with other film-makers and enthusiasts.

By April 2017, the event had some more classy poster designs courtesy of Elena Bluescreen

How would you characterise the current state of Bristol’s independent filmmaking scene?

Steve Bluescreen: Really healthy. We have never been short of films to screen and that goes to show the wealth of filmmaking talent in the area. We have the added bonus of both local Universities still teaching film courses, plus in Bath and Weston. Add into the mix the many grass roots multi-media companies producing many types of media inc short films. So yes, there’s a very healthy scene in Bristol I would say.

Tom Bluescreen Hi-Fi DJ: Healthy.

David Bluescreen: Though the lens of Blusecreen, I would say very healthy. They keep coming, and coming up with the goods! We haven’t been short of shorts to show, and for a long time now the events have been pretty much full to capacity each time. It’s also got to a point with the technology now where it’s really quite hard to make a bad looking film – though I guess that isn’t specific to  Bristol.

Any particularly noteworthy discoveries over the years?

Steve Bluescreen: Well, the thing is with Bluescreen is that we treat all filmmakers and their films equally, so there are no ‘bests’ or ‘worsts’. We have filmmakers from all backgrounds come into Bluescreen, from professionals in the business for years wanting to get back to basics to first-time filmmakers, shooting on a phone camera and editing it on some free software.

We did have someone go on to get a BAFTA for a feature they made; they did a little re-enactment ceremony back at the Cube and asked us to host it, we were both delighted and really humbled to do it for them.

Tom Bluescreen Hi-Fi DJ: Many.

David Bluescreen: I personally wouldn’t want to pick out individual films or filmmakers as what I find so special is the diversity of what comes through overall.

Another of Elena Bluescreen’s striking poster designs

You operate an open-door policy for any film up to 20 mins in length, but how do you decide what to screen? Has anyone ever submitted anything that’s simply to awful and/or inappropriate to show?

Steve Bluescreen: Everything that comes through the door, well that comes in digitally for now, we screen and screen on the night in the order that the films come in to us. We have had to put a 90 minute limit on the total duration of all the films that come in, because in the past we have had some 1am finishes, as we promise that we show everything that comes in. Five hour screenings can be a bit much sometimes! We also operate a ‘no censorship’ content policy. We never watch films before we screen them, so we have no idea what the content is. We just let the audience decide themselves. The beauty of Bluescreen is if there’s a film you don’t like, another will be on after.

Tom Bluescreen Hi-Fi DJ: This is a really good question. We were actually discussing this at the last Bluescreen. Censorship and handling of perceived truths vs falsehoods is a hot topic at the moment. Essentially, as long as the screened content is legal, anything should be screened really (I remember once seeing a film which was just a bunch of overweight men in bondage gear eating multicoloured chicken wings, with really unpleasant and visceral sound effects – think reverse ASMR). In the past some pretty edgy films have been screened – by edgy I mean films you could argue are obscene, offensive or what we might nowadays call “triggering”. I think it’s important to remember, though, that people can express pretty much whatever they want through social media, and the artist is responsible for the content, not The Cube. As long as it isn’t illegal to be showing it.

David Bluescreen: Put simply we don’t choose. It is radically open – if you bring it along, we bung it on. Not everything is going to be to everyone’s taste, and awful and inappropriate are subjective terms, but if things are not to people’s taste, there will be something completely different on next. Perhaps surprisingly – though I like to start from a position of trusting creative people – our openness has not been abused or exploited, rather our respectful offer respectfully taken up as the default over the years.

Bluestream arrives

You launched Bluestream at the start of the pandemic. How did audiences and filmmakers respond?

Steve Bluescreen: Well, the Cube closed its doors in March 2020, before a lot of other places did it has to be said, and we backed them 100%. But we did have an event at end of March to decide on, so as an alternative we thought, why not stream some films via our Twitter and Facebook pages? This went well, so we thought, let’s get the filmmakers to send in films digitally and we could stream them via the newly setup Cube TV. And what shall we call it? It’s not quite Bluescreen, so how about Bluestream? And that seemed to fit.

So for our inaugural May streamed event, Bluescreen: Bluestream, we put the word out and got over three hours of films in! In the end, we had to do two separate streams to fit all the films in. And since then we have had packed programmes and healthy audience numbers too.

Tom Bluescreen Hi-Fi DJ: Pretty well I think! As long as the platform is there it still appeals to filmmakers as a medium to get their work out there. It isn’t quite the same as being there in person, but it’s opened doors in other ways.

David Bluescreen: Well, I think. Like the Cube and Bluescreen at the start, people didn’t have an idea how long the pandemic would last, but also began with quite a burst of creativity. Lots of films were made by people realising they had the time and resources to, and people wanted to record and reflect on the historic moment too, as well as have a means to connect and share while isolated across the three UK lockdowns.

Suppose you have to entice someone who’s never been to a Bluescreen event before. What would be your pitch to persuade them to part with their £3?

Steve Bluescreen: We have an amazing, eclectic range of short films to show and blow your minds, made by exceptionally gifted locally based filmmakers, plus the excellent Bluescreen Hi-Fi Djs warming things up in the Bar. So grab a drink from the well-stocked Cube Bar and settle back in the auditorium and witness some great local films and also the cheapest night out in Bristol to boot!

Tom Bluescreen Hi-Fi DJ: Bluescreen is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. The films might be terrible, they might be great. It doesn’t matter. It’s all subjective and more importantly, thought provoking. Your £3 is supporting a movement, and that’s pretty cool. I remember a while ago some people came to Bluescreen who’d never been to The Cube before. They didn’t think the films screened were very good and chose to leave halfway through, asking for their money back. They also pointed out that if we wanted their custom in the future we ought to refund them to give them a positive customer experience. I remember thinking how massively they seemed to have missed the point of Bluescreen, and that if that was their attitude Bluescreen (and maybe even The Cube) is maybe not for them, and we shouldn’t be falling over ourselves to appease that mentality.

David Bluescreen: We have no idea what is going to be up on the screen, but the person who made it will probably be there – can you handle that?

Grab yourself some Bluescreen merch while you’re there

If a kindly benefactor bunged you £1 million to develop Bluescreen further, how would you spend it?

Steve Bluescreen: Well honestly, I think we would either give it to a charity or use it as a bursary for filmmakers to make their films. Bluescreen has never been about money. We all give our time freely, because we are passionate about short films and we are just happy to be able to give filmmakers a space to screen their films. And people are really grateful that an event like Bluescreen exists, where they can show their films, with no rules or regs and can invite their friends along. And for us to see their films on screen and receive their thanks has always been enough for us.

Tom Bluescreen Hi-Fi DJ: I like to think Bluescreen itself wouldn’t change too much. Maybe some funds could be made available to support filmmakers. It would be nice to improve the live feed to the bar. Bluescreen has always been a bit rough and I think it needs to stay that way, to some extent. It wouldn’t be Bluescreen otherwise!

David Bluescreen: I wouldn’t spend it, I’d burn it. Possibly film it – who wouldn’t? Bluescreen, and the Cube are not-for-profit, and so for-the-people. We don’t need any more money or the ticket price would have gone up, we just need people, films and a cinema and we have all those thank you very much. Perhaps not burn it as that’s been done before – both by the K Foundation and the Cube, who did a 1000/1 scale re-enactment already where we burnt £1k, footage of which has been shown at Bluescreen. Incidentally Arthur Cauty – nephew of Jimmy Cauty of the K Foundation / KLF – is an award winning film-maker and regular Bluescreen contributor. I’d actually go against what I said before and make him my top Bluescreen “discovery”. Perhaps as Burning a Million has been done before, rather than burn it, we could literally throw the money at the screen, and that could be a film. Who needs VHS, DVD, celluloid, or USB to make films anyway? The sky’s the limit with imagination. Once spent in this way we could then split the post-film assets with whoever had the gumption to get down and be in the room. Share the love!

All images supplied by Bluescreen