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Barnsley lecturer Alf Bower has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in recognition of his work as a film-maker. He talks to Ruth Stoker about his life in the independent film industry.
Alf Bower has spent his working life experimenting with film-making, from the early years of the National Film School and clockwork 16mm film cameras to the cutting edge technology of digital editing and motion capture suites.

He has worked with Hollywood cinematographer Roger Deakins ASC BSC, and when Channel Four was first launched he saw four films on which he had worked broadcast in the opening week.
In recognition of his work, Alf – who is a Senior Lecturer in Media Production at University Centre Barnsley - has been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

“It was a great feeling when the letter came through from the RSA, as a Fellowship recognises a life-time's body of work,” he said.

“It has also given me time to reflect on what I have done over the years, and made me realise how much things have changed in the film industry since I started out. Technology has driven change and revolutionised the way we make film, though of course storytelling on screen still presents the same challenges. It has been an interesting journey.”

In all, he has been involved in the production of more than 100 films, and Alf’s first project was as a student at Sheffield Art College in 1969, where he used a clockwork Bolex 16mm camera.
“Portable 16mm cameras were just coming into television, but they were way beyond the College’s budget. The Bolex was small and portable and you simply wound it up to make it work. This limited the length of shots and the sort of shots you could do though. We had no way of measuring sound tracks then either, and had to lay the 16mm magnetic sound recording along a corridor and to pace it out to measure it physically against the film. Technology today allows us to do this digitally of course,” he said.
His work at Sheffield Art College earned Alf a place at the newly formed National Film School based in the old British Lion film studios in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. It was here that he met Roger Deakins, who was a fellow student then. Deakins has since gone on to work for the Coen Brothers in Hollywood on films such as The Hudsucker Proxy, and on a number of other films, such as The Shawshank Redemption. “He is, of course, an excellent cinematographer. It has been interesting watching his career,” Alf said.
“We worked together on a film called Paolo, one that I directed while at the Film School. It was based on some paintings by Paolo Uccello, and was shown at film festivals in the mid 1970s. It is great looking back on that period in time.”On graduating from the National Film School, Alf moved back home to Sheffield and became a founder member of the Sheffield Independent Film Group – now Sheffield Independent Film Limited – which supported independent film makers. He also began working for Yorkshire Arts, where he became their communications centre manager, working with film-makers throughout the Yorkshire Region.
During his time with Yorkshire Arts he discovered a talent for teaching.
“I had been running training courses for some time when offers of teaching came in and I decided to have a mid-life change of direction. The rest, as they say, is history. I have enjoyed teaching. It has enabled me to continue film-making while encouraging young film-makers into the industry. The challenge now lies in exploring the potential of new technology. I am particularly looking forward to using major digital technology for special effects, and also using the motion caption suite at University Centre Barnsley for animation and live action filming. That is going to be very exciting – and a very long way from the clockwork Bolex.”