Why We Stand

Why We Stand is a documentary about why the fight for queer liberation is still ongoing. The film tells three individuals’ stories of personal hardships, discrimination, aspiration, and love.

The film was inspired by our collective experiences of discrimination, violence, and the rise of right-wing attacks on trans rights over recent years. We wanted the film to be authentic and heartfelt – with the potential to leave a lasting impact on the viewers – showing individual stories of resilience and the community coming together. We were DOP and editing on the project, with our specialism in cinematography and knowledge of post-production, and Jacob Garbutt (Skellecat Productions) was producer, sound, and cinematographer on Joanna’s sections.

After watching Seventeen (Cairney-Keize, 2017), we agreed that platforming the stories of as many queer people as possible would help the audience get a more nuanced understanding of the community. We moved away from the conventional ‘head and shoulders’ documentary approach to create something more intimate and personable: taking an observational, cinéma verité approach, where we would stage as little of the film as possible (abandoning omnipotent narrators, dramatic re-enactments, and leading questions).

We were inspired by the recent documentary buddy film, Will and Harper (Zavistovski, 2024). Throughout a road trip across America, Harper opens up about her experiences around coming out as a transgender woman. In addition to the discrimination Harper faces, the film highlights everyday experiences of trans joy, which is very often neglected in trans stories. In our film, we wanted to explore these lesser talked-about experiences of queer people. A core idea throughout the project was ‘queer people taking up space in the city.’ So for each contributor, we planned continuity sequences around them engaging in a creative activity before heading out into the city. Filming their creative outlets allowed us to foreground queer joy, community, and individuality.

We also watched Paris is Burning (Oppenheim, 1990): a documentary film showcasing the queer community fostered by the New York drag scene and ball culture (Wikipedia contributors, 2024a). Its depiction of majority POC queer and transgender people fearlessly performing created powerful imagery that shows how important authentic representation is. Learning queer history, especially when the same oppressive laws and bigoted views resurface in the present, is crucial to fighting for a better future. We were therefore very conflicted when screening our film to a limited audience, as it does not (at present) feature any people of colour – who overwhelmingly have and continue to be at the forefront of the fight for queer liberation.

We shot on the Sony FS7 II (S-Log3) for the best image quality – supplemented by the A7 III (S-Log 2) to maintain good low-light performance and colour consistency in environments where operating the larger camera was impractical. We used Sigma prime lenses – except where zoom was necessary (e.g. for safety when participating in the counterdemonstration) – as they’re extremely sharp, versatile, and have a high-quality build. They also allowed us to be more mindful of camera framing. We understood the different sensor sizes of the two cameras (Super-35mm FS7 vs full-frame A7), and adjusted settings and focal lengths accordingly.

For Ryan’s A-cam interview, we used a Sigma 50mm F1.2 DG DN lens on the FS7 to achieve a slight telephoto 75mm equivalent: perfect for the desired natural, flattering portraiture look in our mid-shot/close-up reflection. We matched the iris with the fastest aperture on our active B-cam (Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN) for a consistent shallow DOF. We favoured majority active cameras, close to the subject, to provide a sense of immediacy and intimacy.

Using a high-angle fill light, angled 45 degrees perpendicular to his sightline, created the Rembrandt effect underneath Ryan’s left eye. We used a Zebra2 Level of 92% (a few percent under the maximum limit for Cine EI S-Log 3) and ensured no areas had zebras. A variable ND on both cameras (built-in on FS7, and the Syrp filter on A7) allowed us to control the amount of light reaching the sensor steplessly. We followed the 30- and 180-degree rules to avoid confusing/jarring cuts and used colour focus peaking to confidently identify which areas were in focus.

We chose a ternary editing form, with an opening ‘act’ that hooks the audience and introduces the contributors, themes, and subject matter; a serious, second section, delving into each contributor’s personal history and struggles; and a final section, which is both reflective and a call-to-arms, with the community march/counterdemonstration at the start/end taking the audience full-circle.

We had nine initial contributors but could not use footage from the majority due to poor communication/scheduling conflicts. Of our five initial formal interviews, filmed in the workstation, we only ended up using a section of Ryan’s audio. We filmed Sheffield Radical Pride, where 500 queer people marched for their liberation, and Dylan at the Lionesses game anti-TURF counterdemonstration. We also filmed Ryan and Joanna at the Trans Day of Remembrance Memorial, but it did not connect with anything else we had recorded, so we omitted it.

We received positive feedback on our rough edit of Ryan’s first section, where the topics and cinematography were called ‘relatable’. We then expanded our initial shooting schedule to get footage of our other contributors doing creative activities – keeping individuality a common theme. After feedback from a finer edit, which had all the different narratives in place, the only final changes were to music choice, sound, the pacing of certain sequences, and the arrangement of B-roll. We actioned these changes and removed unnecessary pauses/stutters to get the final edit in just over seven minutes. We presented the film at the Sheffield Hallam University showcase to an extremely positive reception. Those in attendance were taken aback – calling it exceptional and festival-worthy.

Overall, we are pleased with the final product. It surpasses our original aims and encompasses many experiences within the community. In the future, we hope to expand the documentary to uplift more lesser-heard voices – especially POC. Obtaining funding would allow us to expand our crew and the diversity of voices featured.