I have included a separate video page to show off some of the short films I have been involved in producing or editing, as well as some interviews over the years. A good place to start is my Personal History of Filmmaking, as this is a 30 minute presentation showcasing a lot of the content that has been created. I started off by using Windows Movie Maker, but since 2012 have used Camtasia Studio to edit all my films. A link to my older YouTube channel with my first collection of videos is here. There is another channel here with more recent content.
‘A PERSONAL HISTORY OF FILMMAKING’ @ Brussels. A presentation given at the 8th Image Conference, on 6 October 2019. Many of the full versions of the films shown in the clips can be found further down on this page. The introduction is by ITN cameraman, Tony Scott, whose footage also features in the Alpha Grove Reunion film further down the list.
‘TRUE STORIES LIVE’ @ Dragon Hall, Norwich, UK. Although this was recorded on 8 September 2019, I have placed this near the top of my page here in order to highlight the importance of talking about mental health issues. I have suffered greatly from depression, anxiety and panic attacks throughout my adult life. It has affected my teaching career more than anything else.
‘PARKRUN COURSE‘ @ Preston, Lancashire. Filmed on 11 February 2023. This is one of five versions of the 5km ParkRun course at Avenham and Miller Parks in Preston. The other versions are timed at around 33, 30, 27 and 24 minutes, depending on ability and fitness. They have been created as visualisations for training in the gym. There are also a couple of 6 minute promo videos showing the first lap. In total, the course is 3 laps of the park. This is my favourite version, because of the lyrics and energy of the music chosen.
‘IATEFL TALK’ @ Brighton. My presentation on 10 April 2018 at the IATEFL conference in Brighton. My blog post in which I published my research into this area was published on the same day. Around 70 people saw the talk live, but many more heard about it and also wanted to see it. So I asked Grace Alchini to record it from the front row using my mobile device.
‘IATEFL WORKSHOP’ @ Liverpool. A workshop at the annual IATEFL conference, in Liverpool, on 3 April 2019. Following my talk in Brighton (see below), this time I involved participants dealing with comments and responses, and for the final time doing an ‘8 conditions’ activity, carried out in other sessions over the preceding year, based on information on symptoms provided by Mental Health First Aid (England).
‘IATEFL INTERVIEW’ @ Brighton. An interview I gave with Božica Šarić-Cvjetković for the online team on 11 April 2018, following my talk at the conference.
‘PARAPHRASE’ @ The Octagon Centre and Endcliffe Village, Sheffield. This updated version of my EAP parody was recorded for The University of Sheffield pre-sessional students, summer 2020, and shown to them first, before sharing more widely.
‘PARAPHRASE’ @ CAL ‘Bring a Dish Party’, The Chaplaincy, University of Warwick, June 2012. About this video: This was originally a one-off performance of Coldplay’s ‘Paradise’, written by Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, Chris Martin and produced by Brian Eno. This is the instrumental version purchased from Karaoke Version. I re-wrote the words, however, to make them relevant to my fellow students on the MA ELT course at Warwick. It was intended to be a humourous performance with a serious point to be made about the dangers of plagiarism. I have since performed it two more times, in 2018 at the Coachmakers Arms, Norwich and 2020 – see above recording of the ‘Sheffield’ version.
‘TRAINING TEACHERS TO USE ZOOM‘ @ Online. This was a short training session given to fellow tutors at Norfolk County Council, conducted online, on 27 March 2020. This was delivered at very short notice, due to the sudden need to work and teach from home, during the Covid-19 outbreak that affected everything and everyone.
‘ARCLIGHT’ @Norwich and @Wells-next-the-Sea. A lip-sync pop promo for the ‘Learn English Through Filmmaking’ course at ICS English language school, Norwich. Although the course never ran, I am still happy with the way this promotional video turned out. It captures my excitement about the potential course, with job insecurity being my ‘fuel’.
‘SCOUT SCAR’ @Kendal, Lake District. A recent hike around an area to the west of Kendal, fitting the images to match the lyrics of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know.
‘VIRTUAL REALITY IN USE‘ – This is a video chat with Raquel Ribeiro following our collaboration of an ELTchat summary which took place in November 2017. The written summary can be found under ELTchat summaries.
‘CLIMBING KILI’ @ Tanzania – a 13 minute edit of ‘Phili Does Kili’ about climbing the mountain in Tanzania. Originally made for the ‘Phil’s Tanzanian Adventure’ 2 disc DVD film about 3 months spent in the country. A 13 minute of the follow-up ‘Phili Does Fuji’ further down.
‘CREATING A QUIZ IN KAHOOT!‘ – This is a screencast tutorial for creating a quiz.
‘LTSIG WEBINAR’ @ Lots of places. Edited highlights of some of the videos below and others. This was put together for a Learning Technologies SIG webinar given on 15 September 2013.
‘KWA HERI AFRICA’ @ Tanzania. In 2007 I put together a DVD film called ‘Phil’s Tanzanian Adventure’. There were 20 chapters and it runs to over 2 hours. This is the final chapter – set to the music of Toto – a live version of their classic, Africa. Kilimanjaro was the highlight, but the reason for going in the first place was to volunteer at Hisani Orphanage.
‘MALTA WORKSHOP’ – An edited video of my workshop on mental health at the InterContinental Hotel in St George’s Bay, on 13 October 2018.
‘Hélène’ – marking ten years since I qualified as an English language teacher, by completing my CELTA at NILE, UK. Recorded on 15 March 2019. I sang the same song at NILE, ten years previously, also for Comic Relief.
ALPHA GROVE REUNION @ The Isle of Dogs. A fly-on-the-wall documentary I filmed and produced about my family returning to London for a reunion at the community centre that my parents started in the late 1970s.
‘A POSTCARD FROM BEIJING (WISH YOU WERE HERE)‘ @ Beijing, China. With Garry Roffe, October – December, 2009.
‘(MAKING OF) BAD ROMANCE‘ @ The Leys, Cambridge, July 2010. The following year the students decided to make a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ parody. This is the making of that short film. Using film and English as a Lingua Franca #2.
‘TIME TO CHANGE‘ @ The Forum, Norwich. An interview given about Time To Change for mental health awareness week 2018, along with Rose Bonner (Norwich Mind) and Esme Henstra of the Wellbeing service. Video edited by Elle Wilkinson from That’s Norfolk TV.
‘BELL END NEWS’ @ The Leys, Cambridge 2010. End of the year stage presentation, integrated with footage taken by reporter students on the young learner activity programme for Bell Educational Trust that summer. Task-based learning in action. B2 Level class who were given the camera and asked to be reporters for the week.
‘MDINA (2018)‘ I returned to Malta in October 2018 for the 7th ELT Malta conference. On the Friday morning, a group of English Language Teachers went to Mdina, where the Malta Classic car rally was taking place. Here is a record of that trip.
‘HARE TODAY, GONE TOMORROW’. An exhibition of hares outside the Forum in Norwich, following the GoGoHares trail, summer 2018. Interviews with six of the artists by my niece, Lily.
‘THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT’ @ Tanzania, 2006. The whole of chapter 5 from my 2 disc DVD of my time spent at Hisani Orphanage, filmed between Nov-Dec 2006. The music is a Bongo Flava track called ‘Vairet’ that was popular on Tanzanian radio at that time. This chapter originally led into the ‘Covered in Rain’ video which is further down this list.
A SEOUL NEW YEAR @ Seoul, South Korea, 29 Dec 2007 – 1 Jan 2008. Going on dates and spending time in the capital of the country. Soundtracked by Deacon Blue music.
‘THE OFFICIAL DVSA DRIVING THEORY DVD’ @ Wensum Lodge, Norwich, 2018. This is a screencast recording of a guide to students practicing using the DVSA driving theory DVD ahead of their mock test – originally in 2018, and again with a new class in 2019.
‘TEACHING IN TANZANIA’ @ Hisani Orphanage, Busuwelu, Mwanza, December 2006. How I got my moniker, starting off as a volunteer in the East African country.
‘CELTA’ @ NILE. This short extract is from one of my observed lessons on my 4 week Cambridge CELTA course at the Norwich Institute of Language Education, March 2009.
‘TEACHING AT KSU’ @ Riyadh. This is a composite video I put together for a now defunct tool ‘My Brainshark’ whilst I was at the University of Warwick. Doing a narration over the top of footage from my time at King Saud University, 2012.
70th BIRTHDAY CEILIDH’ @ Sculthorpe Village Hall. My mother’s 70th birthday celebrations in November 2017.
‘WALK FOR PARKINSON’S’ @ Blickling Hall, Norfolk. May 2018. A Walk for Parkinsons, with my father, who has the condition, set to the tune of ‘Lovely Day’ by Bill Withers.
WALK FOR PARKINSON’S 2 @ Blickling Hall, Norfolk. May 2019. Same location, same tune, one year later. This time with my sister-in-law and niece joining us.
‘TEACHING ENGLISH IN SOUTH KOREA’ – a promotional film I made in 2008 for a recruiting agency based in Seoul, although I actually taught in Changwon, the capital city of Gyeongsangnam-do, near the southeast coast.
‘PROJECT X’ @ CAFA, Beijing, An arts project given to students taking a one year postgraduate course at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, 2009, before flying off to the States or the UK to study on a full-time MA. Explicit instructions, with one secret withheld until the end of the construction process.
‘PROJECT X’ – Part two.
‘ELT MALTA’ @ Malta. A short film which I put together about the 6th ELT Malta conference which took place in Floriana, October 2017. I attended the event with the IATEFL Learning Technologies Special Interest Group, along with Sophia Mavridi and Marisa Constantinides. The LTSIG had a strand of 9 speakers at the event.
‘COVERED IN RAIN’ @ Mwana, Tanzania. Inspired by Tom Rogers love of the John Mayer tune – live version. We were both surprised by how much it rained in the country.
‘PHILI DOES FUJI‘ @ Mount Fuji, Japan, August 2008. The follow-up to ‘Phili Does Kili’, 18 months earlier. This time with 17 Vietnamese climbers near Tokyo. YouTube edit.
‘SIMPSONS vs SWEENEY TODD’ – An early example of my editing skillz using Windows Movie Maker. My own mash-up of ‘Not While I’m Around’, from Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd with a single, 1991 episode of the Simpsons in which Homer believes he is going to die after eating a poisonous blowfish. It took a lot of editing, but was happy with the result, especially getting the different characters to mouth the words and when Homer visits *Todd* Flanders. Not on YouTube. So CLICK HERE
‘ANTICHRIST TELEVISON BLUES’ @ Changwon, South Korea. A Pop video filmed almost entirely on Christmas Day, 2007. Standby Wardrobe: Garry Roffe. A rubbish camera, but one of my favourite bits of editing.
Teacher Phili 