A short artists' film experiment, made overnight whilst walking across central London with a group of participants. 

Made with support and participation of the RSA, Kings College Cultural Institute and the Midnight Run.

Thanks to Inua Ellams, Simon Tanner, Jocelyn Cunningham, Georgina Chatfield

"The Midnight Run is a regular event run by Inua Ellams, a performer who invites a group of friends and strangers to travel across the urban landscape with him on a secret route, from 6pm until 6am the following morning. I wanted to create a small film that in some way came 'from' the Midnight Run itself, rather than being simply a documentary about it. The Midnight run, amongst other things, is about a cultural re-appropriation of resources: celebrating, owning, the city at night. What kind of film could we make on a Midnight Run, with no fancy equipment, but just things that the city casts away? I bought a 1980s stills camera from a charity shop, and picked up a bagfull of black and white film that was going to be disposed of.

I shot the film as we walked: taking photos in sequence, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, which gives the sort of accelerated, timelapse feel of the film. Other people had a go. I'd chosen quite an intuitive camera, and there's something freeing about sharing a camera where no-one can see the footage - there's no feeling of being constantly 'documented', or pressure to look like you're having a good time - though we definitely had one.

We travelled from 6pm to 6am, ending on the Hungerford Bridge for sunrise. We parted ways and I headed back along the river, to where I was staying. When I got back I processed the film in the kitchen sink, and dried it out in the sun that we'd watched rise together a couple of hours earlier."