Girl Blue Running Shoe

Claire Leona won the 2010 Great North Run Moving Image Commission.

Girl Blue Running Shoe follows the daughter of a runner participating in the Bupa Great North Run as she makes a film as he trains and runs the race. The film begins calmly with a serene domestic set-up, building pace as the race begins, cutting between the training day and the marathon. At points which demonstrate the intensity of running, a special zoetrope effect is used, breaking down the movement of running into paused actions, reflecting the rhythm of the action – the steady thumping of shoes on gravel, a beating heart, breathing. The piece is shot solely on Super 8, edited to emulate both the excitement of the daughter as an observer and the adrenaline of the participator. With a soundtrack of enhanced natural noises, Girl Blue Running Shoe is an evocative celebration of the human body whilst also telling the simple story of a father-daughter relationship.

It was launched at the in The Long Run Exhibition at The Great North Museum.

Film was screened on BBC1 and at Corona Cork Film Festival 2011