The Edmonton Pride Parade Films

The Edmonton Pride Parade is one of THE events in Edmonton during the summer and many people look forward to attending. Over the years it has developed into a “must see” event on the Edmonton scene. This unique parade, the largest between Toronto and Vancouver, now contains a wealth of colourful floats of all varieties accompanied by throngs of people of greatly varied backgrounds united to advertise their social concerns, specific interests, businesses, religions, etc.. They are also there to express their feelings and concerns about being LGBTQ2S in this society. The parade has also seen its share of protesters but on a very limited scale.

The Pride Parade is a way for LGBTQ2S people to express concerns and expressions, to get them out in the open and to convey them to the public in general. All over the world Pride Parades have served to bring attention to the plight of this minority and to promote changes in legal systems leading to equal rights within their communities. Though rife with diversity, this community shares its common concerns and works to change society to one in which all people are treated equally before the law.

Pride Parades have had a great effect on raising the awareness of the average person and on promoting changes to the legal system and the society in which they occur.

Beyond the colourful balloons and banners there are real reasons for photographing or video recording the event that go far deeper than casual appreciation of a group’s artistic endeavours.

There are several areas in which the recording of pride parades is significant and of value:

1. To whom is this footage of value?

This footage is of interest not only to the people who participated in this event but to persons in the future who may use the footage for research purposes in historical and sociological contexts. The footage may also be of immediate interest to parade organizers as they can analyze and evaluate the organization and presentation of the parade from a bystander’s perspective and possibly make changes before the next parade. Some parades have a good distribution of floats and other displays while some may have concentrations of similar presentations. This can be easily seen if one reviews the footage of the entire parade.

As well, one parade may suffer from ‘bunching’ while others maintain an even flow throughout. Are there certain floats/displays in the parade that tend to impede the flow on a consistent basis?

Why? Are there some that promote higher levels of interaction with bystanders, thus slowing the parade’s movement?

In observing the parade footage, parade organizers can learn how to create a better, more balanced parade that maintains its movement and the interest of the bystanders.

2. Of what value is this footage?

Almost all of this footage is of value in one way or another, depending on the interests and use of the viewer. It’s importance may be certainly personal if it contains photos or video of a person’s self and/or related others such as family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, etc.. It is also of interest to determine who was there and how they have changed over the years, or even if they have survived to this point. By comparing a person’s image in various parades, one may be able to see how a person is maturing, changes in health and/or changes physical abilities or in organizational position, etc..

Its value may also certainly be historical, allowing the viewer to obtain a wide variety of information on the parade itself and the similarities or diversity of its participants. Imagine what historical information you could get from a video of a parade hundreds of years ago in a certain city at a certain time.

3. Where is this footage of value?

The footage in these parades is a unique part of Edmonton’s history and heritage and is therefore valuable to the city’s historical records and its citizens accordingly. Parades of this type have done much to spur discussion and eventually changes to laws negatively affecting the gay community.

These documents should be deposited with the City of Edmonton’s archives and the Web with the intention that they be available to anyone wishing to research the development and effectiveness of the gay movement in our city through their concerns, expression of those concerns, etc. Placing these films on the Web and making them available to anyone wishing to see them only enhances their value to the public, to parade organizers and participants and to researchers.

4. Why is this footage of value?

This footage is valuable as it is a multimedia record of high accuracy of an historical activity within the city of Edmonton. It contains a wide variety of sociological and historical information related to a segment of Edmonton’s population. It illustrates these concerns and expressions of the time and how these expressions have contributed to societal change, change in laws and acceptance and the recognition of gay individuals as human beings with concerns over human rights and how they may be expressed. It also contains information on the values, attitudes and dress of the time, the people participating, how they participated, what they are trying to achieve and ultimately, the effects of these actions.

5. How is this footage of value?

Video recording provides accurate recording of the event, people, their organizations, colours, sounds, the place, the time, concerns of participants, clothing, bodily expressions, their social expressions and actions, etc.. Video shooting, editing and storage provide a most valuable and timely record.

6. When is this footage of value?

These videos are of immediate value as they are related to the memories of the people who participated in the parades and, in the future, it is an historic document that well illustrates who was at this event, what they did, how they thought and how they participated. It may be likened to a family album but with much more and diverse information about those who were videographed than a simple photograph can show.

For people who were in the parade, it is a welcome record of how the parade looked from the outside and how they contributed to it. Being in the parade doesn’t mean you have seen it! Many may think of it as a valued addition to their own personal media collection. It may be likened to a family album but with much more and diverse information about those who are on video than a simple photograph can show. As time goes on, the value of the information usually increases from a personal and historical sense.

This footage contains a wide variety of sociological, psychological, physical and other information related to concerns and expressions of people of the time. It also records how these expressions have contributed to societal change and the recognition of gay individuals as human beings with concerns over human rights and how they may be expressed. It also contains information on the dress of the time, the people participating, how they participated, what they are trying to present and ultimately, the effects of these actions.

The Edmonton Pride Parade Films are a record of some events of particular importance to the Pride movement in the city of Edmonton. Although the Pride Parades started long before my first film (2001), I was at least able to video record several parades over a period of 14 years. If you view the entire series, starting from the 2001 parade, you will note many changes, and similarities, that have occurred in so many aspects of the people, their messages, their presentation and transmission. The parades also, in some aspects, reflect social changes that have occurred. It should be noted that Pride Parades started in Edmonton in 1990.

Pride Parade Film Goals:

My goals in shooting the parades were several, to capture:

– a comprehensive, chronological overview of the people, floats, etc. that made up the parades

– the wide diversity of costumes and clothing that reflected the themes and times in which the parades occurred

– the spirit of each parade through video of the people, their actions as well as the messages of the floats and their contents

– the interactions between members of the parade, each other and bystanders along the streets

– specific messages broadcast by the parade participants in their calls and banners as they are a reflection of the concerns of gay people in our community at the time

– the creativity of the parade participants as they produced a variety of floats, banners, costumes and related objects to meet their ideas and needs

– the excitement and thrill of being a parade member or a bystander

– the sense of community and common purpose of parade members and bystanders as they interact

– the sense of family and family participation that occurs through participation and interaction during the parade

– the sense of diversity, and inclusiveness, that exists in the parade through various races, backgrounds, cultures, religions, sexual choices, etc.

Although I usually have not attended other functions during Pride Week, I always did enjoy the parade and all that it brings with it.

Some Thoughts on Shooting the Parades:

Shooting a parade is a set of particularly difficult photography tasks for the following reasons.

There is no environmental control which means that rain and or shine, you are trying to get the best footage possible given the weather conditions which can include brilliant sun, heavy clouds, wind and/or rain or all of the above. Being that we are in Alberta, having all of the above is certainly possible and I have seen all these factors across various parades.

In 2007, the festivities after the parade were halted as a heavy rainstorm pelted all participants and drove many for immediate cover, if they could find any. In 2014, the parade started off in brilliant sunshine then developed a heavy overcast combined with gusts of high winds which made camera control very

difficult, not to mention control of the floats and associated signage, etc..

When all is said and done, the video-grapher is lucky to get a few good shots at the right exposure, composition, etc.. Thankfully, modern cameras have automatic controls that help create an acceptable image and sound with which the editor can work.

There are other considerations as well for the parade videographer. In trying to shoot the parade from a bystander’s point of view, it is necessary to be where the bystanders are. This brings with it much additional noise from boisterous people and there are a lot of them! It also means that you will have people walking in front of you and some staying much longer than you would like. Also, some of those people will be jostling you and thus the camera as you are shooting.

Telephoto shots are particularly at risk as a very small shift in the camera’s position makes for a major shift in the image. There goes that great shot!

Using a tripod is handy but hinders getting a lot of those action shots you really want. It may also help to have a companion that will act as a private guard to keep others away from you. If possible, try to choose an open spot in a relatively quiet part of the parade. Near the start, is helpful. Also, remember your lighting and to get really great colours

choose a spot that has lots of open space and plenty of sunlight. As well, consider where the sun will be during the parade so it is out of your eyes and creating great lighting for three dimensional effects on your subjects.

Video of the highest quality (for that format) depends on the amount and quality of light available. Video shot on a dull, overcast day will not have the life-like quality of the same scene shot in brilliant sunshine, something over which the videographer has no control.

Later, during editing one can try to increase the brightness and contrast of the shot and adjust the colour to try to improve the image as much as possible, but sunshine is still the vital component though contrast may become a concern.

You must also ensure that you have adequate battery power and recording media. As well, ensure the camera is working properly beforehand and that the settings are set for what you will be shooting.

Once the parade has been shot, the next step is to review the shots, eliminate those that are useless due to technical or aesthetic problems and choose the best of what is left. Hopefully, most of the shots are useable and better.

The next step is to assemble these into what will eventually become the film. Of course, one approach is to assemble the shots chronologically. (Other approaches will depend on the film producers, directors and script.) This is the approach I use because I want to create the impression that you are a parade bystander, seeing the parade from that perspective.

In the video camera, each shot is electronically assigned a chronological number which is a great help in ensuring that the proper order is maintained throughout the editing process vs. the old days of editing film when tracking and organizing shots could be a major problem. Efficient video editing these days is handled by high speed computers.

Compared to film, this has greatly speeded up the efficiency and effectiveness of the process in areas of

production, duplication and distribution. In my case, I review the entire set of shots, eliminating the bad shots and saving the good ones. These are then transferred to a named folder on the computer and then burned to a CD for safe keeping of the clips.

The editing process entails pulling clips from the computer folder in chronological order then cropping the clip, as necessary, to eliminate sections of inaction, poor technical areas, etc.. The edited clips are then added to the queue. After the clip is added, one must then decide if there are any special effects to be added to the clip such as increasing/decreasing brightness and contrast, colour saturation, colour balance, etc.. Then, there may be a transition to be added such as dissolves, or other special effects that may be desirable at this point.

EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE FILMS:

Click the Title of the video to view it!

TITLE
DATE: LENGTH::

1. THE EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2001
June 16, 2001 10:56 min.

2. THE EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2002
June 22, 2002 7:48 min.

3. THE EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2003
June 15, 2003 15:12 min.

4. THE EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2004
June 19, 2004 14:30 min.

5. THE EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2007
June 15, 2007 23:05 min.

6. THE EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2008
June 12, 2008 13:54 min.

7. THE EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2009
June 13, 2009 19:30 min.

8. THE EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2010
June 12, 2010 23:09 min.

9. THE EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2013
June 8, 2013 28:36 min.

10. EDMONTON PRIDE PARADE 2014
June 7, 2014 19:30 min.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE:

All the above listed films are copyright Rod E. Mc Connell at the dates of the films listed. All rights are reserved. No part of any film and the included stills may be edited and or copied without the express permission of the copyright holder. To contact the copyright holder please send your request to: rodemcc@shaw.ca

Please include your reasons for requesting use along with your name, address and e-mail to the address indicated above.

These films may not be downloaded from the Web, duplicated and distributed without the expressed permission of the copyright holder in writing. Without the expressed permission in writing, use of any part of the film or stills you will be violating copyright. Canadian law provides for a fine of up to $50,000.00 and a jail term.