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About HSParkes

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Harvey Parkes is a writer/director who works as part of the northwest film collective Balti and Havana. Of Icelandic descent, Harvey has allied a Latin sensitivity for the magical (through a Spanish upbringing) to his Mancunian roots, and wishes to realise contemporary British cinema to rival the storytelling panache of its European counterparts.

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93 Comments

beckyjsbx

Outstanding work Hog.

June 27, 2008
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Nice work lad!

June 27, 2008
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tinebeest

mr beest and I really enjoyed this! Great work, hope to see much more of your stuff! (I also love penguins)

June 27, 2008
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ericseyebrows

good work fella - nicely written, nice facial expressions on the kid especially.

June 27, 2008
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Good stuff. More more more.

June 27, 2008
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nice work,

June 28, 2008
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kaan

lovely!

June 28, 2008
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dodgyron

Really enjoyed that. Well worked "through the yes of a child" piece.

June 28, 2008
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Melc

There's nothing more beautiful or poignant than the world seen through the eyes of a child. You can learn a great deal from films such as this - it isn't the child with the simplistic view of the earth - it is us.
As Bernie Shaw said - "You see things and you say Why? But I dream things that never were and I say, why not?".

June 28, 2008
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sarah

Love. It. Brilliant film. Brilliant scene in the car. Great message. Thanks.

June 28, 2008
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jonny

That was great and i loved doing it,mum.

June 28, 2008
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stardust

Great film, great message, great acting. Well filmed. Thanks

June 28, 2008
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djkirstyjay

Excellent! Hope there will be more to come... especially featuring the hot mum ;)

June 28, 2008
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bex

FABTASTIC!! Beautifully shot and edited... the actors aren't half bad too!

June 29, 2008
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K

Quite beautiful. Thought-provoking too.

June 29, 2008
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Chopin

A* Monkey x

June 29, 2008
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Cloy

aaww, that's kinda cute:-) kinda sad though...

June 29, 2008
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christpuncher

nice work man. i really enjoyed this short.

June 29, 2008
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Di

Thanks for sharing! I'm one of your big fans!

June 29, 2008
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I use those ice cubes! :) I don't put a penguin into a bucket with them though.. I usually use vodka.. I liked this short film though.. it was very pleasant.. :)

June 30, 2008
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valb

Great short Hog, you've captured the parent/child relationship perfectly. My eldest worries quite a lot about global warming (and he's not the only one) - glad you're making people think about it.

June 30, 2008
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Trop

Lovely grasp there of the way a child's mind takes on board the information it gets from adults. Really enjoyed it. Great stuff.

June 30, 2008
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Charming and well lit and edited. Got a strong message across without being preachy too. Very enjoyable

June 30, 2008
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julyskies

good work! love the fields and dappled sunlight...

June 30, 2008
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carlo

Fantastic.

July 1, 2008
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Jaf

Brilliant.

July 1, 2008
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mrl

man, that's a very good film!

July 1, 2008
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really good idea using the innocence of a child juxtaposed against the blindness of an adult- nice- also very topical and relevant-

July 1, 2008
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neely

Really lighted hearted filming but very clever in highlighting a very serious issue. The young boy is a very good actor. Well done on a really good piece of filming.

July 1, 2008
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phillipsteventon

Enjoyable and thought provoking. Look forward to future work.

July 2, 2008
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I really enjoyed this. Nice

July 2, 2008
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GI

Top class short film. Well done!

July 2, 2008
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karen

Brilliant film. Very thought provoking.

July 3, 2008
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ChrisH

Good stuff, excellent 'short'.

July 3, 2008
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bin watchin these all day - best one yet!

July 3, 2008
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Great work. Love the little lad he's cute.

SK

July 3, 2008
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it's great to see a film taking on such an important issue. greenpeace have you on their news blog you know? go scott!

July 3, 2008
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VERY COOL FILM! X

July 3, 2008
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great film! i love the little penguin he's so sweet!

July 3, 2008
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Top film, nice one.

July 3, 2008
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HSParkes

Guys and dolls,

Thanks you very much for so many kind comments. Do come back and vote if you haven't already!

Thanks again. Much humbled,

H

July 3, 2008
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Alex

I'm sick of all these Icelandic people coming over here stealing our jobs but the film was really good. Well done Harv.

July 3, 2008
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Bish

Good work,Harvey.

July 3, 2008
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Bish

Good work,Harvey.

July 3, 2008
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Kevin68

I really liked this. Great editing and the boys epressions are fantastic.

July 4, 2008
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Brogan Casey

very sweet

July 4, 2008
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LIndsay_Slohand

Enjoyed this.

July 4, 2008
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GOK

Outstanding work, Harvey. Very poignant, yet so simple....

"Don't worry Mum, there's no bears there."

How very typical of the way a child's mind works.

Wonderful, wonderful stuff. I look forward to your first feature!

July 4, 2008
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Hex

Good stuff Mr Hog! :)

July 4, 2008
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Nicola

This has turned out brilliant! Had a great time working on the film with you Harvey.

July 4, 2008
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Kelly

It was great you should be very proud,

July 4, 2008
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Awesome mate!!

I luffs it. Well done!! :)

July 4, 2008
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Superb, and highly touching.

July 4, 2008
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scholar

Charming, intelligent and well thought out. Shows solid grasp of a child's thinking which is unusual. Well done.

July 5, 2008
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Danah

Well done, Hog!

July 5, 2008
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Katie

Lovely sweet film - would like to see more of your work.

July 5, 2008
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Purple People Eater

So cute!

July 5, 2008
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milkyway

I like that the global message isn't in your face. That is until the end when you put up that bit of politicaly correct text. I think it would have been a lot stronger without repeating what all the media is already screaming about every day. I'll ignore that last bit and say it was a great film.

July 5, 2008
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HSParkes

Milkyway,

Cheers for the constructive criticism.

I did have a good think before the end credits, because part of me had the same internal dialogue that you have voiced. In the end however, I decided...

1) ...that, if anything, perhaps the media don't scream enough about environmental issues in my eyes. Certainly the planet and its well-being should be front page news more often than it is. Last I saw the media was more interested in reality TV, knife crime, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zimbabwe. All have varying degrees of true global importance where well-being is concerned, but none of them are environmental issues;

2) The whole old-skool aesthetic of the front end dovetailed really nicely with the 8-bit doom music at the end, and it really warranted something similarly apolcalyptic for unity's sake. I had a look at it with a different end, and it weakened the front somewhat.

It isn't an argument worth taking up here, but I'm not sure that the text was politically correct at all (although I must say that I find the term very wooly, and prefer to avoid it altogether). To my mind it was just two statements culled from available research, and relevant to the film.

Still, I'm glad you liked the work even if aspects of it weren't to your taste, and really welcome what you had to say.

Cheers,

H

July 5, 2008
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henry8th

I liked it, kids are a great source of inspiration.

July 5, 2008
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HSParkes

Or should I say apocalyptic...damned late-night typos.

H

July 5, 2008
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that's a great film, enjoyed it man.

July 6, 2008
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I think Scott Of The Antarctics is a very thoughtful and considered film. It's nice to see something that is so simple and straightforward on the surface, done so well. It's very clever, so well done.

tweed

July 6, 2008
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Ace film. Well done H.

July 6, 2008
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deftech

not my thing bt a cute story with a kid is bound to win

July 6, 2008
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mnra025

Excellent work. Made me think!

July 6, 2008
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HSParkes

Deftech,

Sorry you weren't too keen on the work. I'd like to think it's a bit more than a cute story with a kid, as it is an important issue to promote continued awareness of.

Speaking of which, thanks to Todd Carmichael, who linked to the film from his Exploration blog, we have been placed in the very odd position of being linked from the New York Times:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/antarctica/index.html?query=WORMS&field=des&match=exact

Bizarre.

H

July 6, 2008
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gemmawonder

it is cute

July 6, 2008
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SomeoneNotYou

great film...well done all around. the kids acting is top notch!

save the penguins

July 6, 2008
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DeclanB

would have liked it more without the mission statement at the end. You made your point well. Let me make up my own mind without the preaching.

July 6, 2008
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HSParkes

DeclanB,

Thanks for the constructive criticism. In reply can I point you a little up the page to my response to Milkyway's similar thoughts. I hope this provides some insight at least, into why particular creative decisions were made.

Thanks for the support,

H

July 6, 2008
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chavvachopper

good film but im fed up of being beaten over the head with the environment

July 6, 2008
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SandieJ

was ok. but we've seen these messages hammered into our brains. change the record, but good attempt

July 6, 2008
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Sean

Expertly done!

July 6, 2008
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bigchris

grta wrk, lovely cinematography, everyshot loads of colour and warmth

July 7, 2008
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Valkrye

i loved this piece, but the message is clear already. it just felt like an advertisement instead of a film. great job though

July 7, 2008
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rubbish. i want my 3 minutes back.

July 7, 2008
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passer by

Well directed, well shot, and well acted. Ace :>)

July 7, 2008
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Brilliant

July 8, 2008
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LB

Lovely. :O)

July 8, 2008
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"rubbish, I want my 3 minutes back"

So your time is so precious not only do you want your three minutes back (its 2.31), you felt the need to waste more of your precious time writing a comment about a film that was so say rubbish?
No-one made you watch it. What a shining light to us all you are. Give me your address so I can start a cult in your name, you've shown me the way.

July 8, 2008
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helen

really liked it, well acted, well shot, well edited. i see a few people are anti message, but the problem isn't going away + with G8 setting target figures for 2050 (so they can carry on as they are for now + by 2050 will all be dead or senile anyway) its clear that shouting the plight of our planet from the rooftops isn't having the desired effect. i'm on board with the fact that its really happening + even i balk when al or leo present us with their features of doom, this however was entertaining + the message wasn't rammed down my throat, top work H.

July 8, 2008
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hel

also, just tried to give you 5 stars but it would only do 4 + now i can't change it!!!!!!!

July 8, 2008
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Pitter

Boring

July 8, 2008
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dad

Liked this very much Hog. Love Dad.

July 8, 2008
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Good effort - very watchable and intelligent.

July 9, 2008
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Cake

This is so lovely. The little boy is amazing, where did you find him? Beautifully shot, and a powerful way of getting your message across. A slice of genius.

July 10, 2008
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gaynor bevan

I loved it! What a great piece of work. All involved should be very proud. Good luck and fingers crossed. Mrs Ickle x
P.S I want a penguin like his!!!!!!!

July 12, 2008
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I thought it was very good, very interesting and something different.
Kind Regards,

Iris Hayes

July 13, 2008
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manalivestudios

I do not grudge saying this at all, even though we have our own entry to this competition; this is a truely excellent short film. The writing is superb, the little boy is perfect and the plot is really well executed. You've managed to cram so much into this. Really well done. Have a look at our entry, "Mr. Alice", and let us know what you think.

July 14, 2008
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ok this was brilliant my 2 main reasons f anyone cares are as follows 1. the simplistic language of the child hit a note with the overall message it added impact and deepth far better than a would be president spouting off about global warming while in his privat jet and air conditioned town car. and 2. i showed this to my 7 year old who is currently studyng the enviroment at school and she loved it she is my bench mark for what is good and not so if you can get a message through to her then well done . cant wait to see more of your work . missy

July 17, 2008
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ahclem

Excellent video addressing a major problem. The child's perspective gives it that much more emphasis. Thanks for the heads up

July 24, 2008
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DC

Loved the film - makes you aware that the kids are thinking too and we should make more of an effort to really explain things to them. Would make a great film to teach kids about global warming and what they can do to help. Maybe a series on various topics?

August 6, 2008
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