Lights, Camera, Art School - Rose Hendry's journey from DJCAD to Director

In light of her collaboration with fellow Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) alumna, Dr Maria Maclennan, Rose Hendry discussed her filmmaking journey with Alumni Engagement Coordinator, Craig Reoch, and provided insight into her exciting directorial journey thus far.

Growing up in rural Fife, across the famous River Tay from Dundee, Rose never had any grand plans to go to art school. When she was around ten years old however, her mother – a full-time Mum to Rose and her two brothers, ex-countryside ranger and illustrator – attended DJCAD as a mature student. Rose would go and visit her in her studio and loved the feel of the art school. While in high school though, Rose didn’t initially choose the ‘right’ subjects associated with becoming an art student.

“I didn’t do Higher Art or a portfolio or anything for example. I did quite a lot of music-related activities in school, and I loved my ballet classes, but I knew I didn’t want to be a performer, so I did a Higher National Diploma (HND) in ‘Sound Production’ at college. Around this time, my partner was applying to DJCAD to do the ‘Time-Based Art’ course, which I’d never heard of before, so I gained a bit of an insight into what he was doing. I realised this would be a really good route for me to get into art school after I’d finished my HND,” explained Rose.

Rose applied from college and was able to go straight into second year, skipping the general foundation year. Interestingly (and funnily!) enough, Rose’s mother – from whom she’d originally got a taster of what DJCAD was like from visiting her in her studios – also went to back to the art school to study her master’s degree at the same time. They even ended up with the same dissertation tutor! Entering art school for the first time after having it in the back of her mind from a young age brought a lot of excitement.

“I remember being really excited at the time, as being able to have creative conversations about things I’d never thought of with these new people around me was a real eye-opening moment. It’s a great experience – you are learning all sorts of different things, about yourself and about the world whilst also trying to work out what you’re doing. I met good friends on the course, and we lived together which was great fun. I was always curious about what everyone else in DJCAD was doing and took a lot of inspiration from that in my final year.”

Having come from a small village, Dundee was really a ‘big city’ experience for Rose, though she now lives in London, working wherever the work is, which she never thought she could see herself doing. Graduating with a first-class honour’s degree, one of her short film vignettes ‘Egg & Fag’ was nominated at the ‘Best of British Encounters’ Film Festival, which gave Rose an insight into narrative film and set her on the path she is now on.

She then spent another year in Dundee, making a couple of promotional films for a charity while also making some music videos for local musicians. With the economic crash at the time, it was quite a tough period, but she received a lot of support from the community.

“Tin Roof Collective, who were an artist-led organisation, helped me out quite a few times with a space to build small film sets in, and then my partner wanted to specialise in cinematography. We moved to Buckinghamshire just outside of London at the same time my own degree show work had been noticed by an ex-Time-Based Art student who was working for a commercial agency, STV Creative, in Glasgow. I was then travelling back and forth from London, working on Scottish TV commercials which was the first time I worked on bigger budgeted projects and with clients. It gave me really good professional experience even though I felt like a teenager at the time! I also met some really great people there whose work I admired as a student and with whom I am now working with more closely.”

This experience was instrumental in Rose gaining the skills to become the freelance creative she is now, and she explained that practising filmmaking whilst also making a living is her main aim. She is also working on some more music promos for bands and, amongst all of this, has learnt some important lessons in being a director.

“It is very difficult of course and it has taken a long time, and I wouldn’t say I’ve nailed it yet. Learning what opportunities to take and learning how to say ‘no’ is so important, as time is precious.”

Despite the difficulties associated with being a freelance film director, Rose has achieved great success in her work. Her first narrative short ‘Stovies’ won ‘Idea Fund Shorts’ funding and she was nominated for ‘Best Writer’ at Underwire Film Festival.

Rose has recently collaborated on a short film ‘THE DEAD ARE JEWELS TO ME’ with fellow DJCAD alumna and the world’s first ‘forensic jeweller’ Dr Maria Maclennan. Despite not crossing paths while at university, this shared connection was beneficial during the creative process. 

“I didn’t know Maria at all, but I followed her work at the time. She was good at PR and seemed to be everywhere at the time, and I remember seeing a lot of stories about her and her research. Having that connection to Dundee has helped us have a connection now.” 

THE DEAD ARE JEWELS TO ME is a piece Rose is particularly proud of, and it is the closest to what she always wanted one of her films to be like. 

“It’s a culmination of everything that I’ve been learning through all the commercials I’ve done and mistakes I’ve made along the way. I always remember that sense of naivety and wonder I had when making my first film, and this one came together over what was an incredibly difficult year personally, but one which allowed me to work creatively with two amazing women and channel all of that into this film.” 

This is a bit of full circle moment for Rose, too, who wanted to be a forensic scientist at one stage in her life. Not bad for someone who wasn’t initially sure about what she wanted to do and who came to DJCAD from a less direct entry point. You can catch Rose, alongside Maria, talking about their collaborative project THE DEAD ARE JEWELS TO ME (available to watch on the BBC Scotland website) as part of the Alumni Speaker Series for the DJCAD Graduate Showcase 2021, or check out the recording afterwards.

Do you have a fun Dundee connection you’d like to share from your time at the University? If so, get in touch with us at alumni@dundee.ac.uk – we’d love to learn more.