"The Listeners Project" film series pays homage to abandoned U.K. structures
A new and original film series called "The Listeners Project" aims to capture architectural treasures in Britain through storytelling by young filmmakers before the spaces are redeveloped.
Teams of filmmakers who take part in the project are given a room or floor of an abandoned but iconic building, but they only have 24 hours to create a short film in the space.
"We give the directors and the writers creative licenses to come up with stories that might have been, could have been, could be," said Ben Lambert, who founded "The Listeners Project" a year ago. He told CBS News' Jonathan Vigliotti that the project was planned as a way to challenge young filmmakers and help inspire an appreciation for the city's changing history.
One location being filmed for "The Listeners Project" includes the cavernous halls of London's Farmiloe Building, which has sat vacant for years.
"A painter has a blank canvas. A writer has a blank page, and they make something happen. We use the walls as our canvas for the stories," said Lambert.
Four directors are given a space in a chosen building and just 24 hours each to film a scene based on a single idea.
Each short film imagines the stories of walls like those that form London's Farmiloe - if walls could talk.
The final product is a series of films that are deeply personal and show people at a crossroads, much like the buildings themselves.
At the BBC's old Television Center, a heartbroken ballerina is haunted by the memory of her lover, and a stairwell comes to life at abandoned Swan Wharf. At Farmiloe, a poet says, "We jump at every sound and flicker as warning of impending doom, and yet the light that pours in from that window speaks of a world beyond the room."
"Been at that window, behind that glass all my life," a security guard said.
Those who view the films of Farmiloe might experience a tinge of déjà vu even if they never set foot in the building - it was transformed into Gotham's police station in "Batman Begins."
The same space was also used for the chemist's lab in "Inception."
Despite all of its Hollywood glamour, "The Listeners Project" is the building's final act before it's turned into an office space.
Before the doors closed for good, Lambert and Natasha Coleman, the executive producer who coordinates the production of films, turned the space into a cinema for a small crowd.
"The Listeners Project" wants to take its work to America next; changing cities like Detroit are on its list to document before redevelopment.