Film has the unique ability to inform and shape the way in which people see the world around them. Over four workshops, Blue Shoes Productions will work alongside a group of young participants aged 11-14 to explore some of the important issues affecting the world today, such as the climate crisis, the impact of lockdown and child food poverty. It will provide an opportunity to discuss the important role that film can play in raising awareness about important societal problems.
The young participants a chance to learn story-building skills, and will see them create their own film as a collaborative group under our guidance. The young people will go out and capture their own footage and interviews, and we will then edit together the footage and present the film through a digital screening and a Q&A. The process of creating this film will allow the young people to consider the wider world around them in order to think about the ways in which we can work together to improve our communities and societies.
Workshop 1: Conception
Our first workshop with the cohort will include introductions from us and those who are involved. Together, we will mind-map ideas and issues which the young people think would be important to cover, and storyboard how we imagine a final film might look.
It will be a creative space where we share videos and stories to provide inspiration, and have open and honest discussions about the subject of the film.
Workshop 2: Production
Following on from the first workshop, we will help to direct the young participants to capture footage and interviews to help bring the film to a reality. We aim to guide the participants in how to frame a shot, what sort of footage to collect, and how to conduct interviews. We will also encourage participants to film on phones or other devices to capture footage themselves.
Workshop 3: Editing together the film
Once the principal production has been completed and we have edited together the footage which has been sent by the young participants, we will show them where we are up to and will discuss the next steps. We will invite comments and critiques for what has been created, and ask for any suggestions for the final changes. We would then end with a debrief, discuss the process of creating the film, and figure out whether the subject matter has been covered well through the film.
Workshop 4: Screening and Q&A
In the final workshop, we would stream the final film which the young people have created online, followed by a Q&A session between us and the young participants to talk through what they have achieved. Questions will be open to the audience so that there is a wider engagement with the topics and issues at hand.
This project has been commissioned as part of #HACFromHome. For more information and to book a place, visit their website here.
Please note that participants will need a recording device (phone or tablet) which can record video footage.