UK Film & moving image projects - It's a Culture Thing - Bytesize

It's a Culture Thing - Bytesize

A series of 90-second ﬁlms have been commissioned through the South West Screen Moving Image Education Hubs to portray young peoples ’ interpretations of culture in the south west.

The follow-on project from the ‘It ’s a Culture Thing …’ campaign Culture South West ran last year sees three groups of young people from Cornwall produce their own interpretations alongside two ﬁlms from each of the other 7 SW MIEHs. The resulting ﬁlms are to be shown at special regional events and at the Cornwall Film Festival in November and on www.dshed.net/ as well as hoping for broadcast slots in the future. The three Cornwall ﬁlms are:

“Vote SK8 ” – Mount Hawke SK8 Project

One participant perceived this project was happening because “the government wanted to ﬁnd out what little children liked. ”This innovative ﬁlm features the UK ’s ofﬁcial Tony Blair look-alike John Brolly (he lives in Penzance)playing the part of a PM who wakes from a 40 year coma and realises he needs to know what ’s happening with young people today. In the story he quickly identiﬁes the signiﬁcance of Skate Culture and literally ‘gets up to speed ’!The ﬁlm, created as a follow-on project from the SK8 project and performances in April, shows that young people are keen to change public perception about skating and skaters, proving that the sport “isn’t all about vandalism and crime, but
is about talent, guts and having an interest ” .The feedback shows that the project has “deﬁnitely made life more interesting ” and that the participants now “understand more about ﬁlms.” Good outcomes, we think!

Chunder – Cape Cornwall School

Ever wondered what a group of young teenage lads get up to on an average Friday evening in St Just -a small rural town on the edge of nowhere, near Lands end -out of sight of adults ’ eyes? The ﬁlm made by these Cape students “gave them an opportunity to express their take on life in a way they wouldn’t normally get a chance to do in school,” says ﬁ lm maker and facilitator of the project Denzil
Monk, who was joined by musicians and other practitioners to create the ﬁlm. Some of the students had also worked with Denzil on award-winning ﬁlm ‘The Freak ’ last year, and several are now seriously planning on taking media courses at Truro, Penwith or Cornwall College when they leave school.

‘Proper Job ’ --Sir James Smith ’s School

This ﬁlm focuses on youth-orientated sporting culture within north Cornwall, set against the various landscapes of the area. All the sports groups from the school have been involved as the cast, selected
by their sports teachers to perform in the ﬁlm. Paul Haynes, ICT technician facilitating the group, says,
“We have really taken a back seat in this -the group are gaining the conﬁdence to lead it by themselves.” Thanks to this and other ﬁlm projects, a ﬁve-strong production team is now resident in the school, with departing students passing on their skills so there should always be a team of resident experts.

Cass Dennis, MIEH Cornwall Co-ordinator & Facilitator says, “This is an exciting project. Children who have had their interest ignited through projects involving digital media and the moving image can now really extend their skills and pursue their creative ideas, working alongside some exemplary
creative professionals. It also enables them to express their own views and experience of their culture, giving them a strong voice.”