Change the Story: A social justice filmmaking workshop initiative. Using creative expression to empower youth at risk of offending
With thanks to BFI Into Film, Centre for Film and Digital Media, Catherine Cookson Charitable Trust, Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal (NISR) and in kind support by Bridge + Tunnel Productions and Bridge + Tunnel Voices.
Change the Story: Evaluation January 2015
Project Summary: Change the Story engaged an initial group of 25 participants, aged 14-19 from some of the North East’s most deprived areas, including Byker and Fawdon, who are at risk of offending or have experienced the prison system directly or though a family member, in a series of 12 digital storytelling workshops. Project beneficiaries were identified by charity partner NACRO -National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders, a national crime-reduction charity dedicated to preventing crime and reoffending, across England and Wales. The project was led by academic and filmmaker Dr Tina Gharavi, Senior Lecturer in Digital Film & Media, and was supported by a group of 10 Newcastle University students- both MA and BA, focused in the disciplines of Film, Media and English, who served as project volunteers and mentors, working close with the beneficiaries. Support received from Newcastle University’s Research Centre in Film and Digital Media, allowed Principal Investigator, Tina Gharavi in collaboration with media charity, Bridge + Tunnel Voices to develop and deliver a successful community engagement filmmaking workshop where young people who have limited or non-existent access to creative and educational opportunities, were trained and engaged in filmmaking activity, allowing them to express their individual stories. Participants were trained in the following media production areas: storytelling principles, story development, story boarding, script writing, production scheduling, camera training, sound recording, editing. Furthermore, advise on distribution, presentation and appropriate meta-tagging was offered in order for them to share their work via dedicated social media networks. All participants were awarded a certificate of recognition celebrating their participation and successful completion of the Change the Story filmmaking project. The accreditation concluded their public screening where members of each production team attended the event as well as invited guests, Newcastle University students, invited creative media professionals, and NACRO representative and youth manager Chris Homans. “The Change the Story project has enabled NACRO to provide it’s learners with an opportunity to express their story in a way that they can relate and that is relevant to their peers. Young people feel empowered by the opportunity and feel it is giving them a voice. Thank you!” - Chris Homans Overall, this evaluation finds that the Change the Story programme approach was effective and efficient in inspiring young people to be trained and engage in filmmaking activity. Furthermore, the project succeeded in allowing film to become a tool for self-expression and personal development. In particular, ten young people out of twenty six have expressed their interest in pursuing further training at both college and university level as well as have expressed their interest to complete apprenticeships in the creative media industry.
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Change the Story: Evaluation January 2015
The successful factors that facilitated this efficiency include the peer educators approach. Also, partnerships with other actors such as NACRO, Bridge + Tunnel Voices, and most importantly Newcastle University, contributed greatly to the effective running of the programme. Four key strands of activity were facilitated by this project: •
Creative Production: Participants will develop their own short films around their understanding of issues of imprisonment/criminal justice. After completing introductory story development tutorials, participants became familiar with key storytelling principles and filmmaking techniques and were able to begin researching, planning and developing their own short films.
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Outreach: Working with educational partners, criminology academics, youth support groups and student volunteers, we established a network promoting public awareness, and created new educational opportunities through media production. Short digital media works, produced by participants, were presented at public screening allowing more people to engage, share and comment on the project’s work.
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Participation: Our project was structured around the needs and aims of our workshop participants. By establishing a steering group, we ensure that participants’ needs led the project’s aims and outcomes. Project beneficiaries were also responsible for the dissemination and public reception of the project by sharing their work through social media platforms. We envisaged this activity as an opportunity for young people to become autonomous creators, represent themselves and engage with diverse audiences.
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Education: A series of filmmaking and media production workshops (media skills, interviewing techniques, video and sound record/editing, use of camera, storyboarding and digital storytelling); a public education tool (accessible on-line) challenging discrimination. The short films produced by participants were shown to a group of Newcastle University students and members of the public, followed by short talks by participants sharing their experiences.
Successful Aims and Outcomes Our project aimed to examine the use of digital storytelling as a tool for expressing life stories among youth at risk, and the power of film as a medium for vulnerable young individuals to share their experiences and engage with others in meaningful and rewarding ways. In particular four objectives had been identified: (1) To understand how young people engage and experience social justice issues (2) To evaluate how young people engage with and critically ‘make sense’ of these media artifacts utilising new technology; (3) To uncover/evaluate potential of digital technologies for allowing users to become empowered by producing their own filmic interpretations; (4) To suggest a novel mode of audience engagement as well as a teaching model invested in co-authored creative production. The project has served as an example of the liberating effect creative media can produce in terms of positioning young people within the democratic process (this is their voice being heard), and offering them the space and tools to express themselves. This was achieved through the end-of-project Gala screening event, hosted by Culture Lab, where all 3
Change the Story: Evaluation January 2015
participants celebrated their work, discussed and presented their individual film to new audiences and acquired ownership of their films. This project has succeeded in involving young people in leadership, decision-making and social digital storytelling, allowing them to defend their opinions. It has also explored the impact of digital storytelling and the way it cans serve as an arena for young individual to express, often publicly dismissed stories about themselves and their lives. Not only has the project offered the tools and space for youth at risk to voice their opinions, but it also aims to raise public awareness, combat offending tendencies and introduce a new means of communication based on creativity and collaboration.
1. Project Worker Testimonials: "The young people we met at NACRO were some of the most hard to reach participants I have ever had the pleasure of working with in 15+ years of community media engagement work. As the films demonstrate, this work was done with great care and hard work. However, the fact that our small team won their trust and respect was a huge win for us. It was truly heartfelt to see these young people achieve something that they were proud of. While the films are not the most polished, these are authentic films, made ENTIRELY by the participants. At each stage, it was their decision making which drove these projects. Their sense of achievement and their pride taking part of this project will stay with me for a long, long time. These are young people who are often forgotten and rarely have access to the tools to make their voices heard." - Tina Gharavi, Lead Investigator & Facilitator “Change the Story has allowed me to engage with a group of young people who not only were trained in filmmaking production but most importantly were transformed throughout this process through re-investing in themselves, and using film as a tool to share their stories and inspire interest and change. Our role throughout this project was solely that of an instructor/facilitator; the energy and stories captured in these films belong to the young storytellers. This project could not have been accomplished without the support from Catherine Cookson Foundation, which supported the project and allowed its successful completion. -
Nelly Stavropoulou, Project Manager & Research Assistant
“The beating heart of this project has been the concept of self-worth. Why teach filmmaking to someone who is too afraid to tell their story? Our primary role within this process was to create an environment in which young people felt free to express themselves, without fear of ridicule or failure. An environment to amplify the voices previously silenced. 4
Change the Story: Evaluation January 2015
Our aim has been to change perceptions. We have helped to change the way these young people see us, and the way they see each other. All that’s left is to change the way the world sees them.” -
David Mordey, Workshop Facilitator
“The Change the Story project helped struggling teenagers find an outlet to tell their personal stories through film. During the screening you were able to see the positive impact it has had on their lives and how much it has inspired them to potentially follow a creative path.” - Eliza Fayer, Project Volunteer "Through the medium of film, these young individuals discovered their own unique voice and gained an insight into their own talents and the scope of what they can each achieve. They were inspired to tell their own stories with a passion unique to their experiences, and in doing so they inspired all of us." "There is so much more I want to say about the effect the project had on me, witnessing the excitement and enthusiasm of those teenagers, it gives you hope that the project will be a platform for bringing to them a brighter future" -
Trev Gibb, Project Volunteer
I thought that the project was wonderful - it gave the young people involved a real sense of achievement and worth... You could tell that it meant a lot to them for their stories to be heard. -
Paige Toomes, Newcastle Student
I just wanted to say that the happiness and hope that your project gave those kids was very apparent and inspiring and I thought it was really cool! Awesome work! -
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Corin Allen, Newcastle Student
Evaluation methodology 2.1 Evaluation Methodology Design The Change the Story programme was evaluated using a qualitative based methodology using participant interviews and group discussion tools to evaluate and capture participant behaviour towards filmmaking activity and the potential such an activity offers in terms of self-empowerment. 2.2 Study Instruments 5
Change the Story: Evaluation January 2015
In the evaluation, three instruments were used: • Structured questionnaires: open-question questionnaires were used to gather information from project participant. • Focus Group Discussions: FGDs were conducted with young people who completed the course as well as other participants who did not commit to full length of workshop schedule. 2.3 Ethical Considerations Ethical standards were sought from Newcastle University ethics and responsibility guidelines. This included obtaining consent and approval of all respondents. The data collected for the evaluation remains confidential and used preliminary for project evaluation report, but participants have also offered their consent for such data to be used towards future research activity. 2.4 Data Collection The data was collected by project manager Nelly Stavropoulou and volunteer project workers Trev Gibbs, Eliza Fayer and Carla Fitoiu. The data collectors carried out interviews using structured questionnaires. The project manager also conducted one-to-one review session with all participants and maintained notes during workshop delivery. 2.5 Limitations of the Evaluation 1) One of the limitations to the design of the evaluation was the fact that no control communities were evaluated at the time of the baseline study and therefore a full Randomized Control Trial (RCT) method could not be undertaken. 2) Not all participants agreed to undertake the evaluation and equally not all participated in all sessions. 3) Although interviewers assured respondents of confidentiality, ensuring honest and accurate responses on questionnaires there could be a bias in terms of participants wanting to offer positive feedback to impress project workers. 3.
Findings and Discussion 3.1 Introduction Three key questions were considered when examining the research findings: • What impact did the Change the Story programme make to young people’s lives in terms of: what the programme achieved; new skills acquired; improved social and metal wellbeing. • What degree of funds were being used effectively and efficiently to deliver results? 6
Change the Story: Evaluation January 2015
• What were the lessons learned from the programme? Youth Empowerment Potential: Throughout the duration of this project all participants evolved on both a professional and personal level. Each young filmmaker developed and focused on a particular aspect of production (camera work, storyboarding, story development, editing and sound editing), allowing them to further explore their personal interests and was given personal feedback. Most importantly, Change the Story allowed a group of socially excluded young individuals who have been restricted from such kind of educational and artistic opportunities due to their behaviour being labelled as “threatening” or “disruptive”, to engage in filmmaking activity and to employ film as a medium to 1) share stories that matter to them and their community, and 2) create a story throughout a process of creative brainstorm, learning and team work. All individuals exemplified a sense of ownership and self-pride and were eager to showcase their films in two separate screenings. An initial one where other project participants (who chose not to complete the whole project attended), as well as invited guests and all staff member and educators and NACRO as well as an end of project public screening, hosted at Culture Lab, Newcastle University where members of the public, academics as well as student volunteers joined the screening. The event concluded with a group discussion where participants shared their experiences. 3.2 Participant Feedback An end of project questionnaire was circulated to core participants in order for them to provide feedback in relation to three key areas: 1) creative production skills 2) most important lesson acquired 3) favourite production area as well as space to reflect on teaching structure for future improvement. Sample questions: Q1. What did you enjoy the most about the workshops? “Watching completed video by other group members and seeing how it all worked.” - Toni, 18 “Getting the opportunity to make a short films. Loved everything, these weeks been amazing!”- Katelynne, 16 Q3. What’s the most important thing you’ve learned? “How to edit and make a film.”- Katelynne, 16 “How to edit films and handle a camera.” -Tony, 16 “How to use a camera.” - Sophie, 17 7
Change the Story: Evaluation January 2015
“How to not be shy of the camera.” –Dale, 16 “How to make a 5 min video and to get on with new people- edit a film.” - Suzie, 18 Q4. What was your favourite activity/production role? “Making the film and being the editor.” – Tony, 16 “Everything- loved being an actress!! – Carla, 17 “Making a movie and being the actor with friends.” - Dale, 16 Most importantly this evaluation captured learner’s changes in attitude towards their films as well as their self-confidence and sense of ownership. This information has been captured by Facebook posts on their individual accounts sharing their experience and their finished films with their circles of influence. “Just want to say a big thank you to nelly and dave for last night it was wicked food was gorgeous and it was a great honour to show out films! !I feel like a star haha” - Katelynne, 16 “Gutted tomorrow is the last day it's been amazing thankyou's so much so coming in and learning us new things xx” - Carla, 17 “So proud of ourselves for making this in just 2days!! Short film about suicide awareness for all the angels who went to sleep, please watch share and like it!!” - Katelynne, 16 “So proud of my self and katelynne and Nadine, brought tears to my eyes PLEASE SHARE Get the message out!!!” – Sophie, 17 “Thank u for the opportunity for working with u and for helping me the learn some new skills and to hopefully get a better job in life and I hope to work more with u in the future.” – Dale, 16 3.3 Participant Case Studies
– Tony, 16 Tony was one of the most involved members of the group. He became fascinated by editing, and in particular enjoyed using filmmaking as a tool of expression. Inspired by the film he produced a video for his friend C. who has a history of self-harm and created a personalised video expressing his support and friendship. He presented the film both during the workshops but also as part of the end of project screening where he also stood up on the stage and spoke of his experience.
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Change the Story: Evaluation January 2015
“This project has changed each one of us. We have learned about film but most importantly we have found a way to talk to others and show them what we feel.” It has changed our lives.” Tony is currently leaving at a friend’s house as he has been banned from his house. In his own words this project has given him a new passion and a skill to further develop. He is already trying out different on-line free editing software, and has set up his individual YouTube account where he publishes his work. His enthusiasm was evident from the beginning of the course however it was amplified through each session. He was particularly keen on staying longer each time and requesting individual mentoring on editing techniques and story development. This project allowed him to find a new way to express his feeling and in particular believe in himself; “I can speak for everyone else when I say…my entire life has gained meaning now...this is who I am and you’s made it possible, I can proudly say I will follow in your footsteps...I’m currently working towards your level...both gave me a future to go for.”
– Carla, 17 Carla was one of the participants who genuinely surprised us in the way she revealed hersellf and opened up to the group throughout this project. For the past 4 years Carla has been engaging in self-harm, a situation she had only confided to her sister Suzie and her friend Tony. Carla initially came across as a shy and non-interested workshop member. She seemed absent throughout the initial sessions and did not attend all sessions. Nevertheless, she discovered a passion for acting and most importantly a passion for photography. By the end of the project she was one of the loudest participants, mostly singing or laughing and was constantly taking pictures during the workshops. She was ‘officially’ named project lead photographer and was responsible for documenting all our activities. Through Tony’s video Carla spoke to the team about her experience of self-harm and most importantly found the courage to confront her mother and talk to her about what she was going on. For Carla this project initially served as an opportunity to “escape” as she was facing certain family problems at the time. However, as the course progressed she “enjoyed each moment of it and learned lots of new things”. This project allowed her to connect with others and improve her self-confidence by being the star of the film!
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Conclusions
4.1 Conclusions
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Change the Story: Evaluation January 2015
Change the Story youth empowerment filmmaking project, was completed with great success as it managed to accomplish key three objectives: a) train young learners who are restricted by formal education in filmmaking production, allowing them to produce short films and engage in discussions and film screenings; b) test and provide a teaching model that empowers beneficiaries by allowing them to share their stories through filmmaking and feel empowered and proud of their own achievements; c) exemplify the power of film in communicating unheard and often neglected social issues and demonstrate its power in raising awareness and allowing social excluded groups to voice their opinions. 5.1 Participant-produced videos capturing their experience: a) Behind the scenes video: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=8mw7ECR3ek4&list=UUqiqZnyo95KEE_Tb_luWGUQ b) Thank you video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MknJhW6YMk
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