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Unit 2 Part D

Silver Arts Award Unit 2 Part D: working effectively with others

Use this space to reflect on how you’re working and communicating with other

people, how you’re developing your leadership skills and handling situations appropriately.

Try and record your reflections at two different stages during your arts leadership project.

Reflection 1 (leadership in terms of how I worked with others)

Date: 20/07/21 - 12/08/21

Give an example of how you’ve worked with other people during the project:

I delegated social media posts to other group members throughout shoot week.

Why were you working/communicating with them?

I wanted everyone to take part and I wanted to make sure that none of their posts were offensive and that they made people want to go and watch the movies, as well as providing a good BTS style and capturing the ongoing process effectively.

What did you want to achieve? Did you manage to achieve it?

I wanted to show the movie-making process to an audience and in doing so make our movie more popular and appear like a professional film. I think the film appeared professional and I feel it showed the creative process, but I think it should have done this in a more in-depth manner (which would have been done using more social media posts).

Did you have to resolve any issues you hadn’t previously thought about?

I had to make sure everyone in the group got a turn on the social media account and that there was a post everyday. I managed to remember, but I almost forgot because shoot week was so busy.

Reflection 2

Date: 02/08/21

Give an example of how you’ve worked with other people during the project:

I worked with Julian, who was also working on marketing and social media. He was more focused on the technological aspect and he provided the logo and poster for the movie. I put the logo on Instagram and I used the poster to promote our film effectively.

Why were you working/communicating with them?

I was working with him because he has expertise in technology and I would not have been able to create these things on my own.

What did you want to achieve? Did you manage to achieve it?

I wanted to make our movie appeal to a young audience. I think I did manage to achieve it.

Did you have to resolve any issues you hadn’t previously thought about?

Yes, we had to make sure that the images we used we weren’t copyright.

Collecting feedback

How will you collect feedback from other people about the project and your

leadership and communication skills?

I will talk to Julian about how effective my leadership was and whether he thought the logo and poster he made were effective or if I could have directed him better under my leadership.

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Unit 2 - Part C

Silver Arts Award Unit 2 Part C: effective arts leadership

Development of leadership skills 

(leadership and responsibility and working independently)

Specific times where you have shown leadership

◗ How you’ve developed the leadership qualities you set out in your plan

◗ Have you had any leadership opportunities you weren’t originally expecting?

◗ Have you had to amend your project plan?

◗ Any other health and safety issues you’ve had to think about?

Reflection 1: Setting up the social media account 

Date: 18/07/21

Notes: Setting up the social media account showed me taking the initiative, as I decided how it would be laid out. I made it a professional business account and used hashtags (such as ‘film’ to promote the movie). Before shoot week I put up pictures that I had seen on similar accounts - encouraging pictures for the group which promoted our movie in a way that would appeal to all ages. I developed the leadership qualities set out in my original plan: I worked hard on making sure our pictures would gain the most likes possible and I was not swayed by the initially low number of likes and followers the account had. Instead, I kept consistently uploading initially images to help establish an online presence and followed organisations such as the HCA (as well as Clerkenwell-based youth organisations near where I live), something which slowly increased the number of followers and likes I had.

In setting up the social media account, a leadership opportunity I wasn’t originally expecting was that I had to actually actively try and make people discover our account rather than just attract them with good posts. It was a good opportunity to take the initiative and to think in the spur of the moment how I could capture their attention.

The only way I had to amend my project plan was that I did not have to just set up an online account to gain followers, but also upload initial photos and stories (e.g. Instagram polls) to actually get the social media account to a point where it was properly set up.

I had to take it upon myself to think of health and safety issues. For example, I wanted to ensure we did not get any inappropriate suggestions for our account and so I made sure to check who people were following on their own account before I decided whether I would follow them or not. I also made sure child-friendly settings were turned on as much as is possible on social media. 

Reflection 2: Launching our logo Date: 04/08/21

Notes: I developed the leadership qualities set out in my plan by taking a risk on launching our logo. I took the initiative, as I decided when to post this and how to post it. I decided to post our logo as an image on Instagram as well as changing our profile picture, as that would make it look more like a launch rather than just a random event and would hopefully attract more attention to it. I decided to do this in the middle of editing week rather than what one would normally expect (Friday, the last day) as I wanted to have a new logo before we were completely done and because people would probably be busy on Friday and Saturday and so not see our new logo on Instagram for a couple days. Thus, I developed my leadership qualities by showing a greater understanding of how to gain online viewers and how to market our product (the film) to them. A leadership opportunity I wasn’t expecting was trying to make this appear like an exciting event, as previous profile pictures I had just changed without making a post. I did this differently, as it was our final logo rather than a stock image of a goat (our name is GoatPictures). I did have to amend my project plan, as I had not originally thought of launching this new image logo as part of an event, but when the time came, it felt like the right thing to do. In terms of health and safety issues, it was making sure this image wasn’t copyrighted or offensive.

Reflection 3: Finding places to promote our film (marketing)

Date: 04/08/21

Notes: I went to look for places where I could posters up about our movie. This helped me develop the leadership qualities set out in my original plan, as it was hard work to find somewhere where I could put up movie posters which would be seen be many members of the public but which would get me in trouble because it was a private property (a health and safety consideration). I took the initiative and went around my local area, not far from the HCA. I had new leadership opportunities I wasn’t originally expecting: I had to make sure the mood of this location fit the mood of our movie and that there was no inappropriate graffiti nearby.

I did have to amend my project plan, as I had not anticipated putting up posters would be so difficult and so scouting for a location was not actually a part of my original plan. I also had to amend my project plan, as I looked into film festivals for our film as part of this ‘location scouting’ and I found the London Independent Film Festival (LIFF), the Chronic Youth Film Festival and the BFI Future Film Festival.

Other health and safety issues were making sure the location I chose was safe (i.e. no broken glass, nothing to slip on) and easily accessible).

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Unit 2 - Part B

Silver Arts Award Unit 2 Part B: plan the practical issues

Who are the participants or main audience for your project? Is there anything specific you need to consider for this audience?

Our participants are mostly young people who are still in secondary school or sixth form, where covid cases are spreading rapidly. The main audience will likely be of this demographic also, so we will have to consider covid tests if they are to come and see our film.

How will you recruit participants?

I will recruit additional participants (e.g. those outside my group) by asking members of the public for their involvement, as well as by asking family/friends to be involved.

How will you promote the project?

I will promote the project through our social media account (instagram), which I will target at young people through not only analytics, but also virtual designs which appeal to this age. I will also promote it by sharing the details with members of the public for our Instagram, and by working on my marketing skills to make our film come across as one you would want to go and see.

How will you deliver the project?

The project will initially be screened for a private audience (e.g. friends/family) and then shown to the public.

What practical things will you need to organise and how will you do this? (e.g. material, resources, equipment, space)

I will need to organise table space for Julian and I to sit down and work on our app and to make sure that this is a quite room which has good ventilation, so that we can work without getting distracted or tired easily. We will also need to have water and enough food to keep us going. Julian may need pens and paper to design the social media aspect and I will need to use his design on my phone, when I upload it to our instagram account. I don’t think any other resources are necessary.

What support are you going to need from other people? Who is going to help you and how?

As I am focusing on marketing and social media, I am going to be focusing on running the account and making it presentable to the public. As a result, it will be up to other group members to focus on the design aspect rather than me. Julian, as well as other group members, can give me some useful designs and have already helped come up with the group’s name.

How are you going to assess how your leadership skills are developing, and collect feedback as you go along? I am going to look and write down how many viewers and likes our social media account gets on its posts as time goes on and I will also count how many random members of the public I got to agree to go to our film each day and see whether that increased or decreased.

Risk assessment

Risk assessment area

Notes from adviser discussion

Agreed actions/advice

Permission - copyright may be a risk when sharing on instagram what movies inspired us and we have to make sure that everyone in our film agreed to be in it, even if it is a random member of the public. We even have to get explicit agreement from all our group members for this.

I will always make sure that our images are copyright free.

I will always make sure I ask people before I include them in film/photo.

Covid measures

I will make sure all equipment is sanitised, that we all wear masks and are socially distanced.

Make sure appropriate language is used on our blog/instagram, as well as in public

I will use appropriate language.

Make sure the social media account is only used for stuff related to the film.

I will monitor the account.

Project timeline

Action

Person responsible

Date to be done by

Date completed

Before - book venue/equipment

Whole group

05/06/21

Not necessary (Chloe and Jack did this for us)

Before - Organise materials/resources

Whole group

05/06/21

Not necessary (Chloe and Jack did this for us)

Before - complete risk

assessment

Me

07/06/21

07/06/21

Before - organise consent forms

Me

01/07/21

Turned out not to be necessary (Chloe had already done this)

Before - create flyers/posters

Me

06/07/21

06/08/21

(It was better this way, as it was used to promote the now-finished movie)

Before - prepare feedback forms

Me 

21/07/21

04/08/21 (this was fine, as I still managed to collate sufficient feedback)

Before - Set up social media accounts

Me

By shoot week (22/07/21)

18/07/21

(Luckily done ahead of schedule)

During (and After) - Promote ongoing filmmaking process to public (e.g. post pictures of us filming on blog)

Whole group

During shoot week (23/07/21)

23/07/21 (but ongoing process till end of project)

During - take photos

Me/BTS

25/07/21

25/07/21

During - reflect on how leadership skills are developing

Me

26/07/21

26/07/21

During - Work with BTS crew to select photos to post on social media

Me / BTS

During shoot week

(27/07/21)

27/07/21

During - liaise with other people

Me

27/01/21

27/01/21

During - collect feedback from others

Me

27/01/21

04/08/21

During (end) - Shooting finished

Whole Group

30/07/21

30/07/21

After - return equipment

Whole Group

30/07/21

30/07/21

After - All social media posts finished

Me/Julian

30/07/21

21/08/21 (decided to keep posting to keep followers updated)

After - gather feedback

Me

04/08/21

04/08/21

After - assess how the project went

Me

07/08/21

07/08/21

After - create

project review and think about how leadership skills developed

Me

07/08/21

04/08/21

After - Movie ready to be shown

Whole group

07/08/21

07/08/21

After - Screening invites created

Chloe with me supporting

07/08/21

07/08/21

After - All tickets sold

Me

17/08/21

17/08/21

After - Private screening

Group

28/09/21

After - Public screening

Group

16/10/21

16/10/21

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Unit 2 - Part A

Silver Arts Award Unit 2 Part A: your project & leadership role

What qualities do you think a good leader needs to have? Consider good examples you have experienced

A good leader needs to be able to direct the group they are working in. Such a leader needs to able to be confident and bold at decision-making, but also should not speak over others constantly, as other members of the group may have valuable ideas. A good leader should make all members feel included and everyone should feel listened, but a leader must also make sure that all members of a group know what their roles are and that they are doing what is required (and that they know what the task is).

A good example I experienced was Rio, who was an intern that advised on our films and sometimes took charge because he knows a lot about making movies (he is a film student). What he did well was he always made clear to the group what he was going to do, always made sure we understood, always responded to all our questions, always made sure that all our ideas were listened and made sure that any input from him stuck to our overall vision as much as possible. When he was telling us what to do, he was patient but commanding and stern. He was always fair: he never yelled for no reason and only made us do something differently because it wouldn’t work rather than because he didn’t like it. He came up with interesting ideas (e.g. using tracks) and was willing to compromise to let us adapt them to both our overall vision and the difficulties of our busy schedule and cramped filming space (train carriage). As a result, we only used tracks once, as otherwise it might not fit with our movie and we did not want to overuse it, as that would make it look cheesy. The one time we did use it in the villain’s entrance was an idea from Rio but it benefitted the overall team project and fit in seamlessly into the rest of the movie.

Another example of good leadership was Jack and Chloe, who were supervising us. They put everyone’s health and safety as a priority and were willing to pause shooting if someone was feeling dehydrated or needed the toilet. They also made sure it was a relaxed environment but at the same time motivated the group to work hard and to go beyond our expectations. They never made us feel limited in our abilities despite the fact that we were beginners.

What leadership skills would you like to develop in your arts leadership project?

I would like to be more confident in interacting with others. I want to focus on making my group work as a cohesive team. I want the team members to have a supportive relationship and for us to benefit each other with the work we do. I want to ensure my group has an overall aim for the film once the conceptualisation stage is over, rather than us all having vastly different interests, which could lead to conflict. I want our group to function as one entity and I want to have a hands-on approach in ensuring this.

Describe your arts leadership project. What are you going to do? What will the creative aims and outcome be?

My leadership project is social media and marketing. That category has been essentially split in two and another group member will focus more on the technical side of this category, whereas I will focus on the marketing aspect, although this still bears relevance to social media. We have set up our own film company for making this film and I will aim to promote our social media account. I have some past experience in marketing, as I previously had an Instagram, Twitter and Facebook account which I used to promote my rap music. In this, I paid attention to viewer analytics and made sure to target a specific demographic (18-25 year olds from the UK who were fans of Grime music) and I will use these skills in the future to try and get the right target audience. I will talk to people on the street (thus developing my people skills) and target a specifically young demographic, as they will not be that much older than us. My aim will be to get as wide an audience as possible when our film is screened at a festival and I hope the outcome will be that we receive the response that our film really connects with this audience and that they feel they can relate well to it. In terms of creative aims, I will aim to promote our movie to a wide audience and hopefully we will have many in attendance as a result of my work on social media and in real life.

What resources will you need? Are there any health & safety considerations?

I will need access to social media and a large sheet of paper to do a mind map on marketing on. I will also need an Excel spreadsheet and Microsoft Word. I will need sufficient time, but not much else.

Health and safety considerations are that audience members must be covid-tested and also we must make space for wheelchair users. We must also accomodate people who require dogs, such as blind people or people who have anxiety dogs, as the animals would need enough space to sit down and have somewhere where they would not bark and interrupt our film. Another consideration is not to infringe on copyright and to be safe online.

What will your leadership role be? What will you be responsible for doing?

My role will be to market our film. I will be responsible for ensuring our film is as popular as possible and that it appears professional, but not overproduced: I want to present our film in a way that will appeal to the audience (as emotional appeals are successful in marketing) and that it will appeal to as wide a range of people as possible.

How will this help you develop leadership skills?

It will give me a deeper level of understanding in a field (marketing) where I would like to develop my skills further. Thus, I will be able to deal with potentially stressful situations (such as low follower count or people not responding well to the movie) and long working hours in front of a screen and I will be able to direct other members of my group and be able to contact them in a businesslike fashion about their ideas and how I can market them.

Will you be working with other people? What will they be doing? How does your role relate to the roles of others?

I will be working with my teammates, who will be more focused on the actual concept of the film. I will get their feedback on how effective my marketing is and I will try and also get them to make their ideas as marketable as possible to an audience. I will also be working with someone on the social media aspect of the project and I will make sure my marketing of our film and company will be relevant to his social media account and what it reflects about our film.

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Unit 1 - Part D

Silver Arts Award Unit 1 Part D: arts research

Which art forms are you interested in? (e.g. drama/visual arts/music/street dance)

I am interested in design/illustration, as this is something I don’t know much about but which sounds interesting because it requires similar intricacy to the film-making process and both include visual representations of real life people/objects.

Describe the kind of people or careers involved in these art forms (e.g. actor, director, musician, producer, choreographer, writer)

A designer would be involved, as they would decide on the layout of the page rather than what actually goes on it. Also important are the illustrator and the person who commissioned the illustrator to create this illustration, as are the curators who would decide the layout of the exhibition where these designs would be shown and also important are those who organised such an exhibition.

What kind of places might they work/display/perform/exhibit in?

Likely in a private viewing, as an intimate setting would serve best the intricate drawings or designs an artist produces.

Research checklist:

I saw a presentation by Sinead, who is an artist/illustrator and who was also helping us at the LTN. Some of her works appeared as designs and some took the form of paper cut-outs, but much of her work included hand-drawings. Some of these were of mythical creatures, as folklore was their important to her as an artist, as she saw it as representing a connection with her Irish heritage. This event was pre-arranged for us by the HCA, but I made sure to pay attention to Sinead’s advice for future artists that it was a difficult journey but an enjoyable one which must not be seen as stressful or overthought. Sinead showed us her journey through a visual representation (a flow chart) made of arrows from one job to the next. At times there were even multiple arrows because she was forced to work more than job at once due to financial circumstances. I have as evidence the notes I took, as well as Sinead’s illustrations from her website and also from her Instagram account, which she told us about at the end of her presentation. I found out that it may be difficult for an artist, but that persevering will give one great rewards in the future and I also learnt that it is important to connect your art to your life (e.g. your family, your heritage). What I found out has had an influence on me, as it has prepared me for the fact that our filmmaking process may not be completely easy: it is inevitable that there will be some difficulties in future and thus we must prepare for them.

Do research online into arts organisations and local training courses (answer the questions again about this and say tips they gave me/what I think about what they said)

What did you do to get involved with arts practitioners and arts organisations?

I looked for arts organisations and training courses local to me and this led me to find ‘Photography Course London’, which provides training to budding photographers, whether professional or amateur hobbyists. It is local to me - Shoreditch is not far from my house.

How did you find out about future education and career pathways in the arts?

I was recommended to look up such organisations by Chloe and Jack, as I was very interested in pursuing cinematography (or indeed photography) in future and perhaps working on independent movies or taking commissions when I am more skilled.

What evidence do you have to show what you did?

https://www.photographycourselondon.com/

I have also joined their newsletter.

What did you learn about practitioners career development and work?

I read online reviews posted on their blog which were from beginners who said that joining this course has helped them develop their skills even with only a small degree of expertise, if any.

Did you find other opportunities within your art form?

Yes, I may join a beginner DSLR course there.

How has what you found out had an influence on you?

I know feel confident that I can continue to pursue these skills and even go on a training course despite me being a beginner.

Do email interview with a practitioner (answer questions again about this and say tips they gave me/what I think about what they said)

What did you do to get involved with arts practitioners and arts organisations?

I emailed Jack Mead, a filmmaker whose film company Bonfire Films makes online content for business and charities.

How did you find out about future education and career pathways in the arts?

He told me about his life in filmmaking. He was helping us on our project and kindly gave Julian and I the chance to talk to him about what it is like making films.

What evidence do you have to show what you did?

I have a video interview which I will include in my blog.

What did you learn about practitioners career development and work?

I learnt that you do not need qualifications to go into filmmaking, although they help. What you do need is hard work, a good mindset and a creative attitude .

Did you find other opportunities within your art form?

I found out that filmmaking (and of course cinematography) can be used to serve a purpose e.g. to help a company or a charity and still be a very well-made and creative piece of work.

How has what you found out had an influence on you?

I now want to look more into how cinematography can be used to make effective movies which serve a purpose and yet are still creative. Also, he told me about what it is like to work for a film company and I found his advice (e.g. work hard) practical, useful and helpful. I will definitely follow his advice, whatever arts path I choose.

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Unit 1 - Part C

Silver Arts Award Unit 1 Part C: review arts events

What event did you attend? I went to two event. The first place I went to was the London transport museum in Covent Garden. Here I went to an event: a tour of the museum in which I learnt about its history. I also went to the London Transport Museum’s Depot in Acton, on a tour which expanded on what we learnt in the Covent Garden Museum in terms of the different vehicles and designs present in its history and the characters who drove these buses, but also gave us new insight into what goes on with the Museum behind the scenes.

What did you see/do?

At both events I saw old London buses, as well as trains, trams and even carriages (horse-drawn and electric) from times gone by. I asked questions about interesting people such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel and collated information on him from the LTN. In Acton, we learnt about the first black female bus driver and how groundbreaking this was. We also learnt that women could not drive underground trains until 1973, which shocked female members of our group.

When did it take place?

I went in late June to both places and am continuing to visit them for filming work throughout early July. I went on a Saturday several times and will continue to do so until shooting stage in Holborn House later in July, which will be during the week. Both actual tours took about half a day each and were each on a saturday.

Describe what happens at the arts event

Jenna took us on a tour of the TFL museum in Covent Garden. I saw some artwork which really stuck out to me from a creative point of view.

I really enjoyed the TFL posters, the favourite of mine being an old poster for ZSL (the London Zoo). The advert was effective, as it had a drawing of penguins standing in an amusing pose yet at the same time vivid and life-like. This would mean that it appealed to both children and their parents at the same time and not only made this zoo look appealing, but also made TFL look like a fun, enjoyable and, perhaps most importantly, welcoming, transport service. It was not something you would expect to see on a poster for a transport network and thus certainly caught the viewer’s attention.

Another thing which appealed to me were the TFL signs. The signs are of course iconic, but all put together in a display case made me realise their artistic value, not only as individual works of art but also as a whole. We learnt how the signs were designed to be really unique: a special font was created in 1916 (known as the Johnston font) and the signs - except special variants - all consisted of the familiar TFL colours (red, white and blue - perhaps not coincidentally also the colours of the Union Jack) and were designed in the shape of famous Roundel logo of TFL. 

 Seeing all these together was almost overwhelming and showed just how many stations there are in London supported by TFL. It reminded of how big our city is and how much work would have to go into not only providing transport from station to station, but also providing beautiful logos for each station. I looked at all of these signs in their glass case and it was quite moving to see some of them, as they were relics of a bygone era in my city’s history.

We also got taken on a tour by Jenna of the TFL depot in Acton, in which we saw old maps used by the transport service. My favourite were the novelty maps, one of which was made out of lego and another which had different tube lines showing famous figures in history put into different (e.g. leaders of China). It was interesting to see the different colours and seating designs (textile) used for different old trains.

Museum:

(taken at the Depot but I saw a similar picture at the museum - I used this bigger image to avoid pixelation)

Depot:

Which art forms were involved?

We were artistically inspired by the way museum was laid out, as it felt like the interesting objects were each leading on to the next one, thus pulling us through the chronologically ordered museum. We  saw the design art form used in curating the museum, as well as the Moquette of TFL (textile design). We also saw the graphic design on old TFL maps, which inspired us in making our movie poster.

At the depot, what was used was textile and, like at the museum, curation was also important, as was transport design.

What was the context of the event? (e.g. was it part of large tour/a temporary exhibition/part of a film festival/an online event etc.)

It was part of a large tour of a permanent exhibition at TFL and was organised as part of our filmmaking project in association with TFL.

The depot tour was similarly part of the course we were doing and is normally only open to the public once a year.

Was there anything unexpected about what you saw/experienced?

Yes, I was surprised by how beautiful the designs of the various TFL signs (and map booklets) were and how much thought, creativity and love went into making them. I was also surprised by the various types of seats used in the trains, as not only would they be aesthetically pleasing for a film shot, but they were also designed to look beautiful and to provide comfort for passengers, perfected over decades (their design changed very music).

I was surprised to see how old buses could look like an art installation when all displayed together in their different colours (most were different shades of red, but one countryside bus stuck out with is magnificent dark green tint) - an amazing piece of curation. I was impressed also by the futuristic interior of a 1970s/80s train, which looked like a piece of art in itself.

What did you think was good and why?

I think the tour by TFL was good, as it let me understand the design aspects better and how they related to the history of London and TFL, which I would not have been able to work out on my own, as previously I had no idea about design or how something could connect so deeply to the people of London and they transport they used. The tour of both places was interesting and brought the old vehicles to life and made me imagine the sort of people who went on them.

I thought the colours of the seats was great, as the mixes of often reds and blues made these very old vehicles still come to life and would have made it a pleasant experience for the passengers.

Was there anything about the arts event you didn’t like ? Why?

I did not like that we did not get to link the design of the TFL logo, seats etc. more to how our films looked, as the design of these logos and vehicles was and is so beautiful that it would be a shame not to include these obvious sources of inspiration in our film-making process.

I did not like the fact that they did not have even older vehicles like very ancient horse-drawn carriages at the Depot, as I wanted to see a longer history from then till now, but it was still a great experience.

What was the creative impact of the event?

Seeing all the TFL signs together reminded me of the vastness of London, but it also reminded me how a transport network can create logos which not only serve a purpose but are also very beautiful. It also reminded me of the work that goes into TFL, not only in providing transporting but also of creating each of these logos and creating posters which can interest children and adults alike.

I have learnt that one must not forget the role of transport in making a city work. Transport functions beneath the surface (sometimes quite literally) and so those who use it can take it and maybe even its staff for granted, when in fact it has played a vital role in expanding London and creating the modern culture of our city.

I will take away with me the thought that transport can serve my local area and various modes of transport in all forms are highly beneficial to London. I will think of how hard the TFL staff work, as well those creative figures who worked on making the logos which are almost equally important in the transport service.

Did the event develop your knowledge and understanding of the art form(s)?

The first part of the event (museum tour) made me understand better the purpose of design in creating a positive public image of the transport service and made me see how graphics could be used to create appealing images to the public, which hadn’t really occurred to me before in the domain of public transport.

The second part of the event (Depot tour) made me see how transport design can be used to give new life to old vehicle and how curation can be used to show how vehicles improved over time without making any appear inferior to the other.

How will you share your review with other people, and how will you evidence this (e.g. photos, videos, feedback from others)?

I will include photos of the transport which I have taken and I will get feedback from other members of my group, as well as our advisors and the museum staff and I will upload all I have written, filmed and photographed etc. online on a blog run by the HCA and used by our group.

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Unit 1 - Part A

SILVER ARTS AWARD

Silver Arts Award Unit 1 Part A: Identify and plan an arts challenge ARTS SKILLS

What art forms are you interested in/do you like?

I am in interested in both literature and the dramatic arts. My favourite playwright is Pirandello whose plays I would to act in in future. I am very much interested in filmmaking also and I have always wanted to discover how films are made.

What arts/creative skills do you already have or feel confident in?

I studied English literature at A-level and used to take acting classes at YATI. Thus, I feel most confident in acting and writing, rather than painting or sculpting. I have looked into pursuing an English Literature degree at a Russell Group university and the future and so something involved with writing or acting out a script might interest me best.

What arts/creative skills would you like to develop or try out?

I would like to work on cinematography. While at YATI, I attended a film-making course, which I very much enjoyed. However, the course was only temporary and I was disappointed when it ended. I feel it would be beneficial for me to boost my cinematography and filmmaking skills using different cameras, so perhaps another film-making course which involved me taking more of an active role now that I am older would be good.

Do you have any ideas for possible challenges you could set yourself? You could discuss this with your adviser and record notes here.

I am very enthusiastic but I am not used to cinematography. I think it would be good for me have a go at giving whichever group I am working in some good cinematography ideas. It would also be useful for me to learn how to better deal with criticism. I feel I respond appropriately to criticism, but there is always room for improvement.

Your challenge

I will be trying a new skill: cinematography. I will be developing my skills using different cameras, both behind the scenes and on-set, as well as exploring shot types, lighting and composition. It will be over a three month period over the summer.

Describe your arts challenge here:

I will be developing my cinematography skills on a film-making project with the Holborn Community Association (HCA) and it involves a group of young people making a film about transportation in London. The project is done in association with the London Transport Museum and will get the opportunity to visit their depot in Acton, which is normally open to the public only three times a year. Once complete, we will have the opportunity to screen our film at a local festival. I am focusing specifically on the cinematography aspect and will be engaging in camerawork.

Why have you chosen this as your arts challenge?

I am already familiar with the HCA, as my mother works there and I know one of the people who is running this course (Chloe). As well as developing my film-making further, I also want to make new friends, who may have similar interests to me, as they will likely also have ‘creative’ personalities. I chose cinematography specifically because it is something I know little about and thus will be a challenge in terms of my creative skills.

What will the outcome of your challenge be? (E.g. an end product, a performance, a demonstration?)

The outcome of my challenge will be a finished product which has been edited and made ready to present to an audience. I will be director of photography for two scenes of our film. Our on-screen performances will be shown to an audience. A previous film this group did in 2019 was a protest piece in support of Black Lives Matter. Perhaps our piece will incorporate similar themes but explore them in relation to public transport. The outcome of my cinematography aspect will be to create a movie using a wide array of shots which have been perfectly planned and which add to the message of our film. That will be the end product.

Arts challenge plan

What steps will you have to take to achieve your challenge?

I am planning to document my progress using an online blog.

I will make sure to learn about relevant movie techniques, such as dutch tilt, which I can use to develop my skills as a filmmaker and to document these. I will practise using different cameras, as well using iPads and professional film cameras and I will explore shot types, camera angles, camera movements and how to piece together all the shots.

Who or what will you need to help you? (E.g. other people, materials, resources)

I will need a film camera, editing software, a large sheet of A4 on which to plan with my group and a Google Docs document with which we can keep a diary of all our ideas and chart our progress for our Arts Award. I will need the help of the transport museum organiser who is helping us, as well as Jack (a filmmaker) and Chloe (HCA) who are involved in our project. In terms of resources, I will need to look up relevant online information. I will also need to take part in the filmmaking workshops that HCA are running.

I will need a professional movie camera and I will need a pen and paper to draw the shot types I have in my head. I will need help and discussion from group members.

How will you arrange this?

I will write an action plan which has mini-goals for my own personal research for the project, as well as goals relevant to the overall group project and also an overall target. I will also include a schedule for each day, although that will be subject to change based on the wishes of the group. I will write a schedule for myself in my own time to make sure I meet all the requirements of my Arts Award and keep track of my development as it progresses.

I will make sure to ask Rio, an intern who is supervising us, and to look at movies of a similar genre to our film to look at how they created a specific mood/atmosphere and conveyed their themes and characters concisely using the cinematic medium.

What targets will you set to achieve throughout your challenge and how will you show you are working towards them?

Firstly, I will aim to have a movie idea which is ready to put into action and which our whole group likes and agrees upon. I will write a brief summary of this idea in this Silver Arts Award Booklet. Then I will aim with my group to put this idea into practise immediately. I will document the early stages of our filmmaking process to show this and I will write a list of the various film techniques (whether related to camerawork, plot, structuring, style, script or acting) and provide links or footnotes to the websites or books in which we found them. I will continue to chart the filmmaking process in my booklet and how our ideas changed along the way. I also aim to have a finished film, which I will show in my booklet and I aim to show this cohesive, well-structured film to an audience and will document this by writing a brief summary/memo/’manifesto’ of what the film will entail and why (and if there is a political message behind or not, and if not, the reasons why). Essentially I will detail the reasons for everything in the book and I will collect audience feedback to put on the blog I have created. The blog will be updated weekly, as well as at the end. I will make important signposts in the blog (at the beginning, halfway through and end of the project) so that a clear structure can be seen and my progress can be noted. I will use relevant images, as well as reels/clips from the film which show my developing film knowledge and teamwork.

I will set a target firstly of learning about films, which I will achieve through the assistance of Rio and by watching iconic films such as The 400 Blows and The Godfather to learn the value of cinematography in conveying a mood. I will then put ideas forward to the group and we can come up with a storyboard together and I will record my progress on our online blog. I will then begin shooting the movie using the shot list I made and upload evidence of shots I took to our blog. I will then make sure our movie is coherent and complete and show clips from it on our blog to prove this (with the consent of those appearing in those clips).

How will you collect feedback about your arts challenge?

I will collect feedback by asking the mentors and those associated with TFL what they think of our project and if it relates directly to the theme of transport. This is necessary to ensure I do not go on a tangent, as before starting this project, I was unfamiliar with the ins-and-outs of the London transport service. I will also talk to people who work for TFL to see what they think of the direction I am going in and see if they think I am being faithful to the work they do and their daily lives. Also, I am going to collect audience feedback after the screening of the film. I hope to have the opportunity to screen the early drafts of the film prior to the private screening we do for our parents, as I want to see what people and think and how I can improve. I will take notes and then write a new plan using these notes of what to do to improve my film in all aspects (e.g. camerawork, acting, dialogue, editing, scenery, colours). I will ask for specific subject-related/arts-related feedback (e.g. symbolism).

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Unit 1 - Part B

Silver Arts Award Unit 1 Part B: deliver your arts challenge

Write your arts challenge here:

Developing skills in cinematography. I will use professional cameras to do so with professional advisors and a team of other young people around me.

REFLECTION 1

Date:  03/07/17

NOTES: This reflection is on last week’s session. I noticed a difference in terms of my skills, as the different camera angles no longer seemed alien to me. Even Dutch Tilt, which I had previously had difficulty understanding, now seemed almost second nature to me, and certainly were a part of my memory, which I used to my advantage when filming the other group members when we took turns doing the different roles. What is going particularly well is how I could combine all of the different camera techniques I knew. By this, I meant that I could use whichever techniques were appropriate in the moment, rather than having to take time thinking of them, and thus could take decisive action to make sure the scene we were shooting was a success. This said, I found using the camera itself quite challenging, as sometimes a shot may look beautiful in my head, but in reality it doesn’t look as professional as I thought did.

REFLECTION 2

DATE: 27/07/21

I took part in Behind The Scenes work, in which I interviewed members of the cast and crew (often the same people) about their role in the filmmaking process and took pictures of the set.

One important thing I did in BTS was that, when I filmed interviews with other group members, I made sure to put the camera at angle towards them and at a distance from them. I was advised to do so by another group member. I think it was good putting the camera at an angle, as it would have been much more jarring (and not all relaxing for the viewer) if the camera was dead on. Putting it at an angle gave my interview a more conversational tone.

Indeed, I was looking to make my interviews very natural and I wanted to film them on the train with group members (e.g. Rio) who were waiting in-between scenes, surrounded by lighting equipment. However, I had to change this idea because there was not enough time between scenes to shoot interviews. Instead, I ended up having interviews outside the set with two chairs opposite each other and a bright light angled on the face to add warmth but also some formality. This made me feel like a professional interviewer and the fact the camera was on a tripod rather than handheld (as was my original intention) gave the interviews a more formal feel. I still kept the camera at a side angle to the subject so that the interview wasn’t something that would appear cold to the viewer. 

I also took pictures, which really helped with my composition skills, as doing this made me learn even more how to frame a subject. When I was taking pictures of the set, I was able to get a more natural feel, as I took candid pictures of the group when they were working on scenes and made sure to take these pictures at mid range so I could get a decent image of the subject as well as including all the equipment surrounding them. 

In summary, I wish I could have also made my interviews more natural, as this would have made my BTS work feel like BTS documentaries/back-stage music documentaries which I have seen. Nevertheless, I still appreciate the fact it had a professional set-up, as this made it feel like a professional work. I like how my photographs were, as they were very natural. One other thing I wish is that I included more funny moments, but overall, my BTS work seems to fit the task required. My skills are developing in terms of the fact that I know have actually begun the practical side of using a camera and am actively employing the techniques I have learned, as well as now feeling confident enough in my burgeoning skills to implement ideas I have had myself. What is going particularly well is that I am coming up with a lot of creative ideas which I feel fit an artistic purpose (e.g. making it seem naturalistic so that it can feel like other BTS documentaries). What I am finding challenging is the fact that it is much more difficult to actually put these ideas into practise and often I have to make changes (mentioned above). I am doing things on time, so I don’t need to adjust my action plan, but as DOP I need to make our ideas  more practical based on what we can actually achieve with the space, skill level and time frame that we have.

REFLECTION 3

DATE: 30/07/21

I think shoot week went well. We incorporated many different shot types we had learned, even combining them (e.g. using a sideways dutch tilt closeup to create a jarring effect for the audience in a frightening scene in the carriage). During this period, I was working very close with the Director to make sure I got the shots for each scene exactly right and I was also working out where I wanted the actors to be to create the most aesthetically pleasing scene. For example, I had to make sure that I was not blocking the light when holding the camera and that the boom operator was not blocking the light and was not in shot. Aside from practical matters, I also had to think closely with the Director to work out the blocking of the actors so that no-one was blocked by anyone else and so that the scene had the dramatic effect intended. If it was meant to be a scary scene, the focus would likely a close-up on our protagonist’s expressions or a mid of her running (or the villain approaching) and I would not want the other actors to block the hero or the villain. If it was a an exposition scene, I would use a mid and make sure to include the other actors more and only ensure they were not blocking the others out. Doing the scenes in such a way made sure that the movie went through a range of moods and included all the actors, but remained coherent and flowed between the different shots and scenes (and the moods therein) rather fluidly. I think my skills developed well, because I became more practical and realised that I had to think about more mundane things such as the position of the actors as well as the big creative ideas I had as DOP and that it would take a lot of time to get a shot right even if there were very good ideas behind it. What went particularly well is the concentration I had and my close working relationship with the Director, as we eventually achieved all the scenes we had in mind. What I found challenging was the cramped space of the train carriage, as this meant it was hard for the boom to stay out of shot and for us to remain out of the reflection of the train windows. Everything was achieved on time - I will not have to adjust my action plan and am now preparing for edit week.

Silver Arts Award Unit 1 Part B: Implement and review the arts challenge

Did you achieve your arts challenge?

Yes. Our movie was very effective in terms of the cinematography it employed. The shots I did served the purpose of creating a tense and frightening film with some lighter moments for the audience’s sake.

Did you have to change your action plan or your challenge in any way? If so, what changed and why? (e.g. timeframes, resources, help you needed)

I had to change the help I needed on my action plan, as I found I could not use the camera alone and Chloe had to help me tell the group want to do in terms of blocking. In terms of timeframes, some things ended up getting done after shoot week but generally everything was finished earlier than it was supposed to (which was a good thing) because we worked very efficiently as a team.

I did not have to change my challenge but I needed help from Rio to learn about the shots I needed. I also needed assistance from Jack, as camera work was very difficult. I had to change the resources: I needed more cameras than required (different types for different shots) and we had to use shots at one point as handheld was too shaky.

What went well? Why?

What went well was that everything regarding shooting was done by Friday and we did not leave out any important parts of our movie or any really good shots. I was satisfied all my shots were in focus and did not include any TFL depot staff walking past. I think I did a good job as D.O.P and fully captured the Director’s vision for the scenes I worked on, as well as the group’s overall vision. I feel like I now know a lot more about camerawork and I feel like I am now aware of how difficult it is. That is a good thing: I know what it entails and I am ready to get better at the practical elements.

What was more challenging? Why?

What was more challenging was producing good scenes at the end of the day, as everyone got tired. In the scene where my character (The Man - our villain) has dialogue at the end of the film, I felt very tired and it was hard to give a good performance with a light shining in my eyes. Trying to be in the right place in shot and follow directions regarding blocking helped me understand the difficulties of working behind the camera better. Like with my performance, it was in general quite difficult for actors to work out where they would be on camera in order to create an effective and frequently people looked into the lens by mistake. Also, I found using the camera settings hard, as it uses abbreviations and so I kept forgetting what each button meant.

What have you learnt from doing your arts challenge?

Some ideas have to be cut because of time constraints or practical issues, but despite this compromise or maybe even because of it, you end up having a movie you are very proud of which has the right shots you were aiming for. Asking Jack and Chloe for help with the camera helped me learn its different capabilities0 (e.g. capturing more light by increasing the aperture) and I slowly began to memorise what the different buttons did to the different functions (e.g. gain, iris, shutter speed).

How have your art form skills developed?

I know understand what it is like to work behind a camera and I can use a movie camera on my own to make a basic scene with the correct blocking and the right aperture, focus and zoom.

What would you do differently another time?

I would learn more about the technical aspects of camerawork beforehand rather than just trying to think of good ideas (although I would still do that also).

What did you think about the feedback you received from others? Include their reviews here.

I thought the feedback was very helpful, as they made it clear how I had improved over the course of several weeks in learning filming skills and they evidenced this by giving specific references to technical details of camerawork and to my working relation with the rest of the crew and cast. I feel their feedback was helpful and targeted specifically to me as a keen novice at camerawork.

Reviews: 

Chloe - Chloe thought I ‘drastically’ improved my knowledge of cinematography and camerawork. I started off using the iPads to make my 5 shot films and then went on to learn about shot types and used professional equipment in a professional context on set (impressive to see). I also developed and practised my knowledge of manual camera settings and practised them as we shot each scene. Chloe liked seeing me experiment with composition with my BTS interviews and on-set.

Julian - Julian thought I improved in handheld stability with the camera and I learnt about making smooth shots such as pans. He also said I have drastically improved in understanding photography and I can know perform any shot type confidently and with good form. In conclusion, I have improved very much since the start in my videography skills and techniques.

Rio - I was a very confident cinematographer and I showed clear understanding of composition and camera settings and that is evident in my films product (i.e. the shots which made the film). I was also very easy to work with as a cinematographer and my understanding was evident through how I worked with other people. For example, collaborating with the Director and Gaffer in order to make a good image for the screen.

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SILVER ARTS AWARD

Silver Arts Award Unit 1 Part A: Identify and plan an arts challenge

What art forms are you interested in/do you like? I am in interested in both literature and the dramatic arts. I enjoy reading poetry, such as that of Wordsworth and Ovid. At an Oxford lecture, I was told that Wordsworth’s The Prelude can be regarded as antechamber and the rest of the work like a church. That amazed me, as I did not know beforehand that a poem could be as well structured as a play (e.g. Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author).

What arts/creative skills do you already have or feel confident in? I studied English literature at A-level and used to take acting classes at YATI. Thus, I feel most confident in acting and writing, rather than painting or sculpting. I have looked into pursuing an English Literature degree at a Russell Group university and the future and so something involved with writing or acting out a script might interest me best.

What arts/creative skills would you like to develop or try out? I would like to work on directing. While at YATI, I attended a film-making course, which I very much enjoyed. However, the course was only temporary and I was disappointed when it ended. I feel it would be beneficial for me to boost my leadership and teamwork qualities, so perhaps another acting or film-making course which involved me taking more of an active role now that I am older would be good.

Do you have any ideas for possible challenges you could set yourself? You could discuss this with your adviser and record notes here. I am very enthusiastic but I am not used to leadership experiences. I think it would be good for me have a go at giving whichever group I am working in some good ideas. It would also be useful for me to learn how to better deal with criticism. I feel I respond appropriately to criticism, but there is always room for improvement.

Your challenge

I will be extending an arts skill I already have (film-making).

Describe your arts challenge here: It is a film-making project with the Holborn Community Association (HCA) and it involves a group of young people making a film about transportation in London. The project is done in association with the London Transport Museum and will get the opportunity to visit their depot in Acton, which is normally open to the public only three times a year. Once complete, we will have the opportunity to screen our film at a local festival.

Why have you chosen this as your arts challenge? I am already familiar with the HCA, as my mother works there and I know one of the people who is running this course (Chloe). As well as developing my film-making further, I also want to make new friends, who may have similar interests to me, as they will likely also have ‘creative’ personalities.

What will the outcome of your challenge be? (E.g. an end product, a performance, a demonstration?) The outcome of my challenge will be a finished product which has been edited and made ready to present to an audience. Our on-screen performances will be shown to an audience. A previous film this group did in 2019 was a protest piece in support of Black Lives Matter. Perhaps our piece will incorporate similar themes but explore them in relation to public transport.

Arts challenge plan

What steps will you have to take to achieve your challenge? I am planning to document my progress using an online blog and I am planning to do extensive related to transport in London. I also plan to visit other relevant locations and to try and include some form of transport memorabilia in our film. I will also research other things that will help our group, such as relevant music and how transport relates to the lives of Cockneys or other old-fashioned Londoners, something I take interest in.

Who or what will you need to help you? (E.g. other people, materials, resources) I will need a film camera, editing software, a large sheet of A4 on which to plan with my group and a Google Docs document with which we can keep a diary of all our ideas and chart our progress for our Arts Award. I will need the help of the transport museum organiser who is helping us, as well as Jack (a filmmaker) and Chloe (HCA) who are involved in our project. In terms of resources, I will need to look up relevant online information. I will also need to take accounts given to be me by older members of my community in the Clerkenwell area, as well as those in adjacent working-class areas like Shoreditch, Southwark and King’s Cross.

How will you arrange this? I will write an action plan which has mini-goals for my own personal research for the project, as well as goals relevant to the overall group project and also an overall target. I will also include a schedule for each day, although that will be subject to change based on the wishes of the group. I will write a schedule for myself in my own time to make sure I meet all the requirements of my Arts Award and keep track of my development as it progresses.

What targets will you set to achieve throughout your challenge and how will you show you are working towards them? Firstly, I will aim to have a movie idea which is ready to put into action and which our whole group likes and agrees upon. I will write a brief summary of this idea in this Silver Arts Award Booklet. Then I will aim with my group to put this idea into practise immediately. I will document the early stages of our filmmaking process to show this and I will write a list of the various film techniques (whether related to camerawork, plot, structuring, style, script or acting) and provide links or footnotes to the websites or books in which we found them. I will continue to chart the filmmaking process in my booklet and how our ideas changed along the way. I also aim to have a finished film, which I will show in my booklet and I aim to show this cohesive, well-structured film to an audience and will document this by writing a brief summary/memo/’manifesto’ of what the film will entail and why (and if there is a political message behind or not, and if not, the reasons why). Essentially I will detail the reasons for everything in the book and I will collect audience feedback to put on the blog I have created. The blog will be updated weekly, as well as at the end. I will make important signposts in the blog (at the beginning, halfway through and end of the project) so that a clear structure can be seen and my progress can be noted. I will use relevant images, as well as reels/clips from the film which show my developing film knowledge and teamwork.

How will you collect feedback about your arts challenge? I will collect feedback by asking the mentors and those associated with TFL what they think of our project and if it relates directly to the theme of transport. This is necessary to ensure I do not go on a tangent, as before starting this project, I was unfamiliar with the ins-and-outs of the London transport service. I will also talk to people who work for TFL to see what they think of the direction I am going in and see if they think I am being faithful to the work they do and their daily lives. Also, I am going to collect audience feedback after the screening of the film. I hope to have the opportunity to screen the early drafts of the film prior to the private screening we do for our parents, as I want to see what people and think and how I can improve. I will take notes and then write a new plan using these notes of what to do to improve my film in all aspects (e.g. camerawork, acting, dialogue, editing, scenery, colours). I will ask for specific subject-related/arts-related feedback (e.g. symbolism).

Silver Arts Award Unit 1 Part B: deliver your arts challenge

Write your arts challenge here: My arts challenge is to make a well-edited, finalised and polished film related to the theme of Transport to be screened in front of an audience of people. I need to make this film with a group of other young people and respect their ideas. I am doing it for the Holborn Community Association (HCA) in conjunction with TFL.

SIlver Arts Award Unit 1 Part C: review arts events

Where did you go? I went to two places. The first place I went to was the London transport museum in Covent Garden. Here I went on a tour of the museum in which I learnt about its history. I also went to the London Transport Museum’s Depot in Acton, which expanded on what we learnt in the Covent Garden Museum in terms of the different vehicles and designs present in its history and the characters who drove these buses, but also gave us new insight into what goes on with the Museum behind the scenes.

What did you see/do? At both events I saw old London buses, as well as trains, trams and even carriages (horse-drawn and electric) from times gone by. I asked questions about interesting people such as Isambard Kingdom Brunel and collated information on him from the LTN. In Acton, we learnt about the first black female bus driver and how groundbreaking this was. We also learnt that women could not drive underground trains until 1973, which shocked female members of our group.

When did you/go? I went in late June to both places and am continuing to visit them for filming work throughout early July. I went on a Saturday several times and will continue to do so until shooting stage in Holborn House later in July, which will be during the week.

What happened at the arts event? We made films using the vehicles. We filmed in train carriages and made use of the sliding door of the carriage, as that created a spooky transition between shots which looked villainous and ominous in the dark carriage and was inspired by the short horror films Jack and Chloe showed us. We also planned our films around transport and we came up with a movie based on a time-travelling train.

Describe which art forms were involved Film-making was involved and we were artistically inspired by the way museum was laid out, as it felt like the interesting objects were each leading on to the next one, thus pulling us through the chronologically ordered museum. We used film-making and saw the design art form used in curating the museum, as well as the Moquette of TFL (textile design). We also saw the graphic design on old TFL maps, which inspired us in making our movie poster.

Have you seen or done something like this before? What was similar to things you’ve seen or done in the past? I have previously been on a filmmaking course and this was similar, as we took inspiration from short films and learnt about plot and different types of shot. We also went on a tour of the museum of london transport, which is like the museum of london (which I have been to) in the sense that it uses the ordinary people of London to evoke a strong, living sense of London history.

Was there anything unexpected about what you saw/experienced? Yes, I was surprised by how beautiful the designs of the various TFL signs (and map booklets) were and how much thought, creativity and love went into making them. I was also surprised by the various types of seats used in the trains, as not only would they be aesthetically pleasing for a film shot, but they were also designed to look beautiful and to provide comfort for passengers, perfected over decades (their design changed very music).

What did you think was good and why? I think the tour by TFL was good, as it let me understand the design aspects better and how they related to the history of London and TFL, which I would not have been able to work out on my own, as previously I had no idea about design or how something could connect so deeply to the people of London and they transport they used. The tour of both places was interesting and brought the old vehicles to life and made me imagine the sort of people who went on them.

Is there anything about the arts event you didn’t like ? Why? I did not like that we did not get to link the design of the TFL logo, seats etc. more to how our films looked, as the design of these logos and vehicles was and is so beautiful that it would be a shame not to include these obvious sources of inspiration in our film-making process.

What have you learnt from this arts event? I have learnt that one must not forget the role of transport in making a city work. Transport functions beneath the surface (sometimes quite literally) and so those who use it can take it and maybe even its staff for granted, when in fact it has played a vital role in expanding London and creating the modern culture of our city.

What thoughts or ideas will you take away with you? I will take away with me the thought that transport can serve my local area and various modes of transport in all forms are highly beneficial to London. I will think of how hard the TFL staff work, as well those creative figures who worked on making the logos which are almost equally important in the transport service.

How will you share your review with other people, and how will you evidence this? I will include photos of the transport which I have taken and I will get feedback from other members of my group, as well as our advisors and the museum staff and I will upload all I have written, filmed and photographed etc. online on a blog run by the HCA and used by our group.

SIlver Arts Award Unit 2 Part A: your project & leadership role

What qualities do you think a good leader needs to have? A good leader needs to be able to direct the group they are working in. Such a leader needs to able to be confident and bold at decision-making, but also should not speak over others constantly, as other members of the group may have valuable ideas. A good leader should make all members feel included and everyone should feel listened, but a leader must also make sure that all members of a group know what their roles are and that they are doing what is required (and that they know what the task is).

What leadership skills would you like to develop in your arts leadership project? I would like to be more confident in interacting with others. I want to focus on making my group work as a cohesive team. I want the team members to have a supportive relationship and for us to benefit each other with the work we do. I want to ensure my group has an overall aim for the film once the conceptualisation stage is over, rather than us all having vastly different interests, which could lead to conflict. I want our group to function as one entity and I want to have a hands-on approach in ensuring this.

Describe your arts leadership project. What are you going to do? What will the overall aims and outcome be? My leadership project is social media and marketing. That category has been essentially split in two and another group member will focus more on the technical side of this category, whereas I will focus on the marketing aspect, although this still bears relevance to social media. We have set up our own film company for making this film and I will aim to promote our social media account. I have some past experience in marketing, as I previously had an Instagram, Twitter and Facebook account which I used to promote my rap music. In this, I paid attention to viewer analytics and made sure to target a specific demographic (18-25 year olds from the UK who were fans of Grime music) and I will use these skills in the future to try and get the right target audience. I will talk to people on the street (thus developing my people skills) and target a specifically young demographic, as they will not be that much older than us. My aim will be to get as wide an audience as possible when our film is screened at a festival and I hope the outcome will be that we receive the response that our film really connects with this audience and that they feel they can relate well to it.

What resources will you need? Are there any health & safety considerations? I will need access to social media and a large sheet of paper to do a mind map on marketing on. I will also need an Excel spreadsheet and Microsoft Word. I will need sufficient time, but not much else.

Health and safety considerations are that audience members must be covid-tested and also we must make space for wheelchair users. We must also accomodate people who require dogs, such as blind people or people who have anxiety dogs, as the animals would need enough space to sit down and have somewhere where they would not bark and interrupt our film.

What will your leadership role be? What will you be responsible for doing? My role will be to market our film. I will be responsible for ensuring our film is as popular as possible and that it appears professional, but not overproduced: I want to present our film in a way that will appeal to the audience (as emotional appeals are successful in marketing) and that it will appeal to as wide a range of people as possible.

How will this develop my leadership skills? It will give me a deeper level of understanding in a field where I would like to develop my skills further. Thus, I will be able to deal with potentially stressful situations and long working hours and I will be able to direct other members of my group and be able to contact them in a businesslike fashion about their ideas and how I can market them.

Will you be working with other people? What will they be doing? How does your role relate to the roles of others? I will be working with my teammates, who will be more focused on the actual concept of the film. I will get their feedback on how effective my marketing is and I will try and also get them to make their ideas as marketable as possible to an audience. I will also be working with someone on the social media aspect of the project and I will make sure my marketing of our film and company will be relevant to his social media account and what it reflects about our film.

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This movie may also be inspiring, as our movie has lots of crazy characters and some of it is set in the 1960s.

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Bill and Ted’s Adventure was a zany inspiration for our film.

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This is the email that Chloe has replied to me about her career in the arts industry.

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FINDING YOURSELF

A short film by Creative Minds Co

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Delighted to announce our film has just been selected as a semi-finalist in the International Open Film Festival!

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‘Finding Yourself’ now screening at:

We are delighted to announce that ‘Finding Yourself’ is now screening in the Introductory Gallery at The Foundling Museum. Please go along to see it and support our young filmmakers and our community partner!

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We are very proud to announce that Finding Yourself will screen at Tate Britain. If you are free go and watch it there ... please do let us know if you did!

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Clips/films from the training sessions, behind the scenes and assemble/rough edit sequences from the film. All edited and filmed by the young people -