|
Art Dance English Graphics Humanities ICT Life
Skills
Maths Media Music Science Spanish Textiles
“This is for real. This isn’t make believe”
Like
the ICT students, the Year 10 BTEC Media students were
set a challenge. They were commissioned to make three
documentaries, inspired by the work of Brazilian cultural
group AfroReggae, that would be showcased on the Rights2Rights
website.
Using
the arts to keep young people out of the drugs and arms
trades in Rio de Janeiro proved to be a meaty starting-point
for the students, who came up with three different approaches
to the theme of Rights and Responsibilities.
You
might require quicktime to play these documentaries,
To download Quicktime click
here.
If
you're having trouble accessing streaming media files,
please click
here
The
groups worked with Somethin’ Else’s TV Executive Leo
Burley and Senior Radio Producer Nicky Birch from initial
brainstorming through to planning and pre-production.
A training session at the Somethin’ Else studios brought
home to the group just how exciting the world of media
can be and helped them prepare for the filming.
The
bulk of the filming and recording took place during
the week of AfroReggae’s visit and was supplemented
by additional location shoots on Hackney’s notorious
‘murder mile’.
After
the filming had been completed, it was editing, editing,
editing. Students worked in class, after school and
at lunchtime to get their programmes ready for the final
edits at the Somethin’ Else studio and Splice post-production
house. AfroReggae are a cultural group established in
the favela (shantytown) of Vigário Geral in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1993. Working in the poorest
and most violent communities in Rio de Janeiro they
have one clear aim: to take young people out of the
drug trade and gun crime through arts-based activities.
Over four days, students took part in physical theatre
and percussion workshops. While doing this they learnt
about life in the favelas and looked at areas of commonality
and difference between life in Hackney and Rio. The
students heard a powerful message about the damage that
guns do in communities and how they can help to control
guns locally and globally. By Thursday afternoon, the
students were able to give a short performance of impressively
complex rhythms to their peers and by Saturday, 40 students
gave up their own time to perform at the Amnesty International,Human
Rights Action Centre in Shoreditch.
“The Saturday performance really brought it home
to everyone involved just how special the week had been
and saying goodbye to the Brazilians was quite emotional.”
James Ramsay, Music Teacher
*The AfroReggae workshops were part of a UK tour organised
by People’s Palace Productions called, “From
the Favela to the World.
|
