Long Term Projects

We enjoy working on long-term projects as it gives us more time to get to know the people involved and it’s always satisfying to spend longer on certain subjects. For projects that last longer than 6 weeks, we spend time at the beginning project planning and setting a number of deadlines so as to ensure final targets are met.

Oxleas NHS Trust – Inspirational Filmworks

The film playing features one of our biggest long-term projects, which was funded by Oxleas NHS Trust for a Film School for mental health service users. The group, Inspirational Filmworks were awarded the Oxleas Recognition Awards for Best Practice in 2005 and were runners-up in the Health and Social Care Awards in the same year. Our work with them started in February 2004 and is ongoing.

We worked on 3 major projects with them.

1. An Introduction to Film-making 8 months

Devised a 6-month training programme for 17 members
Divided members into 2 groups – Planning Group & Technical Group
Trained Technical Group members to film using rules of composition and lighting
Trained Technical Group members to record sound using external mics
Trained Planning Group members to interview, direct, log tapes and produce a paper edit
Members were divided into 5 groups and each produced a 4 minute sequence focusing on various groups run by the centre
Members came to our premises to lead the editing and to view draft versions of the film
The 25-minute film was screened at two World Mental Health Day events and a number of times on The Community Channel

2. Arms Length Film school 8 months

Devised a 6-month training programme for 14 members
Divided members into 3 groups to work together on a film each
Guided the Directors on script writing, schedule planning and interviewing
Guided camera operators and sound recordists on filming talking heads interviews, cutaways and sequences
Supported group in confidence and team building
Edited films following instructions from the 3 Directors.
The groups came to our premises to supervise the edits
The group produced 3 films exploring mental health issues
All 3 films have been shown several times on The Community Channel

3. CPA Training Film 4 months

Liased with Oxleas NHS Communications Department who had commissioned Inspirational Filmworks to produce and direct a 20-minute training film on CPA
Trained 7 members on producing, directing, filming, interviewing and making edit decisions
Guided group on schedule planning
Guided group on forming themes for interviews questions
Members filmed sequences and interviews independently
Supported group during the whole process
Edited film using the Director’s paper edit
Members came to our premises to view the edit
The completed film is used for training members of staff

Racial Equality Foundation – Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities

6 families attending a 13-week parenting programme were selected for this 8-month national project. Families were based in London, Bradford, Manchester and Liverpool. We met with each of them before the commencement of their course to train them in the use of camera and sound equipment. They were given guidance on how and what to film and these included family gatherings, day trips, workshop sessions and video diaries. We edited the 40 hours of footage into a 35-minute training film. (more) Fraser, could this link to writing below

Every 3-4 weeks, we visited the families in their homes and watched the footage with them whilst transcribing the tapes. The families told us which parts they did not want included in the final film and these instructions were recorded. We filed the tapes and kept a record of all the transcriptions and loggings as the project developed.

Halfway through the course, we produced a 20-minute film, which was shown at the Racial Equality Foundation AGM in June 2006. The Racial Equality Foundation made it very clear that they wanted the families to be involved in the whole process so before the final films were mastered, we made sure they were all satisfied with the films.

We continued visiting the families after the AGM and once they had completed the course, we edited all the footage into a 35-minute film. In total, the families had filmed over 40 hours of footage. As a ‘thank you’, we gave each of the families an individual 5-6 minute re-edited version of their film as a free gift. During the whole project we had met with and kept the Racial Equality Foundation project leaders informed of the developments of the project.

Quotes from Inspirational Filmworks Members

Sybil and Russ, have extraordinary patience, when they teach, they also have fantastic senses of humour, which makes it easy to learn from them and work with them. They can teach you everything you need to produce a fantastic professional film, and on the way to doing that you’ll pick up life skills you didn’t even know you needed. They are both impressive teachers, and from doing their courses, I’ve gone onto get a LOCN in video editing, have written and co directed a short drama video, filmed and edited a show reel for an internationally renowned performance artist, made a pop video and will next year, be doing volunteer work at a local film school.

All in all learning how to make and edit a film with Flexible Films has been a life changing experience, and a great deal of fun.

The film that has been made was fun to make and informative. I took part as a Stills Photographer taking photos of others in action, watching people, friends I know do well. Everyone works well together as a team and we all have our roles.

The film that was put together is very moving, very real and leaves the viewer feeling emotional. It’s a film about real people and their experiences. I enjoyed being part of the whole process.

I enjoyed being part of the Technical Group that helped to make the film and the comaderie that was built by everybody doing the film,

The film is very professionally made and the message gets across and hopefully we can make a small change in public attitude to mental health problems.

The film has made me feel very confident, something I thought I’d never been able to do. Working with the Film Group has bought a lot out in me.

The friendly atmosphere, everybody all got on well. It’s made a difference in me.

This type of work should always keep going. You don’t even think about your illness and it’s something to keep you going and it also gets you out and about.

Quotes from Racial Equality Foundation Project Leaders

One of the highlights of working with Flexible Films was the very clear ethos they had about working alongside the subjects of the film. This fitted well with our notions of informed consent, empowering those who were the subject of the film to give direction to the content and how the film should look. The filmmakers were extremely supportive to the participants at all times.

Communication was clear throughout the process of working with Flexible Films, this is both between them and ourselves as commissioners and between them and the participants. The filmmakers also provided a good deal of creative ideas about the film and how to make it work to the best.

Overall the project was managed professionally and efficiently at all times. The filmmakers were clearly passionate about making the film and about making the voices of those in the film heard to the best possible effect. Working with them has been an easy and enjoyable process. We would not hesitate to use them again if the opportunity arose.