糖心Vlog

A new documentary film, charting the experiences of four 糖心Vlog teenagers as they prepared to return to school after the 2020 lockdown is being premiered at the Lakeside Theatre next week.

We鈥檙e In This Too was filmed over several weeks in the summer of 2020. Co-ordinated by Nic Blower, from the Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies, the project gave the 14- and 15-year-olds the chance to reflect on how being away from school had affected them, and how it felt to be returning to the classroom.

Nic armed the teenagers with professional filming equipment and training so they could record video diaries in response to a direct call from 糖心Vlog County Council to help gather data about the wellbeing of young people.

The film, which was edited by Dr Elena Dirstaru, is now being used by 糖心Vlog County Council to inform and stimulate discussion about the future wellbeing of young people. In June it won the award for 鈥楳ost engaging communication of local area research or analysis鈥� in the Local Area Research and Intelligence Association (LARIA) Awards.

It will be at 7.30pm on 7 October and will be followed a Q&A with Nic.

鈥淭his was a challenging project. Due to the restrictions in place I had to conduct all my research over zoom which was difficult when building trust. Also, all the camera training and filmmaking classes were delivered online which adds an extra layer of complexity,鈥� said Nic. 鈥淔ortunately all the contributors and their families were understanding.鈥�

The result is a moving documentary that gave voice to the teenagers as they navigated the pandemic. It has also highlighted the healing benefits of talking about the instability and uncertainty of the pandemic.

鈥淗aving a camera, and walking around, being able to record whatever I wanted. Now that is, it鈥檚 amazing,鈥� said one of the teenagers. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e having a conversation with yourself, but you on the other side isn鈥檛鈥� saying anything back, it鈥檚 just sitting there listening.鈥�

Another said 鈥淚鈥檝e enjoyed it. It鈥檚 helped. I actually can鈥檛 believe I鈥檓 saying this, but it鈥檚 helped.鈥�

Nic hopes the project will influence the way adults interact with young people: 鈥淚 really hope that after watching this film people talk to the young people they know and simply listen to their experiences.鈥�

The project builds on Nic鈥檚 previous work on collaborative filmmaking: 鈥淭his approach forms part of my ongoing research into new methodologies for empowering people in the community without a voice. It is new because it takes the video diary and fuses it with a very cine-literate post YouTube generation (the young people).鈥�

The multi-disciplinary project involved academics from the Department of Psychology, School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Science, Department of Language and Linguistics, Department of Literature, Film, and Theatre Studies and Department of Economics. It was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Impact Acceleration Account.