Katie Mc Keever – ND Creative Media Production- Unit 1 & 31 – 2018Lecturer: Faustina Starrett

Title: – Community action Project BriefAssessors: Faustina StarrettSchool: Media, Multimedia & Performing ArtsProgramme level: 3 Assignment number: 1

31:1 Understand the purpose and impact of social action and community media production work

What is social action?PART 1 –Provide Background Statement explaining the purpose and Impact of social action and Community Media Production.

Social Action is raising awareness for a specific topic so more people are aware of the negative effects of it. I believe depression is a big issue in the world, with many people suffering and more needs to be done to raise awareness and that is why I have chosen mental health as my social action topic. Publicity in the media and fundraising can help charities raise awareness and get more people involved. Work with reference toDetailed illustrative example using your Hero (PowerPoint individual casework)

My social action hero presentation https://prezi.com/yy0dakgi6ha7/my-hero/ and interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=QeKMALn4avo is available on my social action page on Weebly. https://katiejanewebsite.weebly.com/social-action.html

Research for social actionP2 Be able to research for social action and community media production work (unit 31)P1 Understand requirements for a specific media production (Unit 1)

I had originally chosen for my project to be men’s mental health and suicide awareness but as I researched mental health I found it affects everyone, regardless of gender, age, race, etc. I located the local and regional charities that raise awareness for mental health issues. I came across the Aware NI website, aware is the depression charity for Northern Ireland. My pitch and research sources for this project led me to information about Aware and apps that can help depression. I also interviewed students who self-help using Apps. You can find them available on my Weebly under the ‘Social Action’ page.

Katie Mc Keever – ND Creative Media Production- Unit 1 & 31 – 2018Lecturer: Faustina Starrett

https://katiejanewebsite.weebly.com/social-action.html

Planning and producing my social action

P3 Be able to plan and produce a piece of social action or community media production work (Unit 31)P2 Be able to prepare pre-production documentation for a specific media production -Unit 1

For my Social Action film I will be directing, working with Sorcha (cinematographer and assistant director)and Niall (editor) to create a series of interviews about depression, this will include interviews with students who have suffered with depression and a representative of Aware NI. We have been in contact with Aware NI and they have agreed to do an interview, we have a meeting with Catherine at Aware to go over the questions and get some more information about Aware. We have set a date to film at the main office in Derry. Thursday 9th December at Aware NI, 15 Queen St, Londonderry. All of my planning information, pre-production and final film and trailer are available on my Weebly social action page to read and view. https://katiejanewebsite.weebly.com/social-action.html

This is the script of the interview with Catherine at Aware.

1. What is depression?

Depression is a diagnosable illness and is more than simply feeling unhappy or fed up for a few days. We all go through spells of feeling down, but when you’re depressed you feel persistently sad for weeks or months, rather than just a few days. According to the WHO by 2030 depression will be the leading cause of disability in the world. Northern Ireland has the highest percentage of people with depression in the UK.

2. What causes depression?

Sorcha and I made up and wrote out the questions for the interview with Aware, she emailed the questions to Catherine to see if they were suitable.

Sorcha was in contact with Catherine at Aware via email and got permission for us to film in the Derry office.

Katie Mc Keever – ND Creative Media Production- Unit 1 & 31 – 2018Lecturer: Faustina Starrett

There is usually more than one cause or factor. Quite often depression can be brought on for absolutely no reason, other times it may be triggered by a major life event. We would also use the acronym HELP to allow people to better understand the causes of depression.

HEREDITARY - people are at a greater risk of becoming depressed if there is a family history of the illness. ENVIRONMENT – for example working in an office where there is extreme pressure or living in a highly deprived area where there is high rates of suicide or domestic abuse for example. LIFE EVENTS AND EXPERIENCESBereavementNeglect, abuse, or bullying – especially during childhood Job lossRelationship break upIllnessPERSONALITY – it is thought that those with an ‘addictive’ personality may be more prone to depression.

3. Can you explain the difference between being sad and being depressed?

We all feel sad from time to time but we tend to get over this. Depression is more than feeling sadness and when you’re depressed you feel persistently sad for weeks or months, rather than just a few days

4. What are the most overlooked signs of depression?

We would recommend that if you experience any of the following symptoms for more than two weeks that you seek urgent help from your GP.

These symptoms include:

- An unusually sad mood that doesn’t go away - Loss of enjoyment and interest in activities that used to be enjoyable - Tiredness and lack of energy

In addition, people who are depressed can have a range of other symptoms such as;

Physical symptoms -tiredness, losing interest in things, lack of energy, feeling weak, not sleeping, withdrawn, quieter, putting things off and what effect there are having on your life

Appetite- changes in eating, more or less Sleep- changes in sleep quality Loss of confidence in themselves or poor self-esteem Feeling guilty when they are not really at fault Wishing they were dead Difficulty making decisions and concentrating Moving more slowly or becoming agitated and unable to settle Having difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much Loss of interest in food or eating more than usual, leading to weight loss or weight gain.

5. Is depression more common in teenagers or adults?

Depression does not discriminate. Depression can affect anyone regardless of age, gender, race or religion. Depression will Affect 1 in 4 people in NI at some stage in their lives.

6. What services do you offer?

Support Groups throughout NI- for people living with depression or caring for someone with depression Website Leaflets and information within both offices Education and Training programmes – Mood Matters, Living Life to the Full and Mental Health First Aid Mindfulness Service Fundraising element

Katie Mc Keever – ND Creative Media Production- Unit 1 & 31 – 2018Lecturer: Faustina Starrett

7.    Is your service available 24/7?

Our website is available 24/7 but the office hours are Mon-Friday. We would encourage people to have the Lifeline number, which is a 24hrs a day helpline that people in crisis can contact.

8.    Do you alongside any other organisations?

We work in conjunction with a wide range of community, voluntary and statutory organisations to promote our services and deliver our education and training programmes. We signpost people to other organisation and other organisation signpost people to us.

9.    Where are the support groups held and how many is there?

There are 25 support groups throughout Northern Ireland. Groups are held in both the AWARE Derry/Londonderry office and Belfast office and also in a wide range of other venues across Northern Ireland. To find out where your nearest support group is please access the AWARE website www.aware-ni.org

10.  How can we help to support aware NI?

Volunteers for flag days and helping out fundraising events throughout Northern Ireland Volunteer facilitators for the support groups Encourage schools, college and organisation to host a fundraising event for AWARE. All monies raised

go back into service in that area.

Budget: There was no budget for this film.Time: In total our film planning, production and final product took approximately 5 weeks to finish.Personnel: Katie McKeever – Director and InterviewerSorcha Crapp – Cinematographer and Assistant DirectorNiall Doherty - EditorFacilities: Aware Office DerryLocations: 15 Queen St, NWRC Clearances: Catherine McColgan, AwareCopyright (intellectual property): http://www.aware-ni.org/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl4lm0lNgOohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=657KZ2YXwCYhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBAdhSD1Eb0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AraimN1LUb4Health and safety: Heavy equipment was carried properly and no leads or wires were going to be tripped over. Codes of practice and regulation: We obtained permission from Aware to interview and talk about the charity. We gave full credit to any copyrighted material used in the film. Our team also got permission from Milo and Sorcha, the students talking in our film. Apply production techniques to create the product: We had a filming schedule, we prepared for the interview beforehand by going over the questions on camera, we did a mic check.Gathering content and recording material: We have tried to gather as much first hand information as possible. We used Aware’s website and our meeting with Catherine to gather information on their charity.Editing, manipulating or arranging content: Niall was our editor for the final product. Final cut pro was the software used to edit the piece. He sourced a lot of cutaways on YouTube.

Katie Mc Keever – ND Creative Media Production- Unit 1 & 31 – 2018Lecturer: Faustina Starrett

Post-production – finishing touches: Sorcha and I researched apps to help depression whilst Niall was editing the final product. We came up with 5 apps to include after credits in our film as an extra way of helping anyone watching who might deal with mental health issues.

P4 Be able to reflect upon own social action or community media production work - UNIT31P3 Be able to apply pre-production planning for a specific media production. – UNIT 1

Review & Evaluation

Feedback:

Present interim production work to client group – gain formative feedbackRespond to feedback – make adjustments

Finished product (available on my Weebly)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfoO0ybDvL4

Skills I developed as Part of ‘Aware Team’ & through Project Based Learning …

Independent enquirersOur team developed our ideas and research to create an informative final piece. Our meeting with Aware before the interview gave us a better understanding of what questions to ask and what answers to expect. This way the film was easier for us to plan.

Katie Mc Keever – ND Creative Media Production- Unit 1 & 31 – 2018Lecturer: Faustina Starrett

As creative thinkers we came up a contingency plan as one of the members of our group had to leave so we were unable to create a short film around the social action topic. We adapted our ideas as the plan changed and came up with the idea of interviewing students and a member of Aware. We did some more research on apps that help and added them in for extra help. All of the apps we researched are available after the credits in our film and on my Weebly with more information about each of them.https://katiejanewebsite.weebly.com/social-action.html

As reflective learners we can look at our final work and realise how we can improve for the next project we take part in, evaluating our experiences and learning through the mistakes of our social action and community media production work.As a team worker I collaborated with Sorcha and Niall to create the final piece. We worked well as a team to produce the final piece although I thought more could be done for the research of the topic. During production we had issues with members of the group not showing up to help film, however, we continued and got the footage we needed. During the student interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ3X3vtRAQI Sorcha and I took responsibility during the shoot and Niall created our final edit.As self-managers we organised our time and scheduled the interviews. Our group was good at keeping time and managed to stick to the schedule and get the work finished for the deadline.

As effective participators we tried to understand the research about depression, even if we haven’t had a personal experience with the topic.

Legacy

Our film will be viewed on the Aware website and as Part of Our Student Services Screenings throughout campuses.