Filming DLR scene

The young film makers from LiC spent an afternoon filming their DLR scene. The young people were divided into cast and crew and fulfilled their duties really well.

Filming in Canary Wharf

The young film makers from Poplar spent two afternoons interviewing people who work in Canary Wharf.  Lawyers, bankers and HR professionals agreed to give up their time and take part in this project. The young people from Poplar primarily wanted to find out:

- What jobs the workers in Canary Wharf did and how they got there
- What opportunities there are for young people from Tower Hamlets
- What views the people of Canary Wharf held of young people from neighbouring boroughs
- Whether the people of Canary Wharf felt building a relationship with Tower Hamlets was important
- Whether the workers in Canary Wharf would ever consider giving up their free time to help mentor young people in Tower Hamlets?

Interestingly many of the preconceived views shared by the young film makers during the drama and story development workshops were found to be wrong. A lot of young people were surprised at how humble and open the people of Canary Wharf were, as they came outside in the cold giving up their time to contribute towards the film. Many interviewees did agree to come back to the youth centre and help the young people with team building sessions.  Through these engagements, young people hope to become aware of the range of opportunities out there and the possible routes to achieving them, and more importantly, to build an ongoing connection with Canary Wharf.

Filming Day 1

The young film makers from Poplar spent an afternoon filming in a council housing estate sharing the same postcode as the financial hub in Canary Wharf.

The session allowed young people, with the help and supervision of Abdul Miah and Momtaz Begum, to understand how to use basic filming equipment such as a DV camera, tripod, lights and radio mics.

Each person got a chance to operate the camera equipment as well as to go in front of the camera and be interviewed. They answered questions such as:

- What images come to mind when they hear someone say Canary Wharf
- What they feel like when visiting or shopping in Canary Wharf
- Whether they could see themselves working in Canary Wharf
- Whether they felt it was important to forge links with their neighbours in Canary Wharf
- What would they say if they could spend a minute with someone from Canary Wharf

 

Drama Workshop 2

Darren delivered his final story development session with the young film makers of LiC. The participants took part in more detailed role play activities as they brain stormed together the start and ending of their film. It was a huge challenge for Darren and the other coordinators in linking all the young people’s ideas into realistic achievable goals. It was very emotional near the end as the group became really attached to Darren and some participants kept asking if he’ll ever come back. After the session Riad assisted Abdul Miah in interviewing Darren.

Drama Workshop 1

LiC’s young film makers took part in the first of two drama story development sessions with Darren, a member of the award winning ActorShop team - http://actorshop.biz/index.html in Poplar Harca's Cafe Reconnect on Saturday 21st of August.
It was a perfect opportunity for the newer members of the group to properly to get know each other in a fun creative environment. The session started off with lots hilarious warm up games before leading to the serious stuff where each member of the group openly talked about:

-          Dreams, career aspirations and goals

-          Status

-          Canary Wharf and what it means to them.   

There were also lots of other activities where the young film makers took part in playing different roles as well as an in depth question and answer session. We look forward to our next drama session.

Introduction Workshop

LIC’s young film makers took part in a workshop session covering a number of issues facing people living in Poplar at the Cafe Reconnect on St Paul’s Way.

The group also watched a photo essay by Magnum photographer Simon Wheatley - http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/innercity which covers a number of interesting themes of inner city life such as the grime scene, drugs, crime, teenage pregnancy, poor housing, life in a housing estate, guns, etc.

They also analysed the film they watched on Aftab Ali at the Museum of London and discussed the different aspects of making a film. The young film maker with the help of Abdul Miah and Momtaz Begum looked at the different poverty indicators in Britain and indentified a few in Poplar such as poor housing, low pay, high crime rate, lack of social cohesion and the poor standard of education. Some of these issues could possibly be highlighted in our potential film when comparing with Canary Wharf.

Group Film Trip

LIC's young film makers went along to see a film produced by other young people from Tower Hamlets looking at racial tolerance in East London since the murder of Aftab Ali in the late 1970s. After the screening the film makers took part in a discussion on tolerance and diversity in the capital. The event took place on Wednesday 4th August at the Museum of London Docklands.