George Amponsah & Participants
I met the young people as a group and to begin with asked each of the participants to describe the experience to date of working with video, film or photography. I also asked each of the young people to talk about any movies that they might feel inspired by; this could be a feature film in the cinema, a television programme or a clip on You Tube.
Following this the young people were encouraged to engage with the Sam The Wheels website. This aspect revealed the extent to which young people of the participants age range i.e. 10-14 years old are in this day and age fully conversant with the internet-the internet is their medium and navigating their way around the website was something they felt very comfortable with.
Next the young people had familiarised themselves with the super 8 movies of Clovis Salmon. Following that Mr Salmon came to the Gallery and talked to the young people about his experiences as a new arrival to Britain in the 1950s. He also shared with them his insights as a moviemaker.
The participants then spent a number of days learning basic video camera skills and how to record sound using a boom pole and professional microphone. The young participants learnt how to work as a documentary production crew of a Director/Camera Person/ Sound Recordist/ and Interviewer.
We spent some time brainstorming ideas and then committing these thoughts to paper. The subjects that the young people wished to make short films about were as follows: The Windrush Generation/ The Stop and Search powers of the police/Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood Speech/Knife Crime/ Things for young people to do in Brixton. All these ideas were inspired by the life and work of Clovis Salmon as reflected by the Sam The Wheels website.
The remainder of the time was spent with the young people making short films about the subject matters they had chosen. The films were made by and featured the young people behind and in front of the cameras. Each day the young people were required to log into the blog section of the Sam The Wheels website and add a post describing their creative process.
