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 and interview https://youtu.be/D6oYSoPT10cis, is available on my social action page on Weebly. https://sorchacrapp.weebly.com/

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 pitched to do dementia awareness in Northern Ireland. But when Katie our director or the film pitched her idea I thought that it was a far better social action project I joined her team. This is when I researched the charities in the area 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 other research for this project such as information about Aware is available on my pre production page on weebly.

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

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 the cinematographer and assistant director Katie will be the director and Niall will be the 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://sorchacrapp.weebly.com/

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?

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?

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

I 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

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

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

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

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, the student 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.

Post-production – finishing touches: Katie 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.

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

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 – Respond to feedback –

Finished product: fitness for purpose; clarity of communication; appropriateness to audience; comparedwith original intentions; effectiveness of techniques; effectiveness of content; impact of work; technicalqualities; aesthetic qualities

Skills I developed as Part of ‘Aware Team’ & through Project Based Learning …ADD EXAMPLEIndependent enquirers; the group analysed and expanded the idea we researched other suicide awareness films and check don aware’s website for facts. After emailing Catherine we met up beforehand to discuss what exactly will be happening so Catherine had time to prepare before the interview a later time.

Creative thinkers; in our group we a plan to create a short film to go along with the documentary fell through so we made a contingency plan to interview others on the app available to help cope with depression.

Reflective learners; when reflecting on our social action film I fell that it was really good overall although I feel like some of the cuts could’ve been sharper and the audio could’ve been better. I think the strength of ours was the filming as with was really well done. I think our weakness was in communication with each other.

Team workers; i feel we struggled with team work as i think that me and and another team mate did more work than some. Some barely turned up and some only did work because they were told to.

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

Self-managers; when organising and keeping track on time Katie was a great help as she, showed great intuitive. We managed to get everything done on time. I feel me and Katie showed the most initiative.

Effective participators; personally I have experienced mild depression but never at the level people have and I totally empathise with them after this project.

Legacy

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