The Film Cuts Club celebrates its first year of support from Children in Need
It’s been a busy year for the Film Cuts Club. We have set up three weekly film making clubs at local high schools, with a staggered start of one starting each term. The first to start was in Glossopdale Community College, in April 2013, where they have now had three terms of activity. Next we began in New Mills in September and then the last club to start, Chapel en le Frith, began in January 2014.
Each club began with a pilot term, where we worked with school staff to try out the project with new groups. Sometimes we have gone back to the drawing board after the pilot and started with a new group – because in every place there is a different situation and the pilot is a time for us and the school to learn about the methods and the best direction for the work.
Each club has worked with film maker, Mark Turton, who has introduced a range of practical film making activities and through practical work has developed the club members understanding of the theory of film making; i.e. the different roles on set and the stages of pre-production, production and post-production. He has tailored the structure of sessions according to the different needs of each group, with some working in small groups to produce short pieces, some working in larger teams.
We have worked with a total of 59 young people with a range of additional educational needs and have seen some real changes in the confidence and social skills of the young people involved. For example, a young woman with speech and language impairments who now instructs her teachers on how to use equipment, and a young man with severe physical disabilities who takes a lead in story writing and supports others in coming up with ideas.
And here are some of the results:
So what’s next for the development of the clubs? After their pilot term of work in school time we are moving each club into an out of school slot – originally all of these were going to be after school club – but now we are planning a mixture of after school in Chapel en le Frith and New Mills and some holiday time activity in Glossop and Buxton. And these holiday sessions will invite the whole family, parents, siblings and friends of children with additional needs to take part in the filmmaking clubs. So watch this space for new partnerships and new opportunities to get involved.