Filmmaking is Collaboration
Jenni Herd from media co-op shares here insights around the Give Me the Video Camera! participatory film projects.
2021’s CoPro Week was my first ever. I joined media co-op - a creative agency specialising in film and animation for the third and public sector - fresh from university in January 2020. And well, we all know what happened next.
Cocooned in my flat, I learned what co-production was by watching some of media co-op’s old films. It was inspiring watching people who had never held a camera before tell their stories. There was a group of refugee men making their own campaign film about male violence; vulnerable young people living at a Secure Unit making an introductory video for other teenagers about to arrive; older adults teaching their peers about the importance of staying active. I was almost surprised when I found out it was considered ‘niche.’ “They’re the experts,” I thought. Why shouldn’t they tell their story?
Over the next year, I had the absolute privilege to work on three participatory film projects. Two of them were animation and one was live-action. There were road bumps along the way - the joys of remote working! - but it was such a joy to collaborate with service-users. Their enthusiasm was infectious, and I had a great time.
Fast-forward to this year’s CoPro Week. With plenty of encouragement from Paul and Sam at SCN, media co-op put together an event called Give Me the Video Camera! to show some of our participatory film projects. It was a relaxed lunchtime event - we encouraged everyone to turn off their cameras and tuck into their biscuit of choice as they watched!
It was an amazing event, and we were all blown away by how engaged our audience was. There were plenty of questions about our work and how participants found the process, and we even got a follow-up invitation from the Glasgow School of Art to discuss participatory filmmaking in more detail. By the end, I felt inspired, motivated, and incredibly privileged to be part of such an open and forward-thinking community of co-producers.
And I like to think our audience got something out of our screening too. A lot of people think filmmaking is a dark art - too technical, too complicated for someone with no experience. They see a big camera and their gut reaction is, “Me? I can’t use that!” Or they look at a storyboard for an animation and don’t know where to start.
But they’re wrong. Anyone can be a filmmaker - anyone can tell their own story. You just need time and the right support and guidance.
At media co-op, we believe that filmmaking is collaboration. No video or animation is made alone; whether there’s a crew of 100s of professionals, or just two or three students messing around with a camera, it doesn’t matter. Creativity doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You need to talk, brainstorm, experiment, review, refine, over and over again. Without collaboration, ideas would just stall.
Professional filmmakers, existing in a world of scripts and shot lists, aren’t the best people to tell powerful stories about personal experiences. I’ve never been in the care system. I’ve never been a police officer, a refugee, or a survivor of domestic abuse. To make beautiful, authentic films, you need to give power to service-users; people who have experienced the things you never have. With a little bit of guidance, together you can make something truly wonderful - something that shakes the status quo.
For me, a newbie in the world of co-pro, CoPro Week 2021 was energising. It was inspiring to be part of the conversation around co-production and co-design, and how it can work practically in all aspects of the third and public sector. media co-op has a few participatory projects in the pipeline (keep your eyes peeled!) and I can’t wait to work on more of them.
If you have any more burning questions for us, or want to learn more about working with us on participatory projects, you can DM us on Twitter (@mediaco_op) or email us at hello@mediaco-op.net. You can also check out more of our work at mediaco-op.net
Jenni Herd
media co-op are nominated for FOUR Charity Film Awards this year!
Voting ends Jan 12th. You can vote via our Linktree, here: linktr.ee/mediaco_op
You can watch all the films we showed at our screening here:
Rocky Road: https://vimeo.com/222830276
What It's Like at St Mary's Kenmure: https://vimeo.com/377364496/cf457609fc
When Home is Not Safe: https://youtu.be/iwud04U9JyE
You Are Not Alone: https://youtu.be/neN_bdi89XM
Life Changes Trust: Create Space for Magic: https://vimeo.com/574017879/2dead70fb6
