|
Young disabled people rarely see themselves
in film, have little control on how they are portrayed or any real
visibility about their lives and adventures.
There
are few opportunities for leisure, education or employment for disabled
people after they leave school and there are few filmmaking opportunities
available to them, despite the production technologies becoming
increasingly accessible.
Learning
disabled - not talent disabled
‘Down
The Plughole’ is a fabulous animation film made by young people
from the Mayfield Special School In Birmingham. Mayfield has featured
on tyi before - they run their own company designing, making and
selling T shirts. And now their talented pupils have made an award
winning film.
Fifteen learning disabled pupils aged 16-19 from Mayfield School
worked with Stans Cafe, Moving Hands and learning disabled actors
from The Shysters. They composed music with the help of composer
Heather Wastie. The project was part of "Massive Message Productions"
Birmingham City Council Arts Team and addressed disability representation
and film.
Real deadlines had to be met
In
all, around £123,000 was allocated by for 9 films to be made by
deaf and disabled youngsters, including £45,000 from First Light
who are based in the Custard Factory.
| See the
fantastic animation film 'Down The Plughole' |
 |
The
screening at the end of the school year produced real deadlines
that had to be met. Massive Message Productions provided an unique
learning experience for those new to animation, composers new to
film and artists new to working with disabled people.
 |
| A still from the
award winning animation. |
No-one
involved had previously made a DVD or film that would be scripted
for BSL interpretation, subtitling and audio description. The film
was made on DVD in the school itself.
The
young people came up with the ideas which were storyboarded, rehearsed
and scripted by drama workers from learning disabled theatre company
"The Shysters", Funding Pending Live Arts, Stans Cafe, DinDin.TV
and Moving Hands.
The
young people got a working experience of filmmaking. The "Massive
Message Productions" project was integrated into their school work
during the Spring and Summer Terms.
Gongs all round
The
group's experiences was documented in a project portfolio. 5 participants
(Tahir, Khalid, Noreen, Abdul and Yead) went onto employment with
Gallery 37 as Arts Apprentices.
Mayfield
School went on to gain ArtsMark status (Silver) gathering the confidence
and enthusiasm to participate in other media projects with Hi8us,
BBC and Sister.
‘Down The Plughole’ was amongst winners for "Best Short" at Chicago
Cinema for the Deaf (February 2003) and most recently screened at
the London Disability Film Festival at the National Film Theatre
(June 2003).
The
DVD is being screened throughout 2003 European Year of People with
Disabilities- raising the profile of accessible film.
|
