lost voices?
"With such a huge volume of content, from vlogs or re-edited music videos to political campaign films, it is difficult to decode the significance. Some of the big questions are being interrogated with a range of 'adventures in video' around Europe; but the results are often uneven and politicians are still struggling to respond to the challenges convincingly."Check out this event on how young people are expressing themselves across Europe the video. It will also feature the winners of the Strangers Festival, "Happy Family" - a story about a girl's accidental search for her father through the internet...very touching and yet down to earth.
Demos' project "Children of Europe", starts off with the argument that new Europe is not a place, it’s a young person. What does the fact that a new generation at ease with creating videos reveal about their aspirations, their relationships to one another and European identity?
We worked with an independent production start-up on a TV programme called Life Proof which they have been filming over the summer holidays to go on air on Channel 4 in the autumn. This was about how young people and their friends support each other in dealing with their relationships. Watch this space!
I guess when we started encouraging our members to upload, create and remix videos on the issues that mattered to them, it was a great way of not only tapping into their creativity, but providing a platform for them to express and share this with the wider world. Some people feel more comfortable about writing, others about taking photos or making videos, while others are keen to spread the creativity of others and we want to value all of that.
Demos also asks, how will the distant voices and new language of young people connect remain connected to bigger political debates?
On our youtube channel, we have shows from different countries and campaigns across Europe. We also had a participative show where you could help submit ideas to the PES manifesto and London elections by video! There is a myth about everything being connected, you can ask whichever politician or institution a question or propose an amazing idea, but if they don't see your video, it all disappears into the ether. It is all about creating those relationships and also about making it comfortable for the people we want to connect with, not only politicians but also the structures they "live in".
One of the challenges around creating audio-visual media is intensely practical and we know from experience that it takes a hell of a time to edit videos that are easy to watch and meaningful. We were very fortunate to have a friend who was a professional video producer who was crucial to filming our members putting forward their ideas and issues on the manifesto debates.
We need to support more of this in local communities and work out a way that more people can build these skills, like they have in the organisations that Demos have been researching as you can see in the video below. Any ideas?
Take a look here at what Compass Youth have been organising and supporting on this front.
Compass Youth aims to develop its profile and reach across the media, notably in pioneering innovative ways of promoting our ideas. We want to make it visual, make it personal, give it a face. 
We have launched viral video channels and designed eye-catching flyers produced by our members.
0 comments:
Post a Comment