Youth conference video production
This conference video production was produced to support and promote the work of the Albert Kennedy Trust (AKT), a youth homelessness charity. This voluntary organisation was created in 1989 to support LGBT+ young people, (aged between 16 to 25) who are homeless, living in a hostile environment or in a housing crisis. In this case study, working as a London based filmmaker, I offer a brief overview of the film’s production process.
Volunteering my services
During the summer, I met the AKT team at a local community event and offered my services, on a voluntary basis, to produce a short film for them. Following this meeting, Zoe Birkinshaw (AKT’s Youth Employment Officer) suggested that filming could take place during their upcoming 2018 Youth Conference. Over the following months, Zoe and I formulated a plan to cover the day’s events. Zoe then provided me with a detailed brief noting that delegates were to be advised that the film would be publicly distributed.
Youth conference filming
On the day of the filming, I arrived early in order to survey the whole area to be used for the conference panels and workshops. Firstly, I ensured that I could record the sound from each of the microphones being used by the various presenters. I intended to use key moments from different presentations to form the main body of the edit. Once all the audio recording was set up and left running, I proceeded to film the day’s schedule of events as they took place. This involved following the action and filming all the different activities and events throughout the day, capturing as many different angled shots as possible. After the conference had ended, I also filmed an interview with Tim Sigsworth, the Chief Executive of the AKT. His comments during the interview helped to explain AKT’s remit as the world’s first-ever such service for LGBT+ youth which this year celebrates 30 years since its creation.
Positively reflecting diversity
I was motivated to volunteer for this charity conference video production in order to help this organisation to advertise its aims via its website and social media. It was also an opportunity for me to edit the film to positively reflect diversity with helpful information and advice for the target audience. After watching and listening to all the many hours of footage I had filmed, I then selected what I considered to be the most inspiring comments from the wide range of presenters and delegates. The best of these inspirational comments were then edited together with the essential points from Tim’s interview. As the sync audio bed came together, I edited the audio and vision together and added a great music track ‘Mantra’ composed by my multi-talented sister (Jacqueline La on Soundcloud).
Protecting vulnerable people
Some of the young people who attended the AKT youth conference had the option to request not to be filmed or to be included in any subsequent photos or film. I was made aware of some of those young people whilst filming the conference on the day. I was also sent further details of other young people that were not to be included to ensure they did not feature in the final edit. After the film had been suitably edited with the best shots from the day I sent a Vimeo link to Zoe at the AKT. This enabled Zoe to view the film and show it to her comms team. A few additional shots had to be resized to ensure that no vulnerable people were able to be identified in any way. One advantage of filming it all in 4K is that you can adjust the framing without losing any quality when delivering to HD. The response to the edit from AKT was very positive and, after a few additional adjustments, I released the final film to AKT for public viewing and sharing.
Charity conference video production
One of the joys of volunteering to deliver this charity conference video production was that it enabled me to film and edit a video to support the work of The Albert Kennedy Trust. Their 2018 one-day national event was organised to create a wider sense of community for young LGBT+ people. It also enabled these young people from metropolitan as well as regional towns to take part in empowering discussions as well as network and plan together with international delegates. The theme was ‘Create your Future’ so I very much hope viewing this video will also help inspire other young LGBT+ people. The film will also help other vulnerable young LGBT+ people realise that safe homes, support and mentoring is available to them. Other examples of films I have produced for Charities can be viewed in my portfolio.
If you would like any advice or help with a film or conference video production for your own Charity, please get in touch and I will be happy to assist.
