Creativity Works: Content Production Final Week & Showcase Round-up 

20 December 2022

Week 6 Log by Abiola

The week began with The Real Mo Farah screening with Director Leo Burley and Producer Awa Farah, which was really emotive and thought-provoking. The short film was about athlete Mo Farah's shocking revelation about having been trafficked from Somalia to the UK as a kid. The film lasted for about an hour.

Leo and Awa discussed the challenges they faced whilst making the short film. They also talked about how they approached such a sensitive topic and the consequences of making a short film about it. Lastly, they explained the process behind producing the short film and their main goal of spreading awareness about child trafficking, including how the government must protect trafficked children. After that we had the opportunity to ask questions.

The ‘Presentation Skills’ session with copywriter and creative Jayshree Viswanathan consisted of Head-to-Toe Techniques – a thinking framework and mini workshop. She highlighted that no one could think like we do because our thinking is essentially unique. She said it's important for us to put ourselves out there as creatives and encouraged us to mentally prepare for our presentations by writing them out and voice recording them as it will help kickstart the process.

In addition, she said we should make eye contact and learn to hold it for longer. Additionally, she emphasised that we have to choose our words by easing the audience in and bringing them along the journey.

We were encouraged to slow down and not to hard sell by pushing our ideas; and physically uncross our arms and adopt a power stance by opening up our body. Stand tall and take up space and remember we deserve to be in the space. Lastly, we did a section about writing ideas for our screening presentation.

In our Animation & VFX session with Bart Yates from Blinkink we learned that Blinkink started out from music videos and extended into commercials and TV shows. They have a small core team that work around projects both in person and remotely,they have a network of freelancers andtheir team comprises of directors, producers and artists. Through the process of carrying out projects, their team developed and improved. Bart Yates demystified what animation is and the possibilities that it offers. He explained different types of animation and included multiple presentation slides which illustrate animation.

Screening Day

We individually introduced our films to the audience and received constructive feedback from Swim Dem crew founders Nathaniel Cole & Peigh Asante and producer Danielle Goff. It was a very energetic night.