CLOSE-UP RESEARCH EXAMPLE CLIPS

We’re an ethnographic research and video agency, specialising in sharing stories of lived experiences.

That means we spend time with people in their natural environments, typically with a camera in hand, to reveal what people think, feel and do, and explain their behaviours.

Our resulting insights and films help our clients: evaluate, design and communicate better policies, products and services.

1) How do ‘behavioural difficulties’ affect children and their families? / Impact on Urban Health

This is a short clip for Twitter, from a traditional ethnographic case study.

In partnership with Renaisi, we were privileged to document the experiences of 18 families who have children with ‘behavioural difficulties’, and produce an insights report with recommendations for better support, for Impact on Urban Health.

There is relatively little awareness that for some children, anxiety, distress, and trauma is communicated through their behaviours and interactions with others. So called ‘behavioural difficulties’ are widely misunderstood and carry huge stigma, something we see play out in school exclusion rates and the limited support offered to families.

You can read the report here, and find the full film and podcast case study here.

2) WHAT’S THE RECOVERY PROCESS LIKE AFTER A HEART ATTACK? / NUFFIELD HEALTH

Cardiovascular disease is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the UK, with someone admitted to a hospital every five minutes due to a heart attack.

Heat attacks can happen to people who appear traditionally healthy, and as a complete surprise – as with Jonathan in this video case study.

The case study was commissioned by Nuffield Health – a charity that provide cardio rehabilitation, as well as gyms, physiotherapy, mental health support and other health-related services. You can watch the full film here.

3) WHAT’S THE IMPACT OF A ‘WARM HOME DISCOUNT’ SCHEME? / OFGEM

OFGEM is the UK’s energy regulator. Their ‘Warm Home Discount’ scheme offers a range of advice and initiatives to help people, particularly low-income or ‘vulnerable’ customers, better manage their gas and electricity usage.

As such, the client wanted to know: how effective has OFGEM’s ‘Warm Home Discount’ scheme been? And what would help improve its effectiveness?

For these ethnographic studies, we focussed on understanding people’s: overall home life and lifestyle, household energy use, financial management, and engagement with energy advice. The video above is a clip from Barry’s story.

4) HOW CAN PEOPLE BE ENCOURAGED TO ENGAGE WITH THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT? / DEFRA

DEFRA is the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. They commissioned a written report to better understand how to increase access and usage of the natural environment, to support mental health and wellbeing. To complement and inform the report, we produced this ethnographic video based on visits to four projects engaged with the natural environment. This is a short clip. You can watch the full video with recommendations for better engagement, here.

5) WHAT WERE THE IMPACTS OF A CULTURAL CITIZENS PROGRAMME FOR YOUNG PEOPLE? / ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND

The Arts Council funded a ‘Cultural Citizens Programme’ to promote arts and culture to young people who would not normally have access or an interest.

The programme was implemented by different organisations across the country. So our client wanted to find out: what was it like being on the programme, what were its impacts, and how could it be improved?

We visited a pilot area in Liverpool during and after the programme, to document the experiences of one school group there. Our ethnographic research focussed on the young people’s initial expectations, their experience, and the overall impact. Our findings fed into a written report by the Renaisi, published by the Arts Council.

You can watch the full film here.

6) HOW DO OLDER PEOPLE HELP OUT IN THEIR COMMUNITIES? / CENTRE FOR AGEING BETTER

We visited people aged over 50 around the country, to map out ‘informal voluntary contributions in the community’.

The above video is a 1-minute compilation snapshot, based on four ethnographic case studies. We explored the experiences and motivations of Gunwati in Leeds, Kathleen in Settle, Billy in Scarborough, and Tina in Bristol.

The overall aim of the research, for which Traverse published the written reports, was to recommend ways in which national/local government, the voluntary sector, and business, can help people in later life find meaningful ways to contribute to their communities.

You can watch all four individual case studies here.

7) WHAT ARE THE IMPACTS ON YOUNG PEOPLE OF THE VIOLENCE REDUCTION UNIT’S ‘STRONGER FUTURES PROGRAMME’? / MAYOR’S OFFICE FOR POLICING AND CRIME

This is a Twitter-length version of a more comprehensive film. It explores the experiences of Chloe, a young person attending an organisation called Future MOLDS, which is supported by the Violence Reduction Unit’s ‘Stronger Futures’ programme. The programme gives funding to organisations to engage with younger people, especially girls, in order to reduce their potential involvement in violence.

Our co-design approach with participants meant that after explaining the themes to Chloe, she guided us on what would be best to film and when, and made sure that relevant activities would be happening during our visits.

You can watch the full film here.

8) HOW DID COMMUNITY BUSINESSES RESPOND TO COVID-19? / POWER TO CHANGE

This is a short snippet from a film involving remote or digital ethnography using video diaries and video calls.

During the first year of the pandemic, we documented the experiences and responses of six ‘catalyst’ organisations across England, and the community businesses they support. We looked at adaptations, impact on the community, and sustainability.

You can watch the full film, which last 25 minutes, here.

9) What’s it like growing older in Lincolnshire, and how can the council help? / Centre for Ageing Better

This film is an example of photo-ethnography, turned into a video.

We visited organisations working with older people across Lincolnshire, to speak with people about their experiences of growing older in the county, what they liked about living in there, and what improvements they’d like to see.

The interviews were recorded in audio-only format, and accompanied by photos of the participants and their local environments.

10) WHAT ARE THE EXPERIENCES OF YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN TEMPORARY HOUSING? / CHILDREN’S RIGHTS ALLIANCE for ENGLAND

The film was shown at The House of Commons to highlight the realities of living in temporary housing.

It’s an example of a campaign video that was co-designed with the young people whose voices are heard in it. We pitched different ideas to the young people, who then voted for the concept seen here.

It was created by first conducting interviews with the young people, and then bringing their words to life using real models and stop-motion animation. The young people helped out on set, and it’s their hands that can be seen on camera.