Close-Up Research is an ethnographic research and video agency. We capture stories of lived experience and make sense of what people think, feel and do. Our films and insights help clients design, evaluate and communicate better policies, products and services.
Our projects span place-based and person-centred research, remote/diary research and vox pops. We typically produce comprehensive longer edits alongside shorter clips for social media. We also produce podcasts, photography and animation, and offer co-design and training workshops.
Below are some videos that helped inform & bring to life reports by Renaisi. Other media approaches, incl. photo & animation, appear at the end.
PLACE-BASED & COMMUNITY RESEARCH
What’s been the impact of an ‘Empowering Places’ programme on local communities? / Power To Change
The ‘Empowering Places’ fund was set up to support the growth of new community businesses via anchor organisations in six areas of deprivation. We travelled across England to meet with three catalyst organisations, over 20 community businesses, and local residents.
The film is divided into three sections, navigable via the Chapter button to the right of the play bar: About the Businesses, Improving Personal Skills, Confidence & Connections, and Promoting Community Empowerment & Wellbeing.
What’s been the impact of a ‘Place-Based Social Action’ programme? / The National Lottery Community Fund
The ‘PBSA’ fund was set up to build the capacity of local partnerships and address issues that matter to communities. We travelled to three areas across England, to meet over a dozen community organisations and find out the impact at a grassroots level.
This film is divided into three sections, navigable via the Chapter button to the right of the play bar: Some of the Social Action, Impact on Individuals Involved, and Impact on Wider Community.
What are the lived experiences of Hyde customers? / Hyde Foundation
As one of the largest and most diverse housing and community services providers in the country, Hyde wanted to better understand the lives and needs of the people they serve. We spent time with three different residents across the south-east, to explore several themes.
The film is divided seven sections, navigable via the Chapter button to the right of the play bar: Meet the Residents, Housing Challenges, Daily Routines, Community, Mental & Physical Health, Education & Employment, and Hopes for the Future.
How can citizens’ assemblies help residents tackle local issues? / Innovation In Democracy Programme
We spent time with three participants each from a different assembly across England. Our goal was to understand their experiences and provide context for the issues being addressed in each assembly – in this case, the redevelopment of their respective town / city centres.
The resulting film appears alongside the citizens’ assembly handbook on The RSA and Involve’s websites, and the evaluation report published by Renaisi.
HEALTH & WELLBEING RESEARCH
HOW CAN PEOPLE BE ENCOURAGED TO ENGAGE WITH THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT? / DEFRA
The Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs wanted to know how to increase access and use of the natural environment, to support better mental health and wellbeing. Alongside Renaisi’s written report, we produced this ethnographic video based on visits to four different projects engaged with the natural environment.
The video is divided into four sections: Types of Activites, Motivations, Getting Involved, and Recommendations.
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 insights film, which last 25 minutes, here.
What are the health priorities for people living in south London? / Guy’s & St Thomas’ Charity
This is a one-minute clip from a vox pops project exploring the health priorities for people living in Lambeth and Southwark. It involved visiting five locations across the boroughs. You can watch the full film here.
How do behavioural difficulties affect children and their families? / Impact on Urban Health
In partnership with Renaisi, we conducted ethnographies with 18 families where children had shown persistent violent or defiant behaviour, to produce written portraits, an audio podcast, and an insights report with recommendations for better support. More here.
YOUNG PEOPLE RESEARCH
What are the impacts of the Youth Social Action Fund? / CHILDREN IN NEED
This is the full-length version of this film, for which we visited four grantee organisations. We also produced separate edits for each organisation, and one short film featuring just the young people’s voices.
This film is divided into five sections, navigable via the Chapter button to the right of the play bar: About the Organisations, Impact for the Young People, Change in the Communities, Challenges & Advice, Looking Ahead.
What’s been the impact of a ‘Cultural Citizens’ Programme for young people? / Arts Council England
To help evaluate Arts Council England’s Cultural Citizens programme, we joined a group of students on their trip to Blackpool and returned a few months later to explore how the experience had shaped their lives and perspectives.
The students had been selected after scoring lowest in a school arts-and-culture quiz – a deliberate way to reach those least engaged, rather than reward existing interest.
How is the Violence Reduction Unit’s ‘Stronger Futures Programme’ impacting young people? / Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime
Co-designed with participant Chloe, this film is part of our ongoing evaluation work with the Violence Reduction Unit – exploring how their Stronger Futures programme supports young people and communities through prevention. This film is from the first, Stronger Futures 1.0, evaluation.
What’s Cintia’s Story? / Leaders in Community
This film is from the Stronger Futures 2.0 evaluation. It tells Cintia’s story, at the grantee organisation, Leaders in Community, and is divided into five sections, navigable via the Chapter button to the right of the play bar:
About Cintia, What the Programme Involved, Impact (with 4 sub-sections), Affect on Cintia, and What Worked & What’s Next.
OTHER MEDIA METHODS
WHAT ARE THE EXPERIENCES OF YOUNG PEOPLE LIVING IN TEMPORARY HOUSING? / CHILDREN’S RIGHTS ALLIANCE FOR ENGLAND
This film, co-designed with the young people whose experiences are shared, was shown at The House of Commons to highlight the realities of living in temporary housing.
We conducted interviews with the young people, and then, to protect their anonymity, brought their words to life using objects and stop-motion animation. The young people helped out on set, and their hands can be seen in shot.
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.
WHAT’S THE VALUE OF PUBLIC DIALOGUE? / SCIENCEWISE
Having already produced several films both documenting public dialogue events with participant interviews, and communicating subject matter to participants, Sciencewise asked us to create this explainer animation to help communicate the value of public dialogue itself.
How can health and social care be improved for adults with learning disabilities and autism? / SCIE
This was a co-production project to understand the health and social care experiences of adults with learning disabilities and autism, and to translate the resulting insights from our workshop with the group, into this film of actionable recommendations.
WHAT BRINGS YOU MOST JOY? / INTO UNIVERSITY
IntoUniversity runs after-school centres that provide academic support and mentoring for young people from less privileged backgrounds. To inform and accompany Renaisi’s written report, we spent a month visiting their Brent centre to produce this ethnographic video case study, and then another month meeting attendees across the country, to interview them in their homes and take their photo portraits.
The theme we used for both the portraits and interviews was ‘three things that bring you most joy’. Clicking on an image below will open an interview snippet.
