The Story that Moves - Relevant Examples

THE STORY THAT MOVES EXAMPLES

Close-Up combines documentary filmmaking, ethnography and creative storytelling to explore people’s lived experiences and bring their stories to life.

We make films with people, rather than about them, creating the conditions for young people, families and communities to share their experiences and perspectives naturally and on their own terms.

The examples below demonstrate different aspects of the proposed approach – working creatively and sensitively with young people; capturing distinctive organisations and places; bringing together multiple voices and locations within a wider story; and using visual approaches including observational filmmaking, participant-generated material, photography and animation.

Close-Up is directed by Elliot Manches, a filmmaker, ethnographer, writer and photographer who has been documenting how people live since 2003. His films have been shown on the BBC, Channel 4, MTV and National Geographic and screened at international festivals including Sundance, Cannes and Edinburgh.

SELECTED EXAMPLE ONE

Ministry of Stories / Heja’s Story

STRONGER FUTURES 2.0 / THE VRU

This project closely mirrors several aspects of The Story that Moves commission. We documented three organisations working with young people across London, including Ministry of Stories, producing individual case-study films alongside an overarching film bringing the three stories together and a shorter edit plus clips for social use. All films are fully captioned.

Stronger Futures 2.0 / Summary Film

Brings together three individual organisations and their participants within a single overarching film. Divided into five navigable chapters.

Stronger Futures 2.0 / Short Edit

An example of adapting a longer multi-location film into a concise version for wider/social use. Also divided into navigable chapters.

SELECTED EXAMPLE TWO

What was 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, returning a few months later to explore how the experience had shaped their lives and perspectives.

Combining observational filmmaking with the young people’s own reflections, the film follows their journey and captures both the places they encountered and what the experience meant to them.

OTHER RELEVANT APPROACHES

MULTI-LOCATION STORYTELLING / BBC CHILDREN IN NEED

We filmed across four grantee organisations around the UK, producing individual films for each, alongside this comprehensive overarching film, and a shorter edit featuring only young people’s voices.

PARTICIPANT-GENERATED FILM / Flourish

We asked six young people with mobility issues, from across England, to record video diaries documenting their transport experiences over a month, and to reflect on how their experiences might differ if travelling by driverless car.

CO-DESIGN & ANIMATION / Children’s Rights Alliance for England

For this film about young people’s experiences of temporary housing, we worked with participants to co-design an approach that protected their anonymity while retaining their authentic voices. Their interviews were brought to life through objects and stop-motion animation, with the young people also participating in the shoot.

PHOTO & AUDIO STORYTELLING / Centre for Ageing Better

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.

PHOTOGRAPHY & PARTICIPANT VOICES / INTO UNIVERSITY

To find out more about the young people who attend IntoUniversity’s after-school support centres, we visited attendees across the country, to take their photo portraits and interview them in their homes. 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.