Close-Up is an ethnographic research and video agency. We capture stories of lived experiences and make sense of what people think, feel, and do. Our films and researh insights help clients to design, evaluate, and communicate better policies, products, and services.
We visited four grantee organisations across the UK to produce this comprehensive video report. We also made individual 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.
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.
In partnership with Renaisi, we conducted ethnographies with 18 families where children had shown persistent violent or defiant behaviour, to produce written portraits, a case study podcast, and an insights report with recommendations for better support. More here.
ECC’s ‘Family Innovation Fund’ supported different organisations to help families in volatile situations build resilience, and reduce their reliance on statutory support. This video is one of the ethnographic case studies we produced to accompany Traverse’s written report.
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, and tell Chloe’s story.
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.
A ‘remote ethnography’ project, 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.
IntoUniversity runs after-school centres that provide academic support and mentoring for young people from less privileged backgrounds, to help them attain a university place or pursue a chosen vocation. We spent a month visiting their Brent centre to produce this ethnographic report.
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.
