step one
Erica, MC Storm and J Reaper, regulars on the Plymouth music scene, performed at the Fata He music and dance event at Plymouth's Guildhall, which was filmed by Sundog Media on behalf of the Community Cohesion Project.
step two
Sundog Media was commissioned to produce the Wild Ideas film in Plymouth. We quickly devised a plan for a music video with an ecological message.
step three
Sundog Media selected three young people Erica, MC Storm and J Reaper, the challenge - to write the lyrics for the rap and chorus, compose and record music and put together a track. All in a week! The group worked with local music producer Kristian Sharpe to produce the track which is called "A Perfect World".step four
Jonathan and Kimberly joined the team, and production meetings devised image sequences, using the song lyrics as the script. Filming locations were chosen and the group decided on the look and feel of the music video. A £500 budget was provided for the film to pay for costumes, props and travel.
step five
The team were given training in DV filming at the BBC in Plymouth. Top producer Paul Appleby came down from the BBC's Natural History Unit in Bristol to run the workshop. A couple of weeks later the team returned to the BBC for an editing workshop.
step six
the shootEveryone met at the Jan Cutting Centre in North Prospect to spend a day filming against a blue screen. With Jonathan on camera and Kimberly controlling playback of the music track, the three singers lip-synched to "A Perfect World". Bluescreening is a technique used in television to replace a background with other pictures - like the map behind a weather presenter. We filmed J Reaper, MC Storm and Erica against the bluescreen to allow the singers to appear in wildlife footage from the BBC.
Location filming followed with timelapse shooting at the Drake Circus development and sequences filmed on the Barbican, at Burrator on Dartmoor and at Bovisand beach. MC Storm's daughter Danna starred in the beach sequences, which were filmed by Kimberly and J Reaper.
The final filming session was back at the Jan Cutting Centre, with Kimberly and Jonathan appearing as TV newsreaders for the intro to the music video. Erica mastered the use of a professional DAT machine to record Bev, Danna's gran, reading ecological headlines to mix with the opening titles.Meanwhile Paul Appleby was hard at work in Bristol selecting shots from the Natural History Unit's archive. The Perfect World team had prepared a shopping list of footage to illustrate the video's message - a wolf running through a moonlit forest, dolphins leaping from the sea and the Earth seen from space.
step seven
post productionThere were many hours of hard work logging all the footage we'd filmed: the location shots, the bluescreen footage and the newsreaders. Then the team had to review the natural history material too. This meant late nights in front of the TV with timecode VHS tapes and notebooks.
From the logged footage, the team selected the shots they wanted to be included in the music video. An editing workshop session at the Jan Cutting Centre laid down the basic structure of the video. MC Storm, Erica and J Reaper edited their favourite bluescreen shots and synced them with the music track, with Kim and Jon choosing the best takes from the newsreading scenes.
Kayla and Stuart of Sundog Media then took the rough edit away and composited the different elements to give the final film. A last-minute dash to the Post Office got the master edit to the Wildscreen Trust by Special Delivery before Christmas!
the premiere
All six Wild Ideas films were premiered on Bristol's giant IMAX @ Bristol screen on Saturday 12 February 2005. The Perfect World team travelled up with family for the spectacular event.
the community screenings
The young people selected venues for screenings in their communities. The Plymouth team chose the Place de Brest, an outdoor events space in Plymouth City Centre. J Reaper, Jonathan and Kimberly were interviewed by David Squires for BBC Radio Devon which broadcast a feature about A Perfect World before the screening on Saturday 12 March. The event got a great deal of press coverage including the Evening Herald and the Plymouth Diary magazine.
The programme of Wild Ideas films was also screened during the launch of YP MiX at Plymouth's National Marine Aquarium
what's next?
A DVD of all six Wild Ideas films with a "making of" documentary was launched in July 2005.
Jonathan, Kimberly, Erica and J Reaper worked towards a Youth Achievement Silver Award, mentored by Kayla Parker of Sundog Media and the curriculum development team at Plymouth City Council.
thanks to:
Mums Gill & Bev and daughter Danna, for all their help
and support
Paul Appleby and Sue Soni, BBC Natural History Unit
Sam Burkey and the staff at the Wildscreen Trust
Jan Cutting Healthy Living Centre
Ossie Glover at Fata He BME Development Ltd
Young Bristol
Plymouth City Council