StoryLab: International Film Development Research Network
Lead Research Organisation:
Bournemouth University
Department Name: Faculty of Media and Communication
Abstract
'Nations and peoples are largely the stories they feed themselves. If they tell themselves stories that are lies, they will suffer the consequences of those lies. If they tell themselves stories that face their own truths, they will free their histories for future flowerings'. (Ben Okri)
One hundred years of hegemonic dominance from Western, predominantly Hollywood, values and aesthetics may have created a long term effect on how filmmakers in the developing world, and independent filmmakers in the developed world, tell stories cinematically. Digital technology is, however, making the filmmaking form accessible, opening up opportunities for diverse individuals and cultures to express their own identities through film. The explosion of filmmaking in black sub-Saharan Africa, the emergence of a strong Latin American cinema and the empowerment of independent filmmaking evident in South East Asia are but a few examples of the consequence of the democratisation not only of production technologies, but means of distribution and exhibition. As filmmakers in the developing world become more confident about their filmmaking and their own identities, how is this growing confidence going to challenge notions of quality, visual aesthetic, narrative structure and story themes for so long set by aspirations towards Western cinema?
A team of practice led researchers from leading film education institutions in each of the countries of Malaysia (Multimedia University), Ghana (National Film and Television Institute), Colombia (National University of Colombia) and the UK, led by Professor Erik Knudsen from the University of Salford, will run a series of workshops for emerging independent filmmakers in developing countries on three continents. A unique feature of this network is the lateral collaboration that it will encourage between practice led film and media researchers in developing countries across continents. This team of four researchers will collaborate with the host institutions involved to deliver these workshops over the period of the network project, followed by a summarising symposium hosted by the University of Salford at MediaCityUK.
Utilising interdisciplinary approaches inspired from music and anthropology, the Research Network will develop a methodology entitled Ethnomediaology. An interdisciplinary approach inspired by practices in Ethnomusicology and Autoethnography, Ethnomediaology involves the active and immersive participation of researchers in the research culture and process, using this active personal engagement as a basis for knowledge generation, data gathering and evaluation.
The StoryLab Research Network seeks to explore the following questions: What are the consequences for the democratisation of the means of filmmaking and film dissemination on how filmmakers in the developing world tell cinematic stories and in what ways are these stories, and their mode of expression, reflecting a different perspective on living in an increasingly globalised world? In what ways may these emerging narrative developments impact cinematic storytelling in the UK and beyond?
One hundred years of hegemonic dominance from Western, predominantly Hollywood, values and aesthetics may have created a long term effect on how filmmakers in the developing world, and independent filmmakers in the developed world, tell stories cinematically. Digital technology is, however, making the filmmaking form accessible, opening up opportunities for diverse individuals and cultures to express their own identities through film. The explosion of filmmaking in black sub-Saharan Africa, the emergence of a strong Latin American cinema and the empowerment of independent filmmaking evident in South East Asia are but a few examples of the consequence of the democratisation not only of production technologies, but means of distribution and exhibition. As filmmakers in the developing world become more confident about their filmmaking and their own identities, how is this growing confidence going to challenge notions of quality, visual aesthetic, narrative structure and story themes for so long set by aspirations towards Western cinema?
A team of practice led researchers from leading film education institutions in each of the countries of Malaysia (Multimedia University), Ghana (National Film and Television Institute), Colombia (National University of Colombia) and the UK, led by Professor Erik Knudsen from the University of Salford, will run a series of workshops for emerging independent filmmakers in developing countries on three continents. A unique feature of this network is the lateral collaboration that it will encourage between practice led film and media researchers in developing countries across continents. This team of four researchers will collaborate with the host institutions involved to deliver these workshops over the period of the network project, followed by a summarising symposium hosted by the University of Salford at MediaCityUK.
Utilising interdisciplinary approaches inspired from music and anthropology, the Research Network will develop a methodology entitled Ethnomediaology. An interdisciplinary approach inspired by practices in Ethnomusicology and Autoethnography, Ethnomediaology involves the active and immersive participation of researchers in the research culture and process, using this active personal engagement as a basis for knowledge generation, data gathering and evaluation.
The StoryLab Research Network seeks to explore the following questions: What are the consequences for the democratisation of the means of filmmaking and film dissemination on how filmmakers in the developing world tell cinematic stories and in what ways are these stories, and their mode of expression, reflecting a different perspective on living in an increasingly globalised world? In what ways may these emerging narrative developments impact cinematic storytelling in the UK and beyond?
Planned Impact
Pathways to impact will be built around the key objectives of the StoryLab Research Network and its dissemination strategy. To this end, the project anticipates that the following people and groups of people will be directly impacted by the Network's activities:
Filmmakers in Malaysia, Ghana and Colombia:
There will be a group of around 45 participant filmmakers from 3 continents who will be directly impacted by participating in the StoryLab Research Network's workshops. Their experience and workshop outcomes should, in turn, indirectly impact their local networks of peers, collaborators and colleagues. These participants will be independent filmmakers from each of the catchment areas of the institutions involved. The interdisciplinary ethnomediaological approach, with its hybrid interactive approach to project development and data gathering, should result in diverse and innovative films being made by participants following on from their workshop experience. Word of mouth by participating filmmakers will play a significant part in the proliferation of the Research Network's aims and objectives.
The research process and the research outcomes may play a significant enabling role in the ongoing development of filmmakers in the respective countries and their confidence in evolving film narratives that are independent of dominant hegemonies.
Filmmakers in the UK:
The influence of diasporic communities on mainstream British culture is plain to see in such areas as music and food. It is therefore plausible that diasporic filmmaking could influence independent filmmaking in the UK. Linking the work being done in Malaysia, Ghana and Colombia through a symposium held at one of the centres of UK media production, MediaCityUK, will enable the project to reach, in particular, but by no means exclusively, diasporic British filmmakers. In addition to the symposium, the online presence of the project though its living blog will provide a forum for interaction and debate across continents and give British independent filmmakers direct access to project activities and debates initiated as part of this Research Network.
The Research Network's outcomes could play a role in inspiring ethnic minority and disaporic British filmmakers to seek an engagement with, and inspiration from, developments taking shape in filmmaking in the developing world with a view to challenging and questioning hegemonic aspirations that dominate mainstream British independent film.
Audiences in Malaysia, Ghana, Colombia and the UK:
By articulating and encouraging innovation and diversity in filmmakers in the countries involved - Malaysia, Ghana and Colombia - there is likely to be a direct impact on local audiences as they become more diversely served by the filmmakers who emerge from their midsts.
Policy Makers in Malaysia, Ghana, Colombia and the UK:
The Research Project aims to take advantage of the prominent positions each institution has in their respective countries to alert key policy makers, including film and media development executives, of the Research Network and its activities. This engagement will be reinforced by the distribution of the Network's summary report and invitations to attend the concluding symposium at the University of Salford's MediaCityUK campus. The online blog will also provide opportunities for policy makers to engage with the Network's projects and the activities.
The potential impact on policy could be that current pre-occupations with focusing on North American influences and aspirations could be redirected to recognising the emerging role of the developing world, its values, its aesthetics and its formalistic approaches as a means of unlocking currently excluded and undervalued talents in British independent film and film in general.
Filmmakers in Malaysia, Ghana and Colombia:
There will be a group of around 45 participant filmmakers from 3 continents who will be directly impacted by participating in the StoryLab Research Network's workshops. Their experience and workshop outcomes should, in turn, indirectly impact their local networks of peers, collaborators and colleagues. These participants will be independent filmmakers from each of the catchment areas of the institutions involved. The interdisciplinary ethnomediaological approach, with its hybrid interactive approach to project development and data gathering, should result in diverse and innovative films being made by participants following on from their workshop experience. Word of mouth by participating filmmakers will play a significant part in the proliferation of the Research Network's aims and objectives.
The research process and the research outcomes may play a significant enabling role in the ongoing development of filmmakers in the respective countries and their confidence in evolving film narratives that are independent of dominant hegemonies.
Filmmakers in the UK:
The influence of diasporic communities on mainstream British culture is plain to see in such areas as music and food. It is therefore plausible that diasporic filmmaking could influence independent filmmaking in the UK. Linking the work being done in Malaysia, Ghana and Colombia through a symposium held at one of the centres of UK media production, MediaCityUK, will enable the project to reach, in particular, but by no means exclusively, diasporic British filmmakers. In addition to the symposium, the online presence of the project though its living blog will provide a forum for interaction and debate across continents and give British independent filmmakers direct access to project activities and debates initiated as part of this Research Network.
The Research Network's outcomes could play a role in inspiring ethnic minority and disaporic British filmmakers to seek an engagement with, and inspiration from, developments taking shape in filmmaking in the developing world with a view to challenging and questioning hegemonic aspirations that dominate mainstream British independent film.
Audiences in Malaysia, Ghana, Colombia and the UK:
By articulating and encouraging innovation and diversity in filmmakers in the countries involved - Malaysia, Ghana and Colombia - there is likely to be a direct impact on local audiences as they become more diversely served by the filmmakers who emerge from their midsts.
Policy Makers in Malaysia, Ghana, Colombia and the UK:
The Research Project aims to take advantage of the prominent positions each institution has in their respective countries to alert key policy makers, including film and media development executives, of the Research Network and its activities. This engagement will be reinforced by the distribution of the Network's summary report and invitations to attend the concluding symposium at the University of Salford's MediaCityUK campus. The online blog will also provide opportunities for policy makers to engage with the Network's projects and the activities.
The potential impact on policy could be that current pre-occupations with focusing on North American influences and aspirations could be redirected to recognising the emerging role of the developing world, its values, its aesthetics and its formalistic approaches as a means of unlocking currently excluded and undervalued talents in British independent film and film in general.
Organisations
- Bournemouth University (Lead Research Organisation)
- University of Ibagué (Collaboration)
- Griffith University (Collaboration)
- Government of Malaysia (Collaboration)
- National Film and Television Institute (Collaboration)
- National University of Colombia (Project Partner)
- University of Ghana (Project Partner)
People |
ORCID iD |
| Erik Knudsen (Principal Investigator) | |
| Nico Meissner (Co-Investigator) |
| Title | StoryLab: Measuring Impact |
| Description | A 32 minute documentary film focusing on the impact of the StoryLab project. The film features interviews with StoryLab participants from Colombia, Ghana, and Malaysia. |
| Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
| Year Produced | 2019 |
| Impact | StoryLab: Measuring Impact has provided an opportunity for the participants of the growing StoryLab project from across continents to share with each other their stories and creative development. With reference to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals 4, 8 and 10, a total of over 90 independent and citizen filmmakers in Malaysia, Ghana, Colombia and California have been enabled and empowered through the innovative StoryLab skills training research initiative to develop their own creative voices in pursuit of meaningful cultural contributions and employment opportunities within growing democratised cultural and professional moving image sectors. This unique lateral transnational collaboration across 5 continents has led to profound transformations in ideation practices, enabling new co-development and production partnerships, enhanced visual storytelling skills, better engagement with local cultural preservation and deeper awareness of the opportunities of narrative filmmaking, thereby enhancing the voices of independent and marginalised communities. |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/348799645 |
| Description | The StoryLab International Film Development Research Network has evolved a number of significant findings. First, we have established network of film practice researchers across three low to middle income countries on three continents. This unique lateral collaboration in the area of film storytelling development is unique. Participating researchers have been able to share and learn from colleagues who are not former colonial masters. Likewise, we have established a network of close to 50 independent filmmaker across these countries who are now in touch with each other via a private Facebook Group. This has already led to a collaboration between filmmakers in Ghana and Colombia and a specific film project may emerge. This network of both researchers and filmmakers is providing us with unique access to building further research and collaboration and, through our StoryLab Research Network Symposium, we have been able to explore taking the research into dealing with the United Nation's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This has led to the development of an ESRC Global Challenges Research bid in which StoryLab project will take the methods and findings from this network project to explore how we can develop approaches to training for the democratised film sector emerging in these countries in an effort fo encourage diversity of employment and meaningful work in the emerging creative industries. As a consequence of our approach, we have also discovered that our methodology and the idea of cinematic storytelling can be applied in various transdisciplinary contexts and we are exploring these opportunities in areas of health and wellbeing, archeology and history. None of these developments would have been possible without the initial StoryLab research network having taken place. Second, we have discovered a very effective research methodology: Ethnomediaology. Utilising interdisciplinary approaches inspired from music and anthropology, the StoryLab research network developed a methodology entitled Ethnomediaology: an interdisciplinary approach inspired by practices in Ethnomusicology and Autoethnography. Ethnomediaology involves the active and immersive participation of researchers in the research culture and process, using this active personal engagement as a basis for knowledge generation, data gathering and evaluation. Third, we have discovered a lot about the kind of themes and stories people want to tell across continents. This is particularly the case because of the democratisation of the means of production and distribution. Many of these themes are themes that in the Western World are less prevalent: personal spirituality and religion; historical reconciliation; personal traumas and dilemmas; political justice and injustice - these are a number of recurring themes. While there are variations in the popularity of these themes, there are also striking similarities in some of the underlying themes and motivations for wanting to tell stories. The personal and private were very strong features of all the workshops undertaken. It is also clear that cinematic storytelling provides people with methods of empowerment. Many of the stories that people wanted to tell related directly to the pursuit of wanting to make a better world for others. There was a strong sense of social, civic and cultural duty and commitment across all three countries. There was very little emphasis on filmmaking as a career, for personal gain, and certainly not for fame. Motivations tended to be very sociably conscious and noble in nature. |
| Exploitation Route | We are taking these findings through to beneficiaries in a number of ways: a) book and journal publications; b) web site; c) ESRC GCRF funding application for Employment intervention in the countries concerned; d) transdisciplinary collaborations with colleagues in health and well-being, archeology and history potentially leading to new bids; e) ongoing engagement with film communities in the countries concerned through closed Facebook group where participants share news and stories about the development of their projects; f) continued engagement with network of StoryLab Symposium participants, a transdisciplinary group of professional practitioners, academics and third sector colleagues. |
| Sectors | Creative Economy,Education,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| URL | http://www.storylabnetwork.com |
| Description | A unique feature of StoryLab was the lateral collaboration that taking place between practice led film and media researchers in developing countries across continents. A team of practice led researchers from leading film education institutions in each of the countries of Malaysia, Ghana, Colombia and the UK, led by Professor Erik Knudsen, ran a series of workshops for emerging independent filmmakers in developing countries on three continents. A new collaborative framework led by Professor Knudsen spanning 3 continents included Dr Nico Meissner, Senior Lecturer at the Griffith Film School, Brisbane, Australia, whose former experience of running a film school in Malaysia gave us critical access to the filmmaking communities in that country, Dr Sandra Carolina PatiÒo, Senior Lecturer at the University of Ibague, Colombia, Francis Gbormittah, lecturer in media arts and culture at University of Ghana, Legon and Sarah Kuntoh, Head of the Editing at the National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI), Accra, Ghana. Utilising interdisciplinary approaches inspired from music and anthropology, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded StoryLab Research Network 2016 - 2018, this world leading international research team developed a methodology entitled Ethnomediaology. An interdisciplinary approach inspired by practices in Ethnomusicology and Autoethnography, Ethnomediaology involves the active and immersive participation of researchers in the research culture and process, using this active personal engagement as a basis for knowledge generation, data gathering and evaluation. The new formal partnerships between these four universities have now expanded into an impact led project funded by the AHRC Follow On Funding from the Global Challenges Research Fund, being delivered in Colombia during 2019 and 2020, resulting in a deepening and expanded international collaboration aimed at delivering new insights, innovation and impact. Existing network of Colombian filmmakers will be coopted into an expanded project designed to engage with a grassroots, mentor driven skills training programme built on the underpinning research. A further dozen filmmakers in Colombia will be engaged directly in these expanded workshops. In the case of the StoryLab California workshops, the project was able to develop a groundbreaking collaboration with the Archeology Department at the University of Central Lancashire, led by Dr David Robinson, in which StoryLab joined their Wind Wolves Preservation Archeology Excavation near Bakersfield in California. Though the US is clearly a First World country, elements within this society have issues and challenges that share many characteristics with developing countries. The Wind Wolves Preservation archeology project was engaged with excavating sites related to the Tejon Indian Tribe, who are trying to re-engage with their heritage, culture and landscape as part of a contemporary drive for formal recognition and a preservation of their language, which is dying out. The StoryLab project had a tangible impact on the engagement elements of the archeology project by providing storytelling skills in a contemporary ubiquitous form, the moving image, allowing Tejon participants, Wind Wolves Preservation staff and archeology students an opportunity to engage with heritage, histories and landscapes in empowering new ways. Change in Creative Film Production Practices Filmmaker Participants (users) have enhanced their development and production practices by embedding into these practices more advanced ideation and story development practices. In audio visually recorded testimonies of participants in Malaysia, Ghana, Colombia and California, participants specifically site the advancement of their craft skills as giving them more confidence to use the moving image for future engagement with their work, studies and, in the case of the Tajon Indian Tribe participants, in engaging with their heritage and landscape. It is significant when participants talk about overcoming hurdles that prevented them from thinking of using the moving image as a tool in their archeological, conservation or heritage engagement and the impacts have been clear in this regard. Change in Ideation Practices Participating filmmakers (users) in Malaysia, Colombia, Ghana and California have changed their creative ideation practices as a consequence of engaging with the StoryLab Research Network project. In Malaysia, Ghana and Colombia, participants, who tended to be filmmaking professionals, specifically cited the fact that they have changed the way they think about developing ideas. The notion of personal sources for ideas and their relationship to the early stages of has opened up - or as some participants say, liberated - their way of thinking about ideas development. This is having an impact on the kinds of stories participants are telling and their confidence to articulate and promote personal ideas in the public domain. In the case of StoryLab California, participants were initially less experienced in the field of filmmaking, with their expertise lying in archeology, natural preservation and Tejon cultural heritage, but it is clear from the testimonies of Tejon participants, Wind Wolves Preservation staff and archeology students, that the development of their ideation in the StoryLab workshop has impacted on their ability to think of the moving image in the interdisciplinary context of their work. In particular, student archeologists and Tejon participants cited a rethinking of how they engage with heritage projects and the landscape and how they intend to use ideas development in the moving image as a means of re-engaging with their fields through new mechanisms. Sandra Hernandez, the community leader of the Tajon Indian Tribe who participated in the StoryLab workshop, particularly cited the importance that StoryLab has played in helping her and her community re-imaging their heritage histories and, importantly, how thinking of ideation in the context of the moving image, is already helping inter generational communication within the small Tajon community. Change in Narrative and Screenwriting Skills StoryLab Filmmaker Participants (users) have enhanced their ability to structure their stories, write screenplays and articulate their ideas. Several of the participants in Malaysia, Ghana, Colombia and California cite the fact that they have developed a more advanced way of organising their imagery and imagination into story and narrative structures. By participating in the practical workshops, participants have developed a confidence to be creative and adventurous in the way that they tell their stories. This new found confidence is in part a direct consequence of developing the skills to articulate early ideas, feelings and imagery into a coherent story and narrative. Development of New Creative Collaborations A number of StoryLab Filmmaker participants (users) have established new working relationships that are leading to collaborations both locally and internationally. Most notable of the later being an emerging feature film to be made by a number of the Ghanaian and Colombian filmmaker participants. This project is being led by Vin Jones in Ghana, who found the StoryLab Ghana workshop particularly enlightening. Through the network established as part of the StoryLab methodology, Vin, like all the others, was able to participate and communicate with the workshops across three continents through the closed Facebook Group, which facilitates ongoing sharing of stories and discussion. All work in progress and projects developed in the workshops were shared in this private Facebook Group, and many participants found this both inspirational and motivating, giving them confidence to develop, share and collaborate. More locally, a number of participants in Malaysia, Ghana and Colombia have started collaborating, as seen in the testimonies, for example, from Frank Benitez and Katherine Escobar, whose joint testimony about their planned collaboration is a direct consequence of the StoryLab Colombia workshops. Enhanced Engagement with Local Stories StoryLab Filmmaker Participants we able to enhance their abilities to engage with and tell stories local to their experiences. The search for a personal voice is a key methodological feature of the StoryLab experience and many participants specifically cite the importance the workshops have played in developing their personal voice in a way that will allow them to engage with their communities, their jobs and their search for new insights and knowledge. All of the stories developed by the participants had strong local and personal experiential roots and the fact that participants feel they are allowed to pursue and explore these connections in the context of broader challenges has, in some cases, liberated otherwise restricted views of, and approach to, the film as a medium for change. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Creative Economy |
| Impact Types | Cultural |
| Description | AHRC Follow On Funding (GCRF) |
| Amount | £92,679 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | AH/S005706/1 |
| Organisation | Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2019 |
| End | 01/2020 |
| Title | Ethnomediaology |
| Description | Utilising interdisciplinary approaches inspired from music and anthropology, the Research Network developed a methodology entitled Ethnomediaology: an interdisciplinary approach inspired by practices in Ethnomusicology and Autoethnography. Ethno- mediaology involves the active and immersive participation of researchers in the research culture and process, using this active personal engagement as a basis for knowledge generation, data gathering and evaluation. |
| Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
| Year Produced | 2017 |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | A number of approaches have been made to the storyLab team about exploring this methodology in other disciplines: a) a health and well being project wanting to find ways of engaging with stroke patients in India, where there have been problems with communication and engagement; b) an archeology project based in California who are seeking new ways of engaging contemporary Native Americans in their histories through cave paintings that have been discovered; c) a history project looking at ways in which the people in the global community of former British colonies can engage with audio visual materials made during the colonial periods as a means of re-evaluating this material in innovative and inclusive ways. All of these examples have included StoryLab Team and concept being included in research funding bids led by others inbound these disciplines. |
| URL | http://www.storylabnetwork.com |
| Description | CMPC-FINAS Content Malaysia Pitching Centre |
| Organisation | Government of Malaysia |
| Department | National Film Development Corporation |
| Country | Malaysia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | Brought an international research workshop to the FINAS Content Malaysia facility, thereby contributing the the international engagement of FINAS, Malaysia's equivalent to the BFI in the UK. |
| Collaborator Contribution | FINAS Content Malaysia provided facilities for a 3 day workshop with support staff and contributed to the project's ability to access Malaysian filmmakers. |
| Impact | StoryLab Malaysia Workshop, June 2017. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Griffith Film School |
| Organisation | Griffith University |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Mentoring of early career researcher in international research project. International collaboration with partners in Ghana and Colombia. Opportunities to embed existing research in South East Asian film career practices into a wider global project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided a Co investigator. Provided direct financial contribution to additional travel costs from Australia to Malaysia. The Co-I, Dr Nico Meissner, was able to contribute expertise on South East Asian film production and education to the project, in particular expertise of Malaysia, where part of the project took place. As Co-I played a role in the management of the StoryLab International Film Development project and the StoryLab Skills Training for Democratised Film Industries project. |
| Impact | 1) StoryLab Malaysia Film Development Workshop; 2) StoryLab Ghana Film Development Workshop; 3) StoryLab Colombia Film Development Workshop; 4) StoryLab Research Network Symposium, UK, January 2018; 5) StoryLab Skills Training Workshop, Santa Marta, Colombia, 2019; 6) StoryLab Skills Training Workshop, Ibagué, Colombia, 2019; 7) StoryLab Skills Training Symposium, Ibagué, Colombia, December 2019. 7) Conference presentation by Co-I: StoryLab Research Network: Media Democratisation in the Digital Age, ASPERA 2018, Australia. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | National Film and Television Institute, Ghana |
| Organisation | National Film and Television Institute |
| Country | Ghana |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Provided mentoring for an early career researcher and expertise to an institution at the embryonic stage of introducing research into its institutional operation, particularly practice led research. Gave opportunity for participating researcher to engage with international research and introduced the institution and this researcher to partners in Australia, Malaysia and Colombia. Laid the foundation for new bidding and collaborative research opportunities. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Provided access to the foremost sub Saharan African film school and opportunities to access and engage with the Ghanaian filmmaking community. Provided the participating researcher's time and a venue for undertaking a 3 day workshop. |
| Impact | 1) StoryLab Malaysia Film Development Workshop; 2) StoryLab Ghana Film Development Workshop; 3) StoryLab Colombia Film Development Workshop; 4) StoryLab Research Network Symposium, UK, January 2018. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | University of Ibagué Colombia |
| Organisation | University of Ibagué |
| Country | Colombia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Mentoring of early career researcher and contributing to the development of the research culture at the University of Ibagué, particularly in practice led research. Enabled the development of research partnerships with institutions in Australia, Malaysia and Ghana. Laid the foundations for future research to be carried out in Colombia and for this to be connected to a global research engagement. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The University of Ibagué contributed a participating researcher's time to the project and facilitated a 3 day workshop at the university with space and support staff in 2017. During 2019, the University of Ibagué, led by Co-I, Dr Carolina Patiño, developed and managed two StoryLab workshops; one in north Colombia and one in Ibagué. In December 2019, the University of Ibagué facilitated and hosted a StoryLab Symposium which brought together participants from the 2017 workshop and participants from the 2019 workshops. Provided access to a network of Colombian filmmakers and expertise, via the participating researcher, into Colombian filmmaking. |
| Impact | 1) StoryLab Malaysia Film Development Workshop; 2) StoryLab Ghana Film Development Workshop; 3) StoryLab Colombia Film Development Workshop; 4) StoryLab Research Network Symposium, UK, January 2018; 5) StoryLab Skills Training Workshop, Santa Marta, Colombia, 2019; 6) StoryLab Skills Training Workshop, Ibagué, Colombia, 2019; 7) StoryLab Skills Training Symposium, Ibagué, Colombia, December 2019. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | StoryLab Colombia Film Development Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The aim of the workshops from the participant perspective was to develop the 18 participants' creative engagement with story for the narrative moving image. Participants had an opportunity to build their authorial confidence and explore methods and techniques to enhance their ability to articulate their personal vision. During the 3 days of the workshop, each participant had an opportunity to develop a piece of new work for the narrative moving image screen. This could be fact and/or fiction for a feature film or a short film. Projects were developed to a stage where there was a solid foundation for further development outside the context of the workshop. The emphasis was to help develop original creatively independent work. Participants were able to take advantage of interacting with, and taking feedback from, peers as well as a international group of researchers/workshop leaders and eventually to take advantage of engaging with other creative filmmakers across three continents of the project - Ghana and Malaysia. Outcomes were presented and discussed and shared across a closed Facebook page with workshop participants in the other two countries. The whole workshop was documented audio visually. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.storylabnetwork.com |
| Description | StoryLab Ghana Film Development Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The aim of the workshops from the participant perspective was to develop the 13 participants' creative engagement with story for the narrative moving image. Participants had an opportunity to build their authorial confidence and explore methods and techniques to enhance their ability to articulate their personal vision. During the 3 days of the workshop, each participant had an opportunity to develop a piece of new work for the narrative moving image screen. This could be fact and/or fiction for a feature film or a short film. Projects were developed to a stage where there was a solid foundation for further development outside the context of the workshop. The emphasis was to help develop original creatively independent work. Participants were able to take advantage of interacting with, and taking feedback from, peers as well as a international group of researchers/workshop leaders and eventually to take advantage of engaging with other creative filmmakers across three continents of the project - Malaysia and Colombia. Outcomes were presented and discussed and shared across a closed Facebook page with workshop participants in the other two countries. The whole workshop was documented audio visually. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.storylabnetwork.com |
| Description | StoryLab Malaysia Film Development Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The aim of the workshops from the participant perspective was to develop the 14 participants' creative engagement with story for the narrative moving image. Participants had an opportunity to build their authorial confidence and explore methods and techniques to enhance their ability to articulate their personal vision. During the 3 days of the workshop, each participant had an opportunity to develop a piece of new work for the narrative moving image screen. This could be fact and/or fiction for a feature film or a short film. Projects were developed to a stage where there was a solid foundation for further development outside the context of the workshop. The emphasis was to help develop original creatively independent work. Participants were able to take advantage of interacting with, and taking feedback from, peers as well as a international group of researchers/workshop leaders and eventually to take advantage of engaging with other creative filmmakers across three continents of the project - Ghana and Colombia. Outcomes were presented and discussed and shared across a closed Facebook page with workshop participants in the other two countries. The whole workshop was documented audio visually. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.storylabnetwork.com |
| Description | StoryLab Research Network Symposium |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | As part of the conclusion of the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project, StoryLab International Film Development Research Network, a select number of colleagues from across the UK and internationally were invited to take part in a 1 day research symposium to discuss initial findings from this network project and to explore transdisciplinary opportunities to apply the enthno- mediaology methodologies to broader research themes, such as the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This was a working symposium with limited participation which sought to develop tangible outcomes for the future development of StoryLab and we were delighted to be joined by around 30 delegates. The symposium brought individuals, experts and lay communities together to share experiences and solve problems through a creative engagement with story and narrative in the broad pursuit of achieving the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This symposium convened a transdisciplinary group of people consisting of artists, scientists and people from business, humanities, as well as people and communities involved in any of the issues and themes being addressed. The Symposium explored how the network itself - loose, exible, responsive and multiplied - and the methodology - ethnomediaology - could be used to provide an inspirational and eclectic environment in which the problems and issues arising out of achieving the UN's Sustainability Goals could be explored, addressed and communicated through a direct engagement with storytelling across narrative forms. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.storylabnetwork.com |