Twelve persons on Union Island are now equipped with film making skills after completing a Low-Cost Film Making Workshop.

The Transformative Resilience in a Changing Climate (TRAC2) Participatory film/video training workshop which was conducted from August 4^th -  7^th  in Union Island, covered a number of areas in film making including, story boarding, shot types, sound, interview techniques, community mapping, and filming .

Participants gained practical knowledge in the operation of a video camera and tripod, sound equipment. They also conducted a series of interviews as part of a field exercise. These Persons are; Philmon Taylor, Allan Providence, Stanislaus Gomes, Maxwell Exeter, Anthony Thomas, Stanton Gomes, Dennis Alexander, Heather Gellizeau, Steveon Taylor, Tabiah Regis, Chevonique Durrant, Deaney Gellizeau.

Two short community films were also shot and edited using knowledge of shot types, story boarding, community mapping and other elements of film making.

The workshop was coordinated by Radio Grenadines Inc. and conducted by Tom Miller, Nuin-Tara Key and team from PrettyGoodProductions under the “Our Place on Earth” global project.

The goal of the workshop is to implement a low-cost participatory video training program to build community capacity to share and disseminate their stories and success around the world, to propel innovation, experimentation, and adaptation in the face of climate change.

When asked about his assessment of the workshop Tom said, “the aptitude of the participants were very high, they were attentive and engaged, this was useful in moving along quickly. We covered a lot of ground in 4 days. We had a great time in Union Island even though two of our team members fell ill with Chickungunya. It was great to collaborate with Radio Grenadines to bring this workshop to Union Island”.

Tom also stated that this workshop is the first one conducted in the Caribbean Region by his team.

Participant, Philmon Taylor commented on the skills he gained from the workshop “ I never did a course in film or videos before so this workshop gave me a foundation, so now I know what direction I need to go to further my film skills. Because of the training one of my goals now is to be a cinematographer, I never knew about that word before the workshop”.

Another participant, Maxwell Exeter stated that the most exciting part of the training was the field work “going out in the field and shooting videos was exciting, I learnt how to shoot, direct, act and being comfortable in front of the camera”.

Participants were awarded certificates for their participation over the 4 days. Director of Radio Grenadines, Stanton Gomes extended his gratitude to Miller and his team for accepting his invitation to conduct the workshop and indicated his desire for an advanced training in the future.

Tom is the director and producer for a documentary film for “Our Place on Earth” Nuin-Tara Key is a research and policy consultant in climate change and urban development.

The team journeyed to Union Island as part of their world tour to conduct interviews with several community groups such as the Environmental Attackers that has been involved in climate change projects.

The documentary film will be an on-the-ground portrayal of people’s lives as they spearhead climate change initiatives in their own communities.  The goal of  this documentary is to turn the fear-based climate change film on its head by leading with a message of hope and positive change.

The film will be an important driver to expand public understanding and support for community-based adaptation efforts, and also a forum to share indigenous and more traditional forms of knowledge.

You can learn more about the “Our Place on Earth” project by visiting www.ourplaceonearth.org