I have recently had the pleasure of being involved in a short film, which aims to raise the issue of carrying weapons.
Being asked to be a part of this project was a privilege, as an actor whenever I get asked to be involved in something, my confidence is boosted and also I get to do the thing I love to do the most, Act!
On set despite vaguely knowing the director and producer Rich Tipple and my on screen husband Dean Marshall who is an awesome actor. I was excited to be working with them both. I didn’t know anyone else. I was as usual a little anxious but within a few minutes I was at ease and laughter was heard between takes! It was apparent that I was in talented, professional and good company. The entire crew and cast are fantastic. It was the first time I had worked with Jazz who plays the main role of Jacob in the film, the moment he delivered his first lines I thought wow this kid has it! Genuinely so natural and compelling, in front of the camera he was able to deliver his lines in a natural way. Which if I’m honest is much more difficult than it sounds, stage acting and screen acting are totally different and typically most of us train in stage. In later scenes James Lusty plays one of the bullies, I may not have seen these scenes yet but in no doubt of the quality. James is one of my ex students and a genuine talent.
As the project unfolded, the local interest grew and it became apparent that knife crime/weapons is something that people are worried about and want to raise awareness of.
For me, as an educator and actor who also works for Eski Media this was totally ‘my bag’ Eski are known for their films tackling social problems within society. I realised I am known as a drama teacher as one of the first things Jazz’ mum said to me was ‘you taught my daughter in law’ I did and for five years, I remember her well. It dawned on me people remember us for different reasons. As a teacher I live by the concept of ‘people don’t always remember what you say but they remember how you made them feel’ That’s the beauty of films and music, it evokes emotion and people remember how it made them feel.
Anyway, the point of this blog post is to raise the issue further of carrying weapons. Will this film stop the use of people carrying knives and weapons? No it won’t BUT it does raise the issue of young people carrying a blade in the false belief that it will protect them. It gets people talking, this has to be a good thing.
When a person is killed, it does not just take the life of the victim, it destroys their families lives too. It severely impacts the lives of the perpetrators family and ruins the life of the perpetrator. I don’t think young people realise the potential consequences of actions. If we look back to our own teenage years how many of us could say we did not make mistakes and bad decisions?
Although the brain stops growing in size by early adolescence, the teen years are all about fine-tuning how the brain works. The brain finishes developing and maturing in the mid-to-late 20s. The part of the brain behind the forehead, called the prefrontal cortex, is one of the last parts to mature. This area is responsible for skills like planning, prioritizing, and making good decisions.
National Institute of Mental Health
As a parent, we know that we can tell our children something over and over again and they don’t always listen. As a teacher, how can we ensure what we say ‘gets through’ well we can’t say with certainty something has (that’s why we question, commercial tasks and test) What we can do is our best to reiterate the message. One successful approach is to use film. Stories are powerful and if the audience connect with the character they are more likely to remember the narrative and therefore the message. From the work I have done with Not in Our Community, the amount of young people who remember Alfie’s story because they were shown it in school. The films we have created and shown from the Circle North Series, have had excellent feedback and have engaged young people.
The message in this film is that carrying a knife will not offer protection. I remember a lesson, a decade ago delivered by the company ‘Prison me? No Way! in which two young people were given white paper coveralls and a different colour pen each. They were asked to try and get the pen onto their peer, with the pens representing a knife it was a visual representation of how much damage could be done in 30 seconds. The person ‘defending’ themselves from the pen attack soon realised just having a pen themselves was no protection. In the past it was seen as gang related but a study in 2016 showed that 75% of people carrying a blade had no connection to a gang and it was believed that it would offer them protection. This is the false belief this film tackles.
For a more in depth exploration of knife crime below is a link to a study commissioned by Banardos.
For me it is personal
In 2008, as a family our lives went past the point of no return. My brother was attacked, with a knuckle duster and metal bar. Okay so not a blade but the damage caused led to my brother not regaining consciousness and passing away 60 hours (approx) after the attack. Weapons are weapons! I experienced first hand the devastation caused, my own mental health, the impact on my family my parents, his fiancée, I could speak at length about what happened and I have done in previous posts. So all I will say is I understand how this can impact families forever. Especially the victims family but it has a ripple effect on the perpetrators, and their families and the wider community. Each time I partake in such projects. My brother Chris is in my mind.
I hope by continuing to be involved in the making of films that can help raise awareness of issues effecting our society, our communities I can be in some small way responsible for just one person making a different choice. If one young person, puts back a knife, seeks help and not try and take matters into their own hands then it will have been worth it.
As a community we all play our roles. It takes a village.
Kelly Isaac 