Rough Sleepers
(working title)
a mini documentary - advocacy of the homeless
Sleeping rough: (definition) 'People sleeping, or bedded down, in the open air (such as on the streets, or in doorways, parks or bus shelters); people in buildings or other places not
designed for habitation.'
(working title)
a mini documentary - advocacy of the homeless
Sleeping rough: (definition) 'People sleeping, or bedded down, in the open air (such as on the streets, or in doorways, parks or bus shelters); people in buildings or other places not
designed for habitation.'
For this personal project, I wanted to begin the piece with a stop-motion sequence of going through the main high street of Bath, focusing if possible on the homeless and poor of the city. I am hoping the final product will look a little like the first part of this (minus the strange guy and siren music):
The reason for this is to create the perception of walking through a city on one of its busiest streets, an experience many have on a daily basis - yet no matter how many times we walk down the same street, how often do we pay any attention to those around us that need the most help? The purpose of this would be to challenge the viewers (including myself) to start looking outward, to open their eyes and really begin to see people for who they are and to start taking notice of those that we tend to ignore or pass by every day.
To go along with this, over the stop motion sequence of going down the High Street I would like to superimpose some little-known statistics of people that are homeless. Some examples of the statistics I would want to show would be:
http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28086
http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/homelessness-statistics
Using these I am hoping to create a powerful and challenging introduction to an issue that is seldom looked at. I want to juxtapose these statistics with, after the title, going into vox pops of how young, wealthy urbanites view the homeless and some of the stereotypes that they might project. I think the contrast between opinion and reality will be another powerful tool to realising how much this issue needs to be looked at in a different way, to see rough sleepers as real people with real lives and real stories.
I've also started making some contacts of people I would like to use in the piece: one is a group of young adults from Bath City Church, the church that I am a part of, who have regularly been going out to buy food, sit and talk and build relationships with rough sleepers. They do this to make a tangible difference in the lives of those who often are the most rejected, scorned and ignored people in urban society, and I think are an example of the difference we can make in people's lives just by showing kindness. I have also made contact and heard some of the stories of several rough sleepers around Bath that have said they would be willing to be interviewed and tell their stories. From these I am hoping to find one that I can go into more depth and tell a story, the story of an unheard, unseen rough sleeper.
The reason for this is to create the perception of walking through a city on one of its busiest streets, an experience many have on a daily basis - yet no matter how many times we walk down the same street, how often do we pay any attention to those around us that need the most help? The purpose of this would be to challenge the viewers (including myself) to start looking outward, to open their eyes and really begin to see people for who they are and to start taking notice of those that we tend to ignore or pass by every day.
To go along with this, over the stop motion sequence of going down the High Street I would like to superimpose some little-known statistics of people that are homeless. Some examples of the statistics I would want to show would be:
- Over 1 billion (1 in 6) people in the world are forced to live in inadequate housing.
- Approximately 100 million people have no housing whatsoever and are forced to brave the elements and live sleeping on the streets with no shelter or food on a day-to-day basis.
- The UK has one of the highest levels of homelessness in Europe with more than 4 people per 1,000 estimated to be homeless. Source: Homeless Pages, 2004
- In the UK alone there are 10,459 homeless people that sleep rough every night and 98,750 households in temporary accommodation. Source: Department for Communities and Local Government, 2005
- 63% of homeless women in the UK have experienced domestic violence and 40% have been sexually abused. Source: Homeless Link, 2007
- The average life expectancy of a homeless person in the UK is 42 years, compared to the national average of 74 for men and 79 for women. This is lower than the life expectancy of Ethiopia or of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Source: Crisis (1996) Still Dying for a Home
- People who sleep rough are 35 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population. Source: Crisis (1996) Still Dying for a Home
http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28086
http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/homelessness-statistics
Using these I am hoping to create a powerful and challenging introduction to an issue that is seldom looked at. I want to juxtapose these statistics with, after the title, going into vox pops of how young, wealthy urbanites view the homeless and some of the stereotypes that they might project. I think the contrast between opinion and reality will be another powerful tool to realising how much this issue needs to be looked at in a different way, to see rough sleepers as real people with real lives and real stories.
I've also started making some contacts of people I would like to use in the piece: one is a group of young adults from Bath City Church, the church that I am a part of, who have regularly been going out to buy food, sit and talk and build relationships with rough sleepers. They do this to make a tangible difference in the lives of those who often are the most rejected, scorned and ignored people in urban society, and I think are an example of the difference we can make in people's lives just by showing kindness. I have also made contact and heard some of the stories of several rough sleepers around Bath that have said they would be willing to be interviewed and tell their stories. From these I am hoping to find one that I can go into more depth and tell a story, the story of an unheard, unseen rough sleeper.
No comments:
Post a Comment