production

awen provides a complete range of media production services from concept to delivery.  

Including:

• drama, documentary, animation

• tailor made social corporate promotional films

• community media projects

• educational media projects

• intergenerational projects

• re-purposing archive

• DVD design, authoring and duplication

We work with clients to creatively develop ideas from an early stage to ensure both excellence and value. Our team provides an appropriate scale of production from a single camera shoot and edit to full crew and services. We can deliver in a variety of formats for sharing online, distribution (including full DVD duplication services) screenings etc.

examples:

'Singing for Wellbeing'

DVD commissioned by Arts for Health Cornwall & IOS (2009)

A DVD to be used in training for care staff and at conference to raise awareness of the value of singing with older people.

"We had hoped that we could use film to capture the value of singing, in a way that just words don't, and also to use it as a resource for care staff to develop their own confidence to lead singing sessions. The film has certainly achieved all of our aims and surpassed our expectations."
Jenny Atkinson
Older Person's Project Coordinator

Kanow Flehes

DVD production commissioned by Kowethes an Yeth Kernewek (2009)

This book and DVD set includes 24 children’s songs in Cornish. The book uses the Standard Written Form and features illustrations by Rachel Axtell, and the DVD contains videos of the songs being sung by children from Marlborough Primary School in Falmouth, who learned the songs through workshops run by Frances Bennett, Hilary Coleman and Elizabeth Stewart. We contracted Dogbite filmcrew to record the sessions from which we edited a track for each song and produced a DVD to accompany the book.

Kanow Flehes is suitable for use by schools as well as families who are teaching their children Cornish. An English translation of the songs is included on the DVD.

Kanow Flehes is suitable for use by schools as well as families who are bringing their children up speaking Cornish, as a translation of each of the songs into English is included on the DVD. The book and DVD set costs £12.50 and can be ordered from the Kowethas by contacting Jan Edmondson on 01503 220445 or at jan1@shamballa.orangehome.com. ISBN 978-1-899342-60-0

New Boots

Short drama (2007)

'New Boots' is an empowering project written by a group of women who came together to share their experiences and raise awareness of domestic violence. Susan and her children struggle to build a new life as Mitch tries to manipulate them into coming ‘home’.

We worked with a group of Domestic Violence survivors to create a professional drama short based on their collective experiences of leaving – this film had the dual aim of sharing a survivor’s emotional journey (in a system which can be mechanistic and cold) amongst social work, legal and health professionals who work with DV and raising awareness amongst wider audiences through screenings at film festivals, community events and online.

Fempower is a community organisation set up by a group of women living with or survivors of Domestic Violence to support each other in raising awareness about Domestic Violence. Fempower initiated the project, contacting Denzil Monk who worked with the group over a year through scriptwriting workshops, bringing in a script editor with support from Cornwall Film, raising the finance through a balance of community and media development funding for a professional cast and crew to realize the dream.

“So many different people have been involved during the many months of writing. It has been amazing to meet others that have had similar experiences, and see the differences come out throughout the writing of New Boots. We have all been able to speak and be heard and support each other.”
Fempower member; co-writer New Boots

The premiere was held in the local Regal cinema, Redruth, to a packed house (we had to screen the film four times to get everyone in) and has since been shown at Cornwall Film Festival (in competition) and can be watched online at the BBC Film Network
Funded by Awards For All, Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, Cornwall Film, UnLtd, South West Screen (Equal – The Last Mile), Cornwall County Council, Trevu Children’s Centre, Cornwall Primary Care Trust, Camborne Town Council
 

“I just wanted to say again that I think the script and treatment of this film is so good. It would have been easy to convey the message without the shades of grey. You cleverly say 'Violence is wrong' and 'Believe in yourself' at the same time, and the two main characters are real, not black and white, but grey and uncertain as humans are. Congratulations for telling an uncompromising and important story.”
Audience member after premeire screening

The Freak

Young filmmakers project (2004)

Made by yr 9 students at Cape Cornwall School / Directed by James Lucas (13yrs)
Produced by Denzil Monk

Funded by Creative Partnerships Cornwall & supported by the Lottery through the Film Council’s First Light initiative.

AIM - to inspire a piece of contemporary slapstick, presented in the style of 1930’s silent comedies, devising a unique story around an issue that affects the pupils involved in the production.

The theme of “loneliness” was used as an anchor for the young people to devise their own drama from, relating to their lives and feelings.

This was realised by turning the Cape Cornwall Yr 9 Trailblazers group into a production team (crew) over a summer term to produce a 5 minute digital film working with a younger group of pupils (Yr 7) as the cast.

All the major creative and dramatic decisions from the initial ideas & story development through script, production to the final edit were made by the young team of film-makers, who were mentored through all aspects of the work by professional film-makers Denzil Monk & Barbara Santi. The young people did all the hands-on work except for the original soundtrack (which was commissioned from a local musician, Ruth Wall for the film) and the final digital effects on the finished edit.
“The Freak” exhibition / distribution:
Winner of Best Silent Film at the 2004 First Light Awards where two of the YP were given the opportunity to attend the awards ceremony at the Odeon West End, Leicester Square.
Broadcast on BBC 2 as part of the BBC BLAST programme.
Official selection – Kids 4 Kids International Young Filmmakers Festival, Naples, Italy 2005
Short-listed for the National Young Film Makers Award at the Leeds Children and Young People's Film Festival.
Shown at many UK Film Festivals including the prestigious Halloween Short Film Festival 2005 ICA, London.
Cornwall Media Resource Screenings around Cornwall.
Festival Videotheque at the 2004 Celtic Film & TV Festival in Dundee.
Streamed on the Community Media Association SHOWCASE website (http://showcase.commedia.org.uk)
Archived at The South West Film & Television Archive.
VHS copies distributed to all those involved in the production.

James Lucas, the young director went on to make two more films as part of Culture South West ‘Bytesize’ project and the Wildscreen Trust’s ‘Wild Ideas’ project.