18-year-old Meymunah took part in our City as Studio online film-making residency in February 2021. Meeting only online, young artists joined from across the UK to learn and experiment with DIY film and music-making techniques.
Read about Meymunah’s experience of the residency below.
Words and films by Meymunah
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Never in my life did I know that I could film!
Hello, I’m Meymunah. I’m 18 years old, studying Media level 2, hoping to develop on to level 3 soon.
The successes of working with a team over zoom was that everybody got their time to speak and share their opinions about the project. We all had time to reflect back on our work, and tell the class about what we had been doing whilst we were given a chunk of time to work on a certain project for that day!
Some of the challenges that I faced was that during this specific week, my brother was born. So I did have to leave some sessions quite early so I could speak to my mum and spend time with my family, but I didn’t let it get in the way of my work or the project I was working on. I may have missed a project, but the staff were really considerate and kind and wanted me to enjoy the lessons so therefore they kept me up to date on what I missed so I could perhaps catch up.
The skills that I gained are independence, communication, teamwork and confidence. I had a friend from college who also decided to take part in the Arts award, so if he was ever struggling or confused I would help or explain to him what we have to do. And he would do the same if i was confused or struggling with a certain project. This built up my teamwork skills, So that felt nice to have someone there alongside the staff who also guided me. I was able to develop my skills in to my normal life because I started babysitting so therefore I have to keep the child’s journal who I’m babysitting and write about his/her daily tasks. I also speak to the parents of that child and let them know how the child did, which has improved my confidence so much!
What I learned through the city as studio residency was the filming aspect because never in my life did I know that I could film! And when I created the tripod for the first shot video I made, It turned out so well, that I ended up creating another one! Just for fun! The movement was perfect, the timing went along with the music perfectly. My original plan was to make the video landscape but things changed and I created a masterpiece out of something I thought I was probably never going to look at again.
My original plan flopped, because my first plan was to start the video landscape in the back of my garden and film nature and climate change, as well as the tress, leaves and sky. However coincidentally, my cousin took me on a drive and her tyre was punctured along the way, and because the snow had just settled, and the RAC were taking forever to arrive. So I decided to make the most of my time waiting. I will definitely be considering film making in the future!
I shared my work with my family. They were so pleased and decided to mention it in the family group chat! My biggest achievement is honestly just seeing how my filming has improved significantly. It has fully become a flex! I have filmed 4 different times for 4 different things alongside helping my cousin film her media work. It has also built up my confidence to the point where I want to continue media level 3 as it requires filming.
If I could do one thing differently, it would be attend all the zoom calls because I did miss a few out which lead me to falling back and missing out on exciting new projects for the day!
Overall, I would really recommend this to everyone reading this. In fact, I have told my cousin who is considering applying for the next arts award as she is impressed by my filming and wants to gain some more skills!
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Find out more about City as Studio, here.