Jinja Educational Trust
Project: Charity Films
My Role: Filmmaker
Production Company: Toucan Agency
Year: 2022
Toucan Agency brought me along as part of a small team heading out to Uganda to shoot 4x films for Jinja Educational Trust (JET), a charity that supports schools and children's homes in and around the bustling city of Jinja.
The above is the flagship film of the four, highlighting the charity's marvellous work at Twinkle Junior School.
Our audience was primarily the attendees of a fundraising dinner a couple of months down the line. However, I also had to bare in mind that the films would be displayed on JET's website and social channels.
On the ground, I was taking up the role of Cinematographer, working alongside another Camera Operator and two Producers. Unfortunately, the second Camera Operator fell ill at the beginning of the second day (of six), which resulted in me operating both of the cameras AND sound for the interview setups - all whilst battling with mud, lots of wind, a constantly changing schedule and extreme heat.
All this aside, we powered through and got everything in the bag, ready for the edit back in London.
The edit was where the films really came together for me. We had shot ~20 interviews and I thoroughly enjoyed building the story from the best, punchiest soundbites.
It was also a pleasure to bring the opening sequence together as I'd hoped. Keeping the final edit firmly in mind, the in-camera transitions and orbiting camera movement were considered and captured on the day. Additionally, I ensured that we would be able to hear the sounds of Jinja too. Editing this sequence was easy with the correct preparation and I think that the diegetic audio is the magic element that brings the sequence to life.
The four films contributed to the most successful fundraiser for JET to date. I have just been back out to Jinja to make four more films, which hopefully will lead to an even more generous fundraiser this year.
"Thank you all for such wonderful films. The trustees all loved them, especially the Twinkle one. The footage is truly spectacular and really gives an amazing overview of the schools and the whole area."
- Sue Symonds, Co-Founder, JET
