Inspired by Rick Mercer: RANTS!!!! LEAD Day 3 and 4
Listen Empathize Act & Drive.
To deliver LEAD, we had to come up with a model that allowed youth to discover their voices, a model that was very process and collaboration based. We needed a project that allowed them to act on an issue and then drive it to a place where it could be shared on a larger stage.
So…we introduced them to celebrated Canadian Rick Mercer’s rants! Thank you Rick! We broke down the elements of a rant, and in production teams of four or five, youth identified issues in their community that were important to them. Litter, graffiti and racial profiling were but a few.
The first steps, and two of the most difficult, were writing and storyboarding. Youth used a writing template that they had previously used in class for other assignments, one that required strong thesis statements, supporting evidence, organization and fluidity. They assigned roles and decided who would be talent, who would be crew and agreed on locations for their shoot. Each member of the group had to contribute to and be represented in the video on some level. From there they were off to the races!
Encouraged to apply the acting, vocal and media skills they had been practicing, the youth spent the better part of two days shooting, reshooting, editing and re-editing and adding sound and titles to their videos.
Britannia’s youth rants premiered at the Showcase on the final evening of the program. They had much to be proud of. Their messages were poignant, timely, powerful and empowering.
This one, “E-THNIC” YOU NEED TO CHECK YOURSELF by Payton, Magfira, Hanna and Addie, reminds us to be kind to one another. Hope you find it as moving and inspiring as we did.
To see the Rick Mercer rant we used as inspiration visit:
