The Voiceless Voice A personal insight into Melbourne's homeless situation

Blake Gray, Jackson Baker & Riley Beveridge

Overview

• 22,789 people were reported homeless in 2011 in Victoria alone.

• 1,092 of those were reported as 'sleeping rough', without shelter or accommodation.

• Almost half of these people were under the age of 25, while one in six was under 12 years old.

Homelessness in Australia:

Synopsis / Subject

• Although this is a sensitive topic, in order to find a subject we will attend a not-for-profit event, such as a shelter or a soup kitchen. We aim for our protagonist to be a homeless individual in Melbourne or a volunteer that is working in a charitable organisation.

• Volunteering, as well as finding a talent, will allow us to gain a better understanding and insight into the situation, while also giving us the opportunity to get still images and video footage of the event.

• The webisode will focus on the story of the individual and will recount their journey through these volunteering opportunities.

• We will aim to constantly retain the individual’s angle in relation to these events.

Synopsis / Subject

• The webisode will keep in perspective this person’s life in relation to Melbourne. It will highlight the growing number of homeless people in the city.

• Ideally filmed over multiple nights, the webisode will aim to look at this person’s work in a number of key areas in Melbourne, rather than just the same shelter or kitchen.

• As homelessness is a growing issue in Melbourne, the webisode will also look to get the person’s views on what more can be done by people of the city to assist the situation.

Synopsis / Subject

• Ideally, our story will follow the story of an individual and their journey such as the one featured below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCoVGh7-AcA

How to promote the webisode

• Facebook and Twitter pages titled 'The voiceless Voice' will be created to promote the upcoming webisode.

• For people to understand the topic, a short introduction will be posted on Facebook stating our mission to discover and understand the lives of those less fortunate. It will also explain how we aim to present this – through an individual recount.

• Allowing the audience to relate to the individual or to the students will ensure the webisode is viewed.

• During the lead up to the completion of the webisode it will be important to gather further interest.

How to promote the webisode

• Ways in which we will create further interest will include adding in short edited scenes from the visit to show the story, potentially featuring still images of homeless shelters or the three of us volunteering. This will be published on the newly developed Facebook/Twitter pages.

• These posts will also begin to introduce the subject, which will allow the audience to begin to develop an emotional attachment with the individual – an important aspect to creating stories.

• Closer to the release date it may also be beneficial to post the exact date in which the webisode will be publicly available to promote further interest and raise excitement for the release.

• We will also upload still images of our visit, again featuring our subject, to depict the work that goes on throughout these charity events.

Multimedia Usage

• The webisode will use a number of different multimedia tools.

• To begin, we will introduce the subject via video discussion, before cutting to images of the events and homelessness while we continue to listen to the subject speak – gathering an insight into the story while drawing on appeal to emotion/sympathy techniques through visuals.

• We will continue to have his/her discussion, while cutting to video footage of people giving or receiving food or shelter.

• Externally, we will have Facebook and Twitter pages set up for the webisode where hashtags, more news and links will be provided.

Multimedia Usage

• A hashtag (#VoicelessVoice) will also be set up to promote the webisode:

Intended Audience

• It is important to attract crowds that are generally empathic, have a passion for helping or are genuinely concerned about the welfare of others.

• Sharing our own personal views and feelings on Facebook/Twitter in the lead-up will make it easier for students or those of similar socio-economic statuses to relate.

• The webisode will promote feelings of sadness and emotional attachment and a sense of goodwill as it encompasses the charity work or the story of an individual receiving assistance.

• Using this appeal to emotion will assist in promoting an audience. This can be done through hard-hitting images, video, or audio and by developing personal relationships with the subject.

Groupwork / Allocation of Tasks

• All three members of the group will be attending and volunteering at an event. The interviewee discussion topics will be established as a group beforehand.

• We will have one predominant photographer (Jackson), but we will aim to share the roles if need be.

• Jackson will also have the role of editing images if required and finding relevant audio while the images are displayed in the webisode.

Groupwork / Allocation of Tasks

• Blake will be in charge of creating the storyboard after the images and videos have been selected and ensuring the story has structure – which will need to be done before attending the event and edited after based on the multimedia inserts ascertained.

• Riley will edit the video with FinalCut Pro and, while he will receive able assistance from others, it will be his responsibility to cut and edit video material or delegate sections where required.