Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP)
Feral’s Creativity Compliments Intercultural Immersion.
‘Never work with children or animals’ is an adage well-heeded in media circles, but has so far fallen on deaf ears here at Feral.
With a healthy repertoire of equestrian endeavors under our belts, we were unphased when asked, by the British Council, to work on a project involving upwards of 200 students, over six shoots, and five locations across the United Kingdom.
Since our successful delivery of the Women in STEM commission, at the close of 2021, we have established a close working relationship with the British Council, and in July 2022, we embarked on our second BC commission.
The ask? To create a range of deliverables promoting engagement in their prestigious educational initiative: The Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP).
The MEP is an intensive language learning programme, which aims to equip more than 11,000 students in 75 schools in England to be on track to fluency in Mandarin Chinese by 2024.
The scope of the project is vast, complex and ambitious, and required similar traits from us as the production company responsible for crafting a cohesive visual articulation of the experience. But as Vivian Chang, (a Mandarin teacher at one of the participating schools) wisely quotes to camera, “Where there’s a will there’s way”.
This was our first time working with teenage contributors. One of the challenges of working with this inherently self-conscious age-group was putting them at ease in front of the cameras. Credit is due to Producer James here, for skillfully cultivating a supportive atmosphere which allowed their enjoyment and enthusiasm to really shine through.
Equally important was the timely liaison with teaching and support staff in advance of the shoot, to ensure that all safeguarding procedures were strictly followed.
Strategic planning meant that students who did not have permission to be filmed were subtly identified well in advance. Skillful positioning of camera equipment ensured that their experience was not negatively impacted. Snaps to Camera Op, Peter Gatehouse for his expertise here.
The programme’s uniquely holistic approach to language learning demanded a diverse range of sensitive camera-work. The aim was to highlight students immersing themselves in Chinese culture, through enjoying activities such as martial arts, singing, songwriting, scripture-painting and calligraphy.
Pete’s carefully crafted over-the-shoulder shots captured some of the most intimate and inspiring moments of the students’ learning journeys as unobtrusively as possible.
We also integrated generous, sweeping shots of students enjoying lectures in Leeds University’s world-class facilities, to underpin the MEP’s aspirational agenda.
Cohesive storytelling on a project of this scale is always a challenge. Thankfully, our experienced Production Manager, James, worked efficiently to ensure that all material generated over the six shoots was efficiently matrixed and streamlined. This made for a highly stimulating and diverse range of deliverables promoting this phenomenal experience.