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Urbanfields Project
About the Urbanfields Project
As our usage of video in these different modalities developed we also became more sophisticated in our purposes for it and interested in how it could be integrated more fully in the research process.
Urbanfields set out to provide a detailed description of the direct experiences of ‘risk’ as detailed by Black and Asian young people themselves. To date it is one of the most complex pieces of research undertaken. The research explored the ways in which being a member of a minority community both protected as well as exposed young people to risk. The build up of individual representations of everyday life was done through young people making their own videos about their lives, the use of a series of trigger videos and the researchers making a final video product using a compilation of these materials to be used with a range of professionals working with young people. This was a complex project in which video was both fully integrated and multi-modal.
The issues were how to incorporate materials produced by young people, community researchers and professional video makers into a cohesive product aimed at a wide range of professionals working with young people. This involved the use of audio and video extracts, titling and the 'flagging up' of a range of contentious areas through a series of questions put in the form of equations to stimulate discussion. The project made extensive use of community based researchers who supported the core research team. They were recruited because of the nature of the local community and the difficulty in engaging young people within research that is looking at involvement in crime. These community-based researchers were working in potentially dangerous situations on sensitive subjects within a community in which they were known. This required the development of a number of protocols to support them and ensure their safety.
