Anneliese Emmans Dean theBigBuzz@gmail.com

I’ve been working as a poet/spoken word artist for over 10 years. My work includes politically engaged poems for, e.g, the New Economics Foundation (https://thebigbuzz.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/the-bigger-picture-london/) BBC Radio 4’s Today programme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5MFenCof3c&index=28&list=UUs7NnxbYVT-6ulHeCf8Yvzg), Woman’s Hour and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust (https://thebigbuzz.wordpress.com/2012/05/28/bee-kind-to-bumblebees/). I don’t have a background in filmmaking, but created this using facilities/software available to me.

Process Notes:

I was approached by some of the ‘KM8 Protectors’ – activists who are trying to stop fracking from going ahead in the Ryedale village of Kirby Misperton, some 25 miles from where I live – to come up with something to support their cause. (Third Energy intend to start fracking at their KM8 site there imminently, despite overwhelming public opposition.)

I wrote the poem, then looked for ways of illustrating it so I could turn it into a film – to give it more power and reach.

One of the KM8 Protectors put me in touch with Tracie Marcelle, who has been documenting the protests at Kirby Misperton. She has been doing so by taking a series of photos of protestors, each holding an A4 sheet of paper explaining who they are (e.g. teacher, granny, mum, pensioner, student) and where they’re from (https://www.facebook.com/UKArtsAF/posts/163911030878953). It’s a very simple – but very powerful – idea. This seemed like an excellent fit for my poem.

I chose photos of hers that chimed with lines of my poem. And added some local protest posters/banners to give context. Then found music from a composer (used with his permission) that matched the mood of the piece.

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