Three young men Have created a film all about the green space of the Efford valley & surrounding area "Kevin Pike, Alex Stewart and Jason Phillips"
Risk and Hope

We were approached by a number of different people to make a short film about the Efford Valley . We were eager to do it, but we didn't have any idea what it was to be about. We originally planned to make a documentary, interviewing different residents in around the Efford area. However, this idea soon faded away when Doug Specht took us to the Plymouth Arts Centre to have a look at the current exhibition. We sat and watched the film “Buddleia “ by Anna Best. We then changed our idea to a contempary short film.
We went up to the valley, armed with our camera and tripod in the first of several filming sessions. We thought it would be a walk in the park, but it was nowhere near (there's no park to walk through anyway) we then enlisted the help of Doug. Doug had just finished a film called Nicaragua , so he was ready to give us a hand.
Filming went on for a 3 months, in that time we had managed to film the ‘kicking leaves' sequence, the extremely difficult ‘jumping masks' and many other important moment.
We wear drawing nearer to our deadline, we still needed to film some scenes, we needed to edit really quickly. And then there was the music to think about, Doug gave us a CD with some contempary/classical music on it, we immediately choose this for the soundtrack, and it was the Tosca Tango Orchestra.
We had finished filming in December and starting editing in January. We laid down 18 minutes of soundtrack and placed the first piece of footage. We were very careful with music cues. We had a bad experience with them while making a film at college, so we were very pleased to find out they were perfect this time. Jason and Alex took control of filming the final pieces, including some very good ideas which went extremely well during editing. It was just a case of putting things in order. Some of the shots were reversed to create that weird feeling, like when the tire got up and rolled up the hill.
A week before it was due to be shown, we had it on DVD and ready.
We were all very nervous, when we walked into the cinema I was surprised to see how many people actually turned up! We were just hoping everything was going to be ok and that everyone would enjoy it. And they did…hopefully.
We hope that a vast amount of people, not just residents of Efford, get to see this film. Efford has changed a lot in the past few years.
Alex, Jason and myself would like to thank HCEP, Doug Specht, Plymouth Arts Centre and everyone who will watch this film and want to change Efford.
Kevin Pike
9 th Feb 2008

Unfortunately we cannot show the film online as off yet but we do hope to have it soon, so please check us again in a week or two. web admin

The arts programme has completed another successful phase. Following on from the start of the use of arts in Efford in 2006 artist Jayne Murray returned to deliver arts activities and develop a long-term programme within the community. Check it out on the Youth page link

Beginning in September Jayne started to work with the Efford Youth Development Forum, a vibrant group of creative and resourceful young people. Jayne's brief from the HECP arts action group was to work with young people and the wider community to look at the green spaces in Efford. Work began in the Efford Valley – Efford's historic heart and biggest green space. The young people made a short film with Jayne about their experience of the valley, which can be seen online at You Tube (link).

The project broadened out to ask the wider community using cards ‘What do you know about the Valley?' and ‘Why you do or don't use it?' 73 Efford residents replied. Jayne and the young people took their responses and selected three words they felt summed up how people thought about the valley. The young people collected leaves with which to write these words and create temporary pieces of art.

Many people thought the Valley was "lovely" and a "beautiful place to walk through", many others thought "there was nothing to see" and there was "no reason to go there". Writing ‘BEAUTY' highlights how the same Valley is thought of in different ways, questions what we think beauty is, and how it is made.

There were many stories about the Valley from years ago when "there was a little river going down it", when "you could see the Plym" and when "there was a farm in the middle". Other people said what might happen if they went there. Writing 'IMAGINE' reflects the memories and imagination of Efford residents and suggests that the Valley will change in the future.

Many people including the young people felt they wouldn't take the chance of using the Valley; "you don't know what's down there", "you can't see who might be hiding" and it was a "dangerous place where bad things happened".

Writing 'RISK' sums up this situation of wanting to use the Valley but not feeling safe to do so. The words will disappear naturally or by human hand over time. The art programme continues over the coming months with two commissions being undertaken by staff and pupils at Lipson Community College .

The first is a documentary film about Efford Valley , researching it's past and exploring it's present, involving Lipson students Kevin Pike, Andrew Rider and Alex Stewart, photographer Nigel Sweet and artist Doug Specht. The film will be shown in Efford over the winter and at Plymouth Arts Centre's newly refurbished cinema in February. The second is a live performance project led by Amanda Lockhart and Natasha Schrivener, and is about being a young person out and about in Efford – this will begin in the New Year and be performed on the streets of Efford in the Spring.