Brent Talking Heads: a case study
The London Borough of Brent in the UK is home to one of only a handful of specialist domestic violence courts in the UK. Comprised of a plethora of agencies – both government and voluntary sector services – each component part of the specialist domestic violence court system plays a part in support the victim throughout the court process.
In 2008, Brent Specialist Domestic Violence Court celebrated its first birthday. As part of the celebrations, Rochelle Dancel was called in to script and stage a ‘talking heads’ performance featuring representatives speaking about their agency’s role within the court system and their responsibilities to the victim. Brent Community Safety Partnership commissioned the talking heads presentation to be made into a film that could be used for the future training of staff working within each agency. With many component agencies, the aim of the film was to educate staff beyond what their own agency did within the court system in order to provide a better service to the victim.
Working it...
When Rochelle went back to re-work the script for Brent Talking Heads, she added a fictional victim and weaved scenes of reconstruction between the interviews of each agency representative. I was called in to add a soundtrack to aid the seamless transition between reconstruction scenes and interviews.
After much discussion with Rochelle about the tone and style of the film, I received the first edit and brainstormed ideas for the opening and closing of the film. In order to prevent the tone getting too melancholy, I opted for a more dramatic approach to the music inspired by Philip Glass.
The music for the closing credits complements the thoughtful ending, a final monologue from the victim balancing hope for the future with the reality of future legal proceedings.
As the production team were based in the UK, much communication and feedback was done online. The final music files were uploaded to the client’s server and downloaded by the editor in Wales to be added to the final edit.
The Result
Brent Talking Heads was launched at the Tricycle Cinema in London in September 2008. The DVD, which BCP was subsequently commissioned to create, continues to be used for training purposes.
"I was truly moved by the music accompanying Brent Talking Heads and thought Regan had given careful consideration to the subject matter in providing a piece of music that blended seamlessly with the message in the film - perfect for weaving it all together."
Shan Kilby, Brent Specialist Domestic Violence Court (UK)
