Earlier today, I recorded the narration voice for the documentary.
Here is the script for the documentary:
The government defines domestic violence as: ‘any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (where it is psychological, physical, sexual, financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality.’
Contrary to popular belief, it is not just women who are victims of domestic abuse. One in four women will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime, but one in six men will also be effected.
It is hard to find people willing to talk about their experiences, but I have managed to speak with two domestic violence survivors in the West Midlands area, and they have gone into great detail about their experiences.
Firstly, Zoe, a housewife from the Walsall area, talks about her abusive ex-husband.
I have also chatted with Sarah, a business manager from Coventry, was also kind enough to speak to me. Both her name and voice have been altered to hide her identity.
What may start off as the odd comment here and there, can soon escalate into full blown abuse, whether emotional or physical.
Shockingly, on average, two women are killed by a current or former male partner every week.
Domestic abuse does not stop at pregnancy, in fact, 30 per cent of cases start during pregnancy.
It can be hard for the victims to leave their partners, especially if there are children involved.
Domestic violence is most common towards women in the 16-24 age range but can and does happen to everyone. No matter what gender, sexuality, race or class you are.
Victims can go to the police for help with domestic violence, but they can also go to other people that they trust. They can talk to someone at their local doctor’s surgery or call up a specialist domestic violence help line or refuge in your area. Many of these numbers are available on the get help west midlands website.
Hollywood a-lister Keira Knightley has recently starred in a two-minute film to raise awareness of domestic abuse. The clip, entitled Cut is in association with Women’s Aid, and is the centerpiece of a cinema, TV, print and online campaign to boost perception of the problem.
The film, however, has been banned from broadcast on television – after the broadcasting body, Clearcast, have deemed it “too violent.” The hard-hitting violence of the film would open the eyes of many to the truths of domestic violence but unfortunately a lot of the audience is now lost. Hopefully, the publicity received from the banning of the advert is actually a blessing in disguise.
Life does go on after the abuse, and things to improve. Zoe has proved this by remarrying and is happy in her new life – her confidence is back and she feels she is a stronger person now.
Finally, I’ll leave it to both ladies to give their advice to those suffering from Domestic Violence in silent. Please log on to www.gethelp-wm.co.uk for more information on the subject.
Apart from the horror of hearing myself speak, I have realised I sound rather miserable when talking on things like this, even when i’m trying my hardest not to. So ideally, I wish I had someone else doing this narration but it is too late now.
Of course, I wrote the script with the interview answers in mind, so I have some decent links bringing the documentary together. As i’m starting editing tomorow – and suspect to have most of it finished tomorrow also – if needby, that does give me 2 days to do any extra recordings, but I seriously doubt I will.
I shall start going through the Mp3s and cleaning them up (removing unnecessarysilences, coughs, ums, etc) shortly.
I think it looks good, it definitely stands out and gives the project a good identity.
I purchased a CD/DVD covers kit from Ryman’s earlier and shall be printing these off tomorrow to make sure everything looks good and ready for burning before Friday!
