Week of Creativity

The Challenge

For the West Midlands Combined Authority, we created a trilogy of short films celebrating the cultural and creative life of Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall. The challenge was to distil three very different places, each with its own communities, heritage, cultural organisations and creative identity, into films that felt connected as a series - while still portraying each area's own personality. The films were created to generate excitement and pride in the breadth of creative activity taking place across the region.

The Method

Our approach was built around text-led storytelling, using original poetry and narrative written by Method as the creative backbone for each film. Rather than relying on voiceover or interviews, we combined carefully selected archive material with newly captured footage, strong imagery, dynamic editing, on-screen text and an uplifting soundtrack, a deliberate choice given the films were primarily designed to play at a live event.

Method also acted as project lead for WMCA across the wider series, overseeing the Birmingham and Dudley films to make sure all five connected creatively, followed a consistent format and felt part of the same campaign. Never ones to forgo a challenge we made all of these films in three weeks with hard event deadline. For our own films, two days of filming with a small crew and drones allowed us to capture cultural landmarks, creative activity and the people and places giving each area its character.

The result was a fast-moving, poetic snapshot of the region’s creative ecology, from established cultural institutions and heritage to grassroots creativity and contemporary practice.