The Dorset Coast Forum’s short film, ‘CoastWise’, aimed at helping people to stay safe while still having fun at the coast has been selected by The Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts to receive a 2017 Davey Award for Film/Video-Education.
The idea behind creating a video came about between SafeWise, a multi-agency partnership between the emergency services, local authorities and the business community and the Dorset Coast Forum and some of its members. Safewise, wanted to find a new way to promote safety information on the coast and the Dorset Coast Forum works with some of its members involved in all the different types of coastal safety messages. These members included The National Trust, Jurassic Coast Trust, Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Dorset AONB, Litter free Coast and Sea, Dorset County Council, SafeWise, Dorset Fire and Rescue, Chesil Trust, Dorset Wildlife Trust and Christchurch Borough Council.
A short, animated film was decided as the best way to promote some of these key messages in a fun and engaging way. The different messages include – stay away from any cliff edge and don’t sit, stand or walk at the base of the cliffs, drink plenty of water, watch out for sharp objects and litter in the sand, always check the weather and the tides and what wildlife to touch and what not to (such as jellyfishes and weever fishes). CoastWise characters were created for the film that delivers these messages. The main message being ‘if you find yourself in difficulties, don’t try and be a hero, call in the experts, call 999’.
Bournemouth based firm LoveLove Films came up with the concept of a group of sea creatures that would get into various tricky situations by the coast. Working with the Dorset Coast Forum and school children from Courthill Infant School, Bournemouth the final film was shaped and created
Bridget Betts, Dorset Coast Forum co-ordinator said:
“We are absolutely thrilled that the CoastWise film has won this award. We never for one moment thought that the safety messages we wanted to get across to people visiting our beautiful coast would turn into an award winning video with thousands of hits on YouTube.
The film will now be rolled out as a learning and educational resource at coastal visitor centres, schools and as part of educational packages, which is very exciting for everyone who has been involved with this project. Special thanks must go to the Fine Foundation who funded the video and LoveLove films without whom, we could not have created it.”
Since its launch in June 2017, CoastWise has had over 52,000 hits on YouTube.
Visit Dorset, the official tourism site for Dorset, is also helping to promote safety on the coast and have created a CoastWise page where the film can be viewed and where people can learn more about how to get the most out of their visit, safely.
For more information, please visit https://www.visit-dorset.com/explore/coast/be-coastwise
