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Issue 50 – June 2014 – QUEEN MARGARET CALLING
It’s My Life
A nationwide competition,
It’s My Life
, asked New Zealanders aged between 12 and 24 to cre-
ate a poster, video or app that inspired young people to support a smokefree New Zealand by
2025. Queen Margaret College students Charlotte Barber and Frances Wright formed Team
BetterLife and took out both the Intermediate School category and the People’s Choice award
for their video Smokefree. Charlotte and Frances talk on ...
On entering the competition…
We first looked at other entries to get a few ideas. We observed
that a lot of competitors decided to focus on the negative effects of
smoking. This was not wrong in anyway but we felt wagging the
finger at them was in no way useful - in fact it could make smoking
sound more attractive.
We decided to take an entirely new spin on the competition. Our
ideas and desire to make a change made us enter the competition.
We set a goal to try and win the people’s choice award by promoting
our video amongst our family, peers and community.
The message they wanted to convey...
We took a ‘for youth-by youth approach’. In our video, we sent a
message of positivity, rather than negativity about a smokefree New
Zealand. We see smoking portrayed as a negative thing, which it is,
but we would prefer to focus on the benefits of a non-smoker rather
than the consequences of smoking.
Personally, we would rather be persuaded by all of the things
you can do and achieve as a non-smoker than feel ‘talked down to’
or lectured on the facts. We wanted to set the image for our own
generation. We think our message was conveyed clearer to youth
because it was the opinion of people their age - we both weren’t
trying to act older or wiser than we were.
Filming…
We filmed half of the video at Oriental Bay, which we chose
because of the gleaming waters and shining sun but also because we
wanted members of the public to feature in our video. We wanted to
get other people’s views on the issue. At first, it was hard to build up
the confidence to go up to strangers and talk to them on a delicate
issue but most of the people we interviewed were more than happy
to chat with us. The rest of the filming was completed at Frances’
house.
Editing…
We edited the video by ourselves with no other help. The
video was produced using the Apple app iMovie on an iPhone 5.
We both liked creating movies as a hobby, but had never entered a
competition with our work. We picked editing up ourselves, with the
help of the internet and inspiration of other film makers.
Why is it a better life as a non-smoker?
• You have more energy to do the things that you want to do,
and a healthier and brighter brain to achieve your goals
• Your future children will not be exposed to second-hand
smoke, which is poisonous. Your decision can affect other
people’s health.
• You will feel better about yourself because you don’t smoke.
A lot of people (and places) are fed up and intolerant of
smokers.
• You will live longer - which means you have more time to
complete and achieve the things that you want to do.
• You have control. You can do things when you want, where
you want and with who you want.
