Engineering real-life heroes
Jul 03, 2018
Actress Letitia Wright meets the female engineers of the Shell Eco-marathon Europe. They share their personal journeys and aspirations as well as insights into the possibilities offered by the pursuit of careers in science, technology, engineering or maths. Watch the film.
Watch: Engineering real-life heroes with Letitia Wright
Title: SEM | Shell Eco Marathon | Main Film
Duration: 5:54 minutes
Description:
Actress, Letitia Wright, meets with Anne-Marie Imafidon and Shell Eco Marathon participants, Shaniyaa, Olga, Hannah and Kim. They are meeting to discuss their STEM stories and the Shell Eco Marathon.
SEM Film | SEM Transcript
[Background music plays]
Electronic melodic music.
[Title/ Text Displays]
LETITA WRIGHT[1]
ENGINEERING [2]
AMBITION [3]
#makethefuture
[Video footage]
Medium-long shot of Letitia walking to the studio, Anne-Marie Imafidon sits next to Letitia. Then medium shot of Letitia and Kim Everitt. Letitia walking to the studio. Shot of Hannah Clark with her team in her workshop. Close-up shot of Kim Everitt using tools. Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie in her University workshop. Letitia Wright PTC introducing herself. Medium shot and long shot Letitia Wright walking to the studio. Slow front medium shot of Letitia walking. Medium shot of Hannah Clark in her workshop. Close-up of Kim Everitt in her workshop. Close-up pannoing shot of Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie grinding. Medium Shot of Kim Everitt walking around go card track and portrait shot. Close-up shot of Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie at her radio shot and portrait shot. Olga Pospokina doing gymnastics on the beach and portrait shot. Close up of Hannah Clark doing karate training in gym and then close up of working in workshop. Olga Pospokina at University. Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie with her team mates. Medium shot of Kim Everitt on simulation and close up shot. Three shots of Letitia wright arriving at the studio to meet Anne-Marie Imafidon.
[Letitia Wright]
I’m Letitia Wright, I’m from London and I’m an actress. I love telling stories that’s the reason I got into it. You have to see something in order for you to understand that you can do it. That’s why I feel representation is so important. The recent character I was blessed to play, she is a scientist and it opened my eyes to see how amazing science and technology, engineering and maths is.
[Letitia Wright]
Today I’m meeting four students who are involved in Shell Eco Marathon. They have to design and build ultra-energy efficient vehicles. I really wanna understand what it takes to be involved in the STEM movement, and I call it a movement because I believe it’s very powerful. Before we do this, I'm about to go sit down with Anne-Maire Imafidon to find out more about the world of STEM.
[Background music plays]
Upbeat electronic music starts
[Anne-Marie Imafidon]
So STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. It’s people realising things that they dreamt up or that they imagined, whether it’s driverless cars, whether it’s new forms of energy. A lot of people don’t think that women do technical things and if you ask them to draw a scientist they draw basically Albert Einstein.
[Video footage]
Medium shot of Anne-Marie Imafidon PTC introducing herself. Long-shot Letitia Wright walks into the studio with a crowd that Anne-Marie doing a chat. Split screen of Anne-Marie PTC close-up and long-shot of Letitia sitting down with the crowd. Full screen medium shot of Anne Marie doing a talking, Letitia in the foreground. Split screen of crowd including Letitia and Anne Marie. Close-up shot of Letitia Wright reaction. 3-way split screen of close-up of Letitia and Anne-Marie talking to audience and medium shot of Audience. Long shot of audience walking away from chat. Medium shot of Letitia interacting with audience member.
[Anne-Marie Imafidon]
[Video footage]
Anne-Marie and Letitia interview. Medium shots of Anne Marie and Letitia, back and forth conversation. Long-shot of Anne-Marie and Letitia sitting next to each other.
[Letitia Wright]
So, I’ve had the privilege of playing a real life version of yourself pretty much, I would say so. And a floodgate just opened up for so many women saying thank you for representing us and stuff like that. At first I was just like putting it to the side like I’m not gonna get overwhelmed by that. But I realised that, in order for you to do it, you kind of have to see it.
[Anne-Marie Imafidon]
If you can see it, you can be it. It is what we talk about all the time right? It’s interesting the characters that you have played, are ones who might be technically competent or very technically confident. And so almost have been written to omit this kind of genius characteristic. Whereas actually it’s really important to kind of break that down and be like ‘I identify with what that character just said and I don’t see myself as a genius, so why wouldn’t this be something I can do?’
[Letitia Wright]
I have a lot of respect for you. Bless you. It was great talking with Anne-Marie and I am off to meet the young girls who are making a car from scratch for the Shell Eco Marathon. If they can make something like this now, imagine what they can make in the future.
[Video footage]
4 x Close-up shots of each Contributor working on the body of her car. Medium and Long shots of all four STEM girl contributors meeting Letitia Wright and showing her around the Shell Eco Marathon car. Close-up shots of SEM car. Each contributor PTC introducing themselves.
[Letitia Wright]
Hello, lovely to meet you guys. This is so cool. Can I hop in? Okay, you guys are champs already. I have some suggestions, extra padding for the booty.
[Background music plays]
Electronic melodic music.
[Kim Everitt]
My name is Kim Everitt.
[Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie]
I’m Shaniyaa.
[Hannah Clark]
My name is Hannah Clark.
[Olga Pospokina]
My name is Olga, you can call me Olga. And I come from Estonia, but I’m Russian.
[Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie]
My family’s background is from the Caribbean so that’s influenced my life a lot.
[Kim Everitt]
I come from a village just outside of Coventry.
[Hannah Clark]
And I’m from Clacton-on-Sea in Essex.
[Video footage]
Letitia interviews all four contributors about shell eco marathon and their involvement in the competition. Medium and Wide interview shots. Footage from previous Shell Eco Marathon. Footage of Shell Eco Marathon car going around the track. Olga PTC medium shot. Medium and Close-up shots of each contributor in their teams working on their cars. Kim PTC medium shot. Hannah PTC medium shot. Olga grandmother still. Shaniyaa PTC medium shot.
[Letitia Wright]
So tell me about Shell Eco-marathon and your involvement.
[Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie]
Shell Eco-marathon is a competition.
[Hannah Clark]
Done on set distance, set speed and set time.
[Kim Everitt]
It’s a team event, it’s fun.
[Hannah Clark]
The aim is to create a car that’s like as fuel efficient as possible
[Olga Pospokina]
It’s probably the best way of applying your theoretical knowledge to build something not only that runs but also that is efficient.
[Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie]
Before when I’ve been doing stuff, it’s just to like, get a grade for like a module, with this someone’s actually gonna be in the car. So, I want to make sure that the bits that I do make perform the way they’re supposed to perform.
[Kim Everitt]
Being a driver is incredibly exciting as you get to try out our product and actually race it. The record is 3771KM per litre. Which is basically the distance from London to Rome and back. Which is crazy! On one litre of fuel.
[Letitia Wright]
What was it like for you growing up and was there any signs that you were into STEM at a young age.
[Hannah Clark]
Growing up I was really, really shy. I was really quiet, really under confident. My confidence has changed massively since I’ve been studying engineering, it’s increased so much. It’s, it’s incredible to think back.
[Olga Pospokina]
My grandmother she was a mechanical engineer. She was always a role model for me because she is a strong woman that had a lot of challenges in her life. And actually, she was a very very successful mechanical engineer at her time.
[Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie]
In the future I would love to be able to look back and say that I’ve made a difference to either individuals or the world itself.
[Letitia Wright]
Your involvement in STEM is to help people?
[Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie]
Yeah definitely, that’s like my biggest driving force. The whole point of engineering is to like solve problems in the world.
[Letitia Wright]
So compassion and creativity.
[Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie]
Yes.
[Letitia Wright]
Two C’s.
[Shaniyaa Holness-McKenzie]
Yes.
[Letitia Wright]
I love it.
[Video footage]
Letitia Wright and Kim interview wide shot of both. Medium shots of each of Kim and Letita. Olga PTC medium shot. Olga working in her university on motherboards. Hannah PTC medium shot. Hannah in her workshop working on CAD and in the tool shop. Separate shots of Olga and Shaniyaa interviews with Letitia. Medium shots of all contributors and Letitia walking behind the studios curtains. Letitia PTC medium shot. Long portrait shot of Letitia standing with the contributors. Candid medium shot of them celebrating end of shoot. Picture in Picture medium shot of Letitia asking people to watch the other videos.
[Letitia Wright]
My last question is how far can STEM take you, what do you think?
[Kim Everitt]
There is no limits. You can even go to Space, so you’re not restricted to this planet.
[Olga Pospokina]
The future is technology, technology is the future and the more varied people we have, the brighter the results will be.
[Hannah Clark]
It’s your imagination, that’s all you’re limited by in engineering is your imagination. If you can think it, you can draw it, you can design it and if you can draw it and design it then you can make it. It fascinates me to sort of have that process.
[Letitia Wright]
I love meeting you guys today, it has changed my perspective a lot. And I’m really happy and I’m excited. You know I feel like I can tell my little sister that you can get into this subject as well. And I am also excited to see who’s gonna win the Shell Eco-marathon.
[Logo/ Text Displays]
#makethefutre
[Letitia Wright]
Thanks for watching, for more from these amazing engineers. Check out the other films from the series.
[Logo/ Text Displays]
Shell Logo
ENDCARD
[Audio]
Shell jingle
The world is facing an energy challenge. It is one that will only be solved by working together.
Yet women are often under-represented in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). These are the subjects that are needed to help the world in its quest for more and cleaner energy in the future.
"You have to see something to understand that you can do it," says the actress Letitia Wright, referring to the power of role models. "That's why I feel representation is so important."
"I really want to see what it takes to be involved in the STEM movement," she adds. "I call it a movement, because I feel it's very powerful."
The switching of superheroes
Wright's most recent acting role was as a female scientist in the biggest superhero franchise of the year. It sparked her desire to find out more about STEM - and the people behind it.
Wright met with Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE. Imafidon is a mathematics prodigy and science educator. She also co-founded STEMettes, a social enterprise that inspires young women to pursue STEM subjects.
"STEM is all about creativity and altruism," Imafidon says. "So, it’s really important to have different types of stories and different types of people who have embarked on different journeys. If you can see it, you can be it."
A meeting of minds
The women of Shell Eco-marathon are truly diverse. From a racing driver inspired by Swedish champion Kimi Räikkönen to a radio host addressing diversity in science, a newly-qualified karate black belt as well as a student following in the footsteps of her mechanical engineer grandmother. This is the sort of diversity that Shell believes can help #makethefuture.
"The whole point of engineering is to solve problems in the world," says one of the young engineer in the film. "You are only limited by your imagination in engineering,” adds another. “If you can think it, you can draw it, you can design it. If you can draw it and design it, you can make it. It fascinates me, to have that process.”