Doodlebug – Clod Ensemble - London 2005

Helen Marshall led a project which explored ideas of propaganda in relation to war. The final film, Doodlebug, named after Hitler’s secret weapon but juxtaposed with the Jitterbug dance, is a playful yet sombre take on different perceptions of the second world war and focuses on the older participants memories of propaganda exercises.

The Clod Ensemble is a theatre and performance company whose range of work, "defies simple classification" (The Stage).
Since its formation in 1995, the company has created a huge range of performance projects, workshops and events across the UK and internationally.

Helen began the film project by screening A Diary for Timothy (Humphrey Jennings classic, controversial black and white film from the 1940s) at the Peel centre, the Claremont Project, Sotheby Day Centre and Duncombe Primary School. The film provided a stimulus from which the older people and the children could talk about their experiences of war. In subsequent visits to the day centres, Helen recorded the older people talking – the stories and images from these recordings then provided the stimulus for children from Duncombe to draw pictures which Helen then animated.

Supported by:

Arts Council England through its Regional Arts Lottery Programme; London Borough of Islington’s Arts and Creative Development Department; Friends of the Elderly and the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit through its Community Chest Fund.