{"id":2905,"date":"2018-06-12T10:21:04","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T14:21:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/numa.media\/?p=2905\/"},"modified":"2018-06-12T10:21:04","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T14:21:04","slug":"calling-out-bullying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/calling-out-bullying\/","title":{"rendered":"Calling out bullying"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>What better device than a puppet to discuss the issue of bullying. That\u2019s the daring concept behind the web series, Marc-en-peluche.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Bullying is undoubtedly a modern-day scourge. Talking about bullying, however, is one of the most effective weapons against it. The team at Blachfilms came up with an original idea for depicting bullying: what if a bully were suddenly to turn into a puppet? This idea gave rise to the web series, Marc-en-peluche, which is broadcast on T\u00e9l\u00e9-Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s site.<\/p>\n<a name='numavideo'><\/a><div class='numa-video-wrapper with-cover'><div class='video-cover-overlay'><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche-vimeo-cover.png?w=1152\" \/><i id='overlay-play' class='overlay-play'><\/i><\/div><iframe id='numavideo' allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' src='http:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/273503920?api=1&amp;title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=fa1164&amp;mw=1004&amp;mh=564' frameborder='0'><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIf you want to be a dark, goth-rock bully, it doesn\u2019t help if your hair is orange and your skin, green,\u201d opines Benoit Lach, scriptwriter, director, and producer. The character, Marc, is someone who is disliked and avoided in the hallways. But suddenly one day he goes from being a bully to being bullied, and we get to witness his downfall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>During the scriptwriting phase of the series, the writers at Blachfilms strived to steer clear of preachiness. \u201cWe let youths, who are smart enough to decide, make up their minds,\u201d says Vincent Lafortune, scriptwriter, producer and actor (he plays the part of the director in this production). \u201cThis helped to prompt discussion on a subject that is usually presented through a \u2018governmental\u2019 prism that youngsters don\u2019t identify with.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2706\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche2-1024x560.png?resize=1152%2C630\" alt=\"\" width=\"1152\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche2.png?resize=1024%2C560&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche2.png?resize=300%2C164&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche2.png?resize=500%2C273&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche2.png?w=1087&amp;ssl=1 1087w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1152px) 100vw, 1152px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>To which Benoit adds: \u201cIt\u2019s easier to raise the issue because we do it through entertainment. We loved the concept because the puppet personifies vulnerability.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what\u2019s so great,\u201d says Vincent. \u201cWe have a totally unreal character, but the authenticity of what he\u2019s going through has a real impact on people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Using a puppet opened up plenty of narrative options. \u201cA puppet has a fun side to it that allowed us to go further in the depiction of the violence he is subjected to,\u201d he adds. \u201cThis ability to go further in the storytelling brought out a certain truthfulness that we wouldn\u2019t have been able to achieve if we had cast a young actor to play that character.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Vincent, the volume of traffic on the T\u00e9l\u00e9-Qu\u00e9bec site was very high and exceeded expectations. \u201cThis was the case both for the web and video on demand. We were pleased to see that our viewers immediately understood what we were doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-2704 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche1.png?resize=758%2C429\" alt=\"\" width=\"758\" height=\"429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche1.png?w=758&amp;ssl=1 758w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche1.png?resize=300%2C170&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche1.png?resize=500%2C283&amp;ssl=1 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 758px) 100vw, 758px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Season 2 will delve into a secret revealed at the end of the first season. \u201cMarc\u2019s transformation seemed like an act of God, but it turns out someone is pulling the strings,\u201d states Benoit. \u201cThat\u2019s what we explore in the new episodes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Benoit and Vincent believe that digital technology provides creative people with greater leeway. \u201cIt allows us to produce the series that we carry in our hearts and minds,\u201d says Vincent. \u201cIt allows us to bring them to life more quickly than using traditional methods. This is an area where risk-taking is still encouraged, and I hope this remains true for a long time to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What better device than a puppet to discuss the issue of bullying. That\u2019s the daring concept behind the web series, Marc-en-peluche. Bullying is undoubtedly a modern-day scourge. Talking about bullying, however, is one of the most effective weapons against it. The team at Blachfilms came up with an original idea for depicting bullying: what if [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webseries-en","post-grid"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/numa.media\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/marc-en-peluche-cover.png?fit=2880%2C1634&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2905"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2910,"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2905\/revisions\/2910"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/numa.media\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}