Power Tools

​Building Tutorials for Every Woman

Power Tools is a series of fun, approachable and concise videos that give instructions on basic DIY tasks like changing a lightbulb, smashing a window, painting a wall and using a drill.

youtube

Vimeo

Make your own

Want to share your skills to encourage and empower women around the world?
Power Tools is an ongoing series of DIY videos made by and for women.
The initial 14 Power Tools videos were made by a film crew consisting of professionals and enthusiastic amateurs. Equally, the presenters featured are a mixture of tradeswomen and those mucking in and having a go for the first time in their lives.
You don’t need to be an DIY expert nor a professional film-maker to join in.

​Below are some of the assets and advice you could use to make your own Power Tools DIY video and help other women to do a job that you have learned to do.
Once you’ve made your video, publish it to your chosen online video platform and use the hashtags #PowerTools and #ForEveryWoman there and on social media to link up your contribution with others like it.

Graphics

​The identity for Power Tools was designed by Sara Nesteruk. You will find all the assets you need to use this design for the credits and opening animation.

Download graphics

Music

​MusicThe soundtrack for the Power Tools videos was made by the Manchester’s Women Asylum Seekers Together choir (WAST).
Below is a link to the intro and outro music as well as the excerpt used to accent certain sections of the films and the sound effect used to bring each ingredient into the flat-lay sequences.
This music is only licensed for use in Power Tools videos, please do not use it for any other purpose.

Download Music

Art Direction

​We shot Power Tools in the corner of a room, this enabled us to have as even light as possible (with no natural light source to either side casting shadows) and also gives a bit of depth to the framing of the presenter and their tools.
We used paint we had kicking about anyway to paint a yellow half moon on the wall behind the presenter. If you’d like to do the same, just draw a semi circle rotated at roughly a 135° angle (by eye is fine!) and paint it directly onto your wall.

Kit

You don’t need expensive camera and sound recording equipment to make a video. Most tasks could be shot using the camera on your mobile phone. There are plenty of women-lead tutorials on YouTube on how best to do this.
Unlike most of the images of this project which were shot by professional photographer, Jessie Leong, the one below was taken by Rachel Anderson on her phone and it looks great.

Costume

​​When designing the identity for Power Tools, Sara Nesteruk worked with the RGB colour model. This is the system used by screens – like TV screens and computers – to display colour using red, green and blue light. Sara’s inspiration was the light of the moon and the use of the moon as a symbol of womanhood.
Riffing off Sara’s ideas, we offered each of the presenters a plain red, green or blue t-shirt, this is something you can replicate in your own video.
Our embroidered moon badges were from Ella Daniel-Lowe’s LunaLotusUK Etsy shop and our aprons were from eBay. Perhaps you could bring the symbol of the moon into your video in another way?

Helen

​In tribute to the town this project took place in – St Helens, Merseyside, UK – and to underscore the collaborative nature of participatory art practice, Power Tools presenters should introduce themselves to their audience as ‘Helen’ rather than by using their own name.
The name Helen is said to derive from the Greek for ‘moon’ so is doubly relevant to this project.
Selected Press