I Am Ethan My Life

UPBEAT MUSIC

DALEK: Exterminate Ethan!

# Bonkers... #

DALEK: Exterminate!

Exterminate! Exterminate!

A-A-A-A-A-Argh!

Argh!

# Bonkers... #

LOUD SHOUTING

MUSIC BLASTS

MUFFLED MUSIC

LOUD MUSIC

'K-9 reporting for voiceover duty.'

# Bon-Bon-Bon-Bon-Bon-Bon-Bon-Bon. #

'Ethan is always full of surprises.

'Here's one for you now.

'Ethan doesn't hear music, he feels it.

'And he's about to take on one massive musical challenge.

'What that is, you'll have to wait and see.'

'This is Alexandra Palace, near to where Ethan lives.'

DALEK: Destroy Alexandra Palace!

Exterminate! Exterminate!

'It's currently under attack from the Dalek fleet.

'But that's not why he's here.

'In fact, he doesn't seem to have noticed yet.'

I first met Ethan five or seven years ago.

I went up and asked if I could play.

He didn't turn around.

I went round to the other side of him

and that's when I noticed his cochlear implant.

Every single time I meet him,

I kind of find it hard to talk to him

because I don't know much sign language.

'Ethan's other best friend, Aidan, is also profoundly deaf.'

When the people talk to me,

I hear... I can sound them saying.

I heard this talking and other people talk and I can sound.

Aidan finds it a lot easier to play with Ethan

because he can sign and talk.

Over the next few months, I'm going to try extra hard

to learn sign language so I can talk well more fluently with Ethan

and not stumble over my signs and...everything.

If I could sign with him and he could talk with me,

either way, I would feel really happy.

DALEK: Today is an exciting day for Ethan.

-Today is the day that...

-Excuse me.

-Argh!

-I am providing the voiceover!

A-hem!

Today is a very exciting day for Ethan.

Ah, here he is now!

MUSIC: "Candy" by Robbie Williams

'Ethan and the young masters

'have come here to road-test some new gadgets.'

Hi! Good to see you. Good to see you again.

'Steve, who Ethan has known for a while,

'has been doing some cool experiments with sound.

'Mostly by strapping speakers to things

'and seeing what the vibrations do.'

SAXOPHONE RECITAL

RUMBLING

RUMBLING

OK. Now let's go to the speakers. Let's see what this feels like.

This is when the sound goes right through into your body.

SAXOPHONE RECITAL

We all got to hold a speaker,

put it on our chest

and the saxophone would play loud music.

It was like this.

OK. Do you want a go? Feel this.

SAXOPHONE RECITAL

RUMBLING

SAXOPHONE RECITAL

RUMBLING

What do you think of that, Ethan? Good? You like that?

Can you feel it all through your body? Yeah!

SAXOPHONE RECITAL

Today has helped me to understand

what it's like for my friends to feel music.

I found that really cool.

CRASH!

Are you keeping up so far? Good.

Inspired by their gadget day, Ethan and his friends have some big news.

They've decided to form a rock band!

Our band going to be rock.

And I want to be rock master!

HE CHUCKLES

I'm going to be on guitar.

Aidan's going to be on bass.

Ethan's going to be signing.

'The rock band have their first gig lined up in two months' time,

'but what will a hearing audience make of Ethan's signing?

'Luckily, they've enlisted Steve to help them prepare.'

I must say, this is a massive challenge for the kids.

Because they've got to take a song

and they've got to then perform it in front of an audience.

They've got to sell the song. It's not an easy thing to do.

There's a lot of work to go into it.

'The clock is ticking.

'Ethan and the boys have just eight weeks to become a rock band.'

'Rehearsals get off to a rocky start.

'Max is ill today, but Ethan and Aidan have still come in

'to practise their chosen song, Mr Blue Sky.'

Hold the speaker to your chest.

Aidan, hold that to your chest.

'The mini-speakers are reactivated

'to help the boys learn the beat of the song.'

MUSIC: "Mr Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra

It's got amazing, beautiful sound.

And the beat in the speaker.

# There ain't a cloud in sight

# It's stopped raining Everybody's in a play

# And don't you know

# It's a beautiful new day

# Hey-ay

# Running down the avenue... #

'So that is what it's supposed to sound like.

'Now all the boys have to do is to learn it.'

-What do you think? Good?

-Great!

-Great!

'It's a challenge for Aidan, who has never played the guitar before.'

You pluck it here and you put your fingers down here.

Steve let me play a guitar

and I can feel a...very rock star.

'While Aidan gets to grips with the guitar...'

-Can you see those OK?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant.

'..Ethan starts his own training.'

Ethan's role is the frontman. He's going to sign the songs.

That's how we'll deliver the performance, through Ethan signing.

The sun is shining like that.

-Shining!

-Or shining like that? Do you like that?

-Shining.

-Yeah, that's nice. That's good.

'Translating a song from spoken English into British Sign Language

'can be problematic.'

Eth, I think it's quite important that we don't do, "in the".

Cos that's SSE, isn't it?

Ethan, would you like now to try it with the music? Yeah?

Yeah? Shall we give it a go?

Steve will put the speaker on your back.

OK. Soon. Are you ready for the signs?

# The sun is shining in the sky

# There ain't a cloud in sight... #

I thought he did really well today, Ethan.

I was very impressed with the way he grasped the words

and got an idea of how he could make the signing very animated.

That's very good! It's a good start!

'I am impressed!'

# See how the sun shines brightly

# In the city on the streets... #

'Today, Ethan and a recovered Max are on a special mission.'

Look! How do you sign tiger?

You sign tiger!

Tiger.

-The sign is tiger.

-Yes.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

How do you sign sea lions?

I understand.

Sea lions!

-One, two, three!

-APPLAUSE

My favourite animals were probably the penguins...

the meerkats...

..the giraffes.

How do you sign giraffe?

That sign is...giraffe!

Giraffe.

Whenever I did it wrong, Ethan was like,

"No, you don't do this, you do this."

So...he's a good teacher.

'It's back into rehearsal for Ethan and the rock band

'as they have their first practice together as a group.

'So far, they have been rehearsing separately,

'but with less than a month until the big show,

'it's time to activate the band.'

MUSIC PLAYS

'Practising without the mini-speaker for the first time,

'the challenge for Ethan is to keep his signing clear and to the beat

'if he's going to make a connection with his hearing audience.'

I'm really enjoying my guitar,

but it's really very tricky

and I'm confused because it's really quick.

And that means I have to practise very slowly.

After the drums comes in, there's still 16 Fs and then the song.

Sometimes it sounds shambolic, but actually,

it is moving forward in a very good pace.

When you do something wrong, like in the chorus,

if you play a wrong thing, don't worry.

It's OK to make a mistake cos you're learning from the mistakes.

The mistake is not learning from the mistake.

I'll count you in four. One, two, three, four.

Three, four.

MUSIC PLAYS

Yes!

You got through it! That's good!

'The boys are visiting a retail outlet

'to pick their costumes for the band.'

DALEK: They have nothing in my size!

'Alert! Alert! Dalek shoppers detected!'

UPBEAT MUSIC

Ethan chose the clothes. I'm a little bit nervous.

Really nervous and a little bit shy.

Sometimes he would wear a tie, but it's like a big bushy bowtie.

He'll probably pick some big glasses or something

because that's his sort of thing.

When I came out of the changing room and saw the others,

I was, like, "Wow! What are you... What are you wearing?"

And then Ethan was like, "Yeah, you guys look good. Not as good as me."

I think Ethan done an amazing job.

Because how did he know that it's going to look cool?

I think Ethan's a genius...maybe.

'Away from practice, Max has been very busy.'

I've been learning to sign for three months now

and I'm enjoying it a lot.

Ethan is here to see if he can assist in Max's training.

Young masters? Oh, dear!

K-9 unit will remain outside.

Cameraman, please show sign language lesson.

-Good morning.

-Good morning.

-What's your name?

-My...name is Max.

'Before I could only speak some sign language.

'I couldn't understand anything.'

Now, if I see someone signing, I could understand.

What is your signing name?

My signing name is Amy.

-You good?

-I'm good.

-A?

-Yes.

B.

H.

I think sign language is a really cool way of communicating.

-Z?

-Yes.

Today's rehearsal sees the arrival of a new rock

star for the band - Ethan's friend, Rosa.

I've known Ethan for almost a year now.

# Sun is shining in the sky... #

I thought it'd be really cool,

because it'll be good to get to know Ethan and the other boys more.

# And don't you know it's a beautiful new day, hey, hey... #

# See how the sun shines brightly... #

Our band's one of a kind, so it'll be even cooler -

we'll be really good.

It's great to have Rosa in now because she's helping

the audience understand the signing that Ethan is doing.

Ethan's working really hard to keep his signing to the music.

# And today is the day we've waited for... #

It's a bit of a nail-biter, because obviously they've made big

steps forward, but it's another thing to stand on stage

and actually deliver the song with the nerves kicking in.

It's a big thing and it's the first time we've ever performed together

as a group.

I feel very...REALLY HUGE nervous...

..and really, little bit smaller, exciting.

I hope it does go well, I hope it is a success.

If it isn't a success, then I'll just fall on my knees and cry,

but I hope it is.

Good luck, Ethan!

It is the day of the gig at last.

The pupils of Coleridge Primary School await. Enter the Time Lords!

Enter the audience!

Danger! Danger! Audience numbers larger than anticipated!

Alert! Dalek fleet incoming!

DALEK: This had better be good!

Good luck, Ethan!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# Sun is shining in the sky There ain't a cloud in sight

# It's stopped raining, everybody's in a-playing and don't you know

# It's a beautiful new day, hey, hey

# Running down the avenue See how the sun shines brightly

# In the city On the streets where once was pity

# Mr Blue Sky is living here today Hey, hey... #

GUITAR SOLO

# Mr Blue Sky please tell us why You had to hide away for so long

# So long, where did we go wrong? #

I really enjoyed it, I thought it was really exciting.

I thought they were really good. They knew what they were doing,

definitely.

You don't really get many bands that have people signing in them,

so, yeah, this was quite unique.

Out of ten, I'd give it 11, it was amazing.

Nine! Actually, no - ten!

DALEK: They were great, they will not be exterminated!

Ladies and gentlemen, on electric guitar we have...Max!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And on bass guitar we have Aidan!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And our main man, Ethan!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

I'm Rosa on the vocals!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We have been the Time Lords, thank you and good night!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The band was so awesome, we really rocked out

and we really did it as good as possible!

I can't believe, I thought it was going to be a few children,

but it was many, many, whole school in here.

People cheering saying, "Come on, come over here!"

If I had to estimate how many high-fives I gave...

I'm very proud of what the kids have achieved

because they put a performance together,

which they could never have done six weeks ago,

and they performed it live for an audience who've

really responded well, and I think it's an amazing achievement.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

We're definitely going to carry it on.

We hope to do loads more gigs and stuff.

Oh, dear!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd