On Friday Year 12 and 13 took part in an fun Sixth Form bonding day through the One Day Film School workshop on film making and visual media, delivered by Young Film Academy

In the morning, they learned the essentials:

• Film History: from the early days of film to the latest in special effects
• Fight Choreography: analysing classic fight scenes then filming their own roundhouse punch in the courtyard!
• Camera: learning to film like a pro, and tips and tricks to avoid common mistakes
• Screenwriting: learning the 3 things every good script needs, how to create memorable characters (and make us care)

Next up was the 10 Shot Challenge: pupils worked in groups to create silent (with music) films of up to two minutes based on a classic narrative (eg. ‘Someone is kidnapped, an attempted rescue’).

Then it was time for the Oscars: the judges (Young Film Academy representatives) took their seats for the world premiere of pupils’ films, and to decide who would win Best Motion Picture, Best Performance and Best Technical Achievement.

Our winners were:

Best Motion Picture: “The Stolen Child”

Best Performance: “Til Death Do Us Part”

Best Technical Achievement: “Poor Postlethwaite”

Head of Sixth Form, Dr Pearce said, “It is always great to see the creative, inspired and outright hilarious films produced by the Sixth Form as a part of the One Day Film School.  It fills me with excitement for the year ahead seeing what talented young people we will be working with during their A levels.”