Last week all of Year 12 enjoyed a wonderful bonding day as they got to know each other during the One Day Film School workshop on filmmaking and visual media creation, run by Young Film Academy. In the morning students learnt about the history of film, screenwriting techniques, camerawork tips and common mistakes to avoid. One highlight was certainly the fight choreography session. After analysing James Bond and Indiana Jones fight scenes, they filmed their own screen punch! 

In the afternoon, students worked in teams to create their own Ten-Shot films, based on a classic narrative, and self-allocated the roles writer, director, producer, screenwriter and actors within their film crew. Films were shown at a film festival at the end of the day and judged by VIP Mr Shoults and our workshop instructors, filmmaker and director Josh  Dickinson and actor Jake Waring. 

“Most adverts take several months to make, so the challenge of making a successful short film in just ninety minutes can be daunting,” said Josh. “However, the groups gelled exceptionally well, showed great leadership and teamwork, and no-one missed the deadline. Their final task was to introduce their film, like at the Cannes film festival, and give it a poster tagline, such as ‘In space no-one can hear you scream.’ 

Well done to Venus, Addy, Millie, Rani, Carmen, Rithi, Leela and Sofia who created the winning film ‘The Ghost of You’ and were awarded with a golden statue. 

The judges said: “The winning film told an engaging, entertaining story that was technically superb. The judges were particularly impressed by the excellent performances and high standard of camerawork, editing and sound design. Congratulations to the winning team – hope to see you at the (real) Oscars one day!”

Head of Sixth Form, Dr Pearce, said: “One Day Film School was a brilliant day and full of laughter. Most importantly, our Year 12 and 13 students can get to know each other and bond at the start of the academic year.”