Film students from CCAD Hartlepool are celebrating their win at the Royal Television Society Yorkshire Student Awards 2018. Level 6 students, Sarah Maher, Janice Lee, Jamie Jones, Bethany Taylor and Shaun Hunt were victorious in the Comedy and Entertainment award, which was judged at a ceremony in Sheffield on 21st March.

We’re proud members of RTS Yorkshire as Yorkshire continues to hit the headlines for  new productions and facilities in the region.  They also have a strong reputation for highlighting the burgeoning talent coming from prestigious universities and colleges through their student awards, as by choosing Yorkshire as the RTS region to be associated with, our students are competing against institutions such as The Northern Film School, which is the name of the film department of Leeds Beckett University, University of York, University of Leeds and University of Sheffield.

Kathryn Clapham, caught up with Sarah Maher, Janice Lee, Bethany Taylor, Jamie Jones who alongside Shaun Hunt were the team responsible:

Can you tell me what Cirque is about?

Sarah: Cirque du Muerte is about a father who takes his daughter and his new younger girlfriend to a creepy circus for a night of fun. But not is all as it seems as the circus workers have other plans in store for the family.

Janice: I was inspired to write it when I went over to production design and saw the amazing set that they had built, and having a daughter who also likes to get her own way, and loves to acts it seemed to fit.

How did it feel when you found out you had been shortlisted for the award?

Sarah: It felt surreal but I also felt very proud being nominated out of hundreds of other films and Universities across the region.

Janice:  I couldn’t believe it as I am sure that the standard will have been really high, and this is the first film that I have written and directed so the fact that it was even considered is a little overwhelming.

Jamie: I found out through our Director that we were shortlisted and it still feels crazy to think that something I’ve worked hard on has been noticed and praised by other people, seeing all our names on the list along with other universities was a nice reminder that the work we do here is all building up towards preparing us for the real world.

Bethany: It was pretty exciting and quite surprising, but for the amazing camera work and set design it might be well deserved!

How do you feel now you’ve won the award?

Sarah: Winning the award is amazing,  putting an award to our names when we go into the industry after University could be invaluable.

Janice: It is really great for everyone to be recognised for all of the hard work and effort that they put in. Everyone on the cast and crew put so much in to the project I couldn’t have done it without them.

Jamie: Winning is the icing on the cake, just to be recognised and compared to other university students is good enough for me. We all worked especially hard on Cirque because we enjoyed filming together and experimenting with new techniques, and for me that was the beneficial part.

Bethany: Excited and shocked, I suppose! It is something to be proud of for cast, crew and all the course.

What are you working on at the moment ?

Sarah: A lot of the same crew from Cirque are working on a Final Major Project together called Afterlife, which is about a girl called Hope who visits different dream-like worlds. I am also directing a mockumentary called My Name is John, which stars John Archer; a Penn and Teller famous magician.

Janice: I have written a script called Hope for FMP which I will also be directing. It is about a little girl who is in a coma due to her Mother crashing the car while drunk-driving. We follow her through her dreams / unconsciousness as she tries to fight her way back to life. After working with a professional cinematographer on a film I wrote in the Autumn I have a much better understanding of creative lighting so I am really pushing for this to be something special.

Jamie: My FMP work consists of two projects – both short dramas – and are quite experimental. We’re definitely going all out on these productions, during pre-production I’ve been experimenting with visual effect techniques and colour grading.

Bethany: Personally, I’m editing two short films for FMP; Echoes of Silence, a little bit sci-fi, a little bit thriller; and Trick of the Dark, a psychological piece about isolation and a group of people trapped together.

Are you hoping to develop a career in the film industry?

Sarah: I would love to develop a career in filmmaking, especially cinematography; there are not a lot of female cinematographers in the industry and I would like to change that.

Janice: After graduation I will be going on to get my PGCE and write. I will continue to write scripts but I am currently working on a children’s book based in Hartlepool.

Jamie: I worked as the Editor, Visual Effect Artist and Colourist on Cirque, as I am on my FMP as well. I’m hoping to get started as a Freelance Editor once I leave CCAD, and my Professional Practice module is helping to understand what comes next and how to prepare ourselves.

Bethany: I am! I’m hoping to pursue a career in film editing and post production.

https://www.playbuzz.com/item/913db4c5-b9bf-470d-9a37-a523d08965ba