Some of students and graduates from The Northern School of Art have been sharing their experiences of working behind the scenes on a major new feature film shot in the North-East last year.

Jackdaw, a new action thriller directed by Jamie Childs, who has worked on the likes of ‘The Sandman’ and ‘His Dark Materials’, and featuring actors Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Jenna Coleman and Rory McCann and an exclusive new track by Sam Fender, was filmed at locations across the Tees Valley and had its production base at the School’s neighbour, The Northern Film and TV Studios.

The film, which tells the story of a single action-packed night in the life of a fictional former motocross champion and army veteran who returns home to care for his brother after their mother dies, had its UK premiere on Teesside on January 24 and is being released in cinemas nationwide on January 26.

Meg Boyle, pictured below, who is in the second year of the School’s BA (Hons) Film, Television & Theatre Production degree, was employed as a supporting actor in a warehouse rave scene after responding to a casting call that was sent to students through The Northern Film and TV Studios.

“I enjoyed every second of the experience and feel very honoured to be invited to the premiere,” she said.

She explained that the process was very exciting: “After signing up we were each called in to be dressed by professionals from the costume department who curated our own unique 90s rave inspired costume that we would wear on the shoot. This really made me feel a part of the film production.

“On the day of the shoot we arrived at the studios to get into our costumes and have our makeup done to complete the full look. There was a lot of waiting around but the buzz in the air really made the time fly and we had the chance to chat with other supporting actors and soak up being on a real-life film set.

“We danced for hours on end as the director ran through the different shots and later ran away from the ‘police’. The embarrassment of dancing with no music soon faded as everyone really got into the role and gave it their all while raving away. It was physically tough and very cold, but the atmosphere was just unreal and it felt like we were not only on a film set but in a film itself.

“As a film student it was really interesting for me to watch a working set for a large-scale production in progress and also to see how we as supporting actors were moved in such a way to make the scene look busier than it was in reality. I’ve since used this technique on a music video project I did as part of my course last year.

“I would have never thought that I would have the chance to attend a film premiere when starting out at The Northern School of Art and this experience has really inspired me to keep pursuing my passion for film making and I look forward to what the future at the School holds for me.”

Charlie Poole, pictured below, who graduated from The Northern School of Art’s BA (Hons) degree in Production Design for Stage and Screen last year was an assistant set dresser on the Jackdaw production.

Now working freelance in television and theatre, having just come off the back of working the Snow White pantomime at Darlington Hippodrome with a long stint of work as an art department assistant on a TV show ahead of him, Charlie said he was one of the lucky individuals to be selected to work on the film.

“My role was to place bits of equipment and dress the location I was on,” he explained.

“I got to learn more about the set dressing role as I was able to ask more experienced crew members about why they were doing certain things and about other things they have done in their career.  Their advice has been very helpful and I have used what they taught me when doing similar roles since the production.”

Charlie added that the thing that he enjoyed the most was being in that type of work environment. “It was my first experience on a shooting location and I loved seeing everything come together for the final shoot.”

He added: “I feel honoured to be invited to the Teesside premiere for Jackdaw. Even though I had a small role in the production, I am really looking forward to seeing the final outcome, especially as a local to the area.”

Lewis King, pictured above, who graduated last year from the School’s BA (Hons) Model Making & Visual FX degree was offered the opportunity to be a set dresser on Jackdaw after working on some props for the production with a classmate.

Now a concept designer for an event prop company in Wetherby near Leeds, Lewis enjoyed his experience.

“My role involved detailing derelict warehouses for a couple of scenes and creating a hacker’s server room in a tower block,” he explained.

“The locations themselves were quite challenging environments being derelict and we were working in October outside, but other than that I got stuck right in.

“I asked plenty of questions to help me navigate an industry that was very new to me and found out how best to work in it. I was with an excellent, highly experienced team who were all a pleasure to work with. They all wanted me and my classmates to succeed.

Lewis is looking forward to attending the premiere; “It will be great to see some of the spaces I helped create on screen and I am very interested to see how they were shot and appear on camera. After seeing the dedication from everyone who worked on the film, I’m excited to see it all come together.”

A red-carpet premiere of Jackdaw will take place at Showcase Cinema de Lux Teesside in Stockton on Wednesday January 24 and the film will go on general release on Friday January 26.

Further information about The Northern School of Art’s industry-focused creative degree courses is available at www.northernart.ac.uk

The Northern Film and TV Studios is the North East’s only large-scale film and TV production facility and works in partnership with North East Screen and The Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority to provide full support and location services for production crews.