A film capturing the spirit of Middlesbrough in 2020 by a student from The Northern School of Art has attracted thousands of views since it was released online.

Kelis-Angel Moloney from Middlesbrough, a first year photography student at the School’s Middlesbrough campus, made the documentary, see below, over the Christmas break.

The sixteen-year-old said that she had wanted to make a documentary about her home town for a while and when she was given a mini drone for Christmas it was the perfect opportunity.

“Originally it was just going to be on Boro and Covid wasn’t going to be involved but I wanted to show how life has changed and as a community we stayed strong and that hopefully in 2021 there will be better times,” Kelis added.

The former Outwood Academy Acklam student, pictured below, said that it took her four to five days to film and edit with most of the footage being filmed on her new DJI Mini 2 drone and the other footage on her Sony a7iii camera with a Sigma 85mm 1.4 lens.

“I started to film a few days after Christmas and I wanted to release it on New Year’s Eve,” she explained.

“The main challenges were keeping the birds away from my drone, which was extremely risky, and choosing which Middlesbrough attractions to put in the video as I only had a few days to film.”

Of the people that feature in her film Kelis says: “My mam really helped me with this project as I am quite shy. She asked people from our local corner shop to feature in the video and one of our neighbours who is a key worker.

“It also includes my nana and grandad who I thought have struggled through these times, and my mam and dad as they’re both key workers.”

Kelis first started making videos when she was 8. “I loved to do card magic and collected over 400 decks of cards and then made promotional videos for card companies (see below). I’d now love to get products sent to me from places like Nike, JD and Adidas because I love sneaker photography and streetwear photography.”

A student on the UAL Extended Diploma in Photography at The Northern School of Art since September, she said that: “College has been great, getting out the house and making new friends who are into similar things. It has really helped me get noticed a little more with people seeing my work too.

“In this college everyone is unique in their own way, nobody judges you at all and people are so open-minded so you can share your ideas.”

Kelis’s dream is to live in New York and to do anything related to photography, filmmaking and videography in the future.

“It is one of my favourite places and I visited a few years ago. I wasn’t as experienced as I am now with photography and videography but I did make a short video when I was there.” (see below)

With another lockdown just announced her more immediate plans are to film another documentary.

“I can call it Lockdown part 3,” she commented.

The Northern School of Art’s Photography lecturer, Sarah Christie, said: “Kelis is producing outstanding work at such a young age, her passion, dedication and commitment to her practice is producing some breathtaking results.

“The ED Photography course aims to support and nurture the existing talents of our students and take them to where they want to go, Kelis’s journey is well underway. We are excited to see what she will do next!”

Kelis is studying on the UAL Extended Diploma in Photography course at The Northern School of Art’s Middlesbrough campus. For further details visit: https://northernart.ac.uk/study-with-us/middlesbrough-campus/a-level-ual-diploma-access-hnd-courses/ual-extended-diploma-photography/