Students enjoy 'reel' taste of movie-making

Imagination and creativity were at the fore when A level students from all over south Wales recently visited the University of Wales, Newport for taster sessions in film-making and computer game animation.
The youngsters, aged 17 and 18, took part in a series of workshops exploring documentary film-making and the elements of creating characters for computer games. By the end of the day they had successfully shot and edited their own short films or created original animation characters on state of the art computers.
“We watched videos made by course leader Chris Morris and picked up quite a few tips,” said 17-year-old Barnaby Atkins from Duffryn High School. “We then set about making our own short video, a thriller called ‘Ring’ set in a public phone box.”
His fellow film-maker, Emma Day, added: “In the film we tried to use some of things we’d learned earlier, by expanding on the themes of tension and suspense through the use of unusual camera angles and inventive sound design.
“I’ve really enjoyed learning about the practicalities of film-making. This is the first time any of us have done video-making and editing on-screen. It’s been a great hands-on experience, very different from some universities’ taster days where you just get sample lectures.”
Meanwhile, other students opted for a taste of creating cartoon characters for animation films and computer games.
Oliver Waite, 17, from St Julians, who is studying multimedia at Coleg Gwent’s City of Newport Campus, created a cat-like figure in a hostile environment as part of the exercise. “I’m very interested in the course,” said Oliver, “and I’m probably going to come to Newport and study either film or art.”
(GB)