Signal’s project manager Steph Bryant, along with 3 other young participants, Ruth, Lawrence and Jay from past BFI Film Academies, were all kindly given the chance to attend the Flatpack film festival held this weekend in Birmingham, thanks to a generous bursary from Film Hub North.
Flatpack annually takes over venues across Birmingham and is a culmination of films, art and performances, from the surreal and strange to the fantastic and wonderful.
The group are in their 2nd day at the festival, where they’ve also been attending the MyFlatpack workshops learning vlogging skills from popular and seasoned youtube vloggers.
Steph says ‘I didn’t know that there was this much variety of people on YouTube, Ruth, Lawrence and Jay have shown me all sorts of bonkers personalities who have taken the internet by storm, one YouTuber who is rude, crude, immature but hilarious, has used sound effects, graphics and even interviews with his parents. They’re fantastic and I can’t wait to share what we’ve learnt with other groups.’
Youtubers, youTube personalities, or YouTube celebrities, as they are known, are celebrities in their own right and this workshop has given young people the insight into how to manage their own channel.
Jay says ‘I’ve enjoyed the workshop, I’m not sure if vlogging is something that I want to actually do myself but one of my favourite YouTubers is Casey Neistat, he updates a video everyday. It’s been really eye-opening to understand the elements you need to be a successful blogger, which includes:
- Having an interesting character
- Be in character
- Push your brand
- You can work in a team
- Keep it snappy
- Always look into the lens
- Be consistent
Ruth says ‘I mingled with loads of new people, and at the festival went to a special shakespeare film screening, I thought it was fantastic, I’d never been to a film festival and didn’t know what to expect really but it’s great to see so much artwork and films all in one place.’
Lawrence says ‘It’s great that we got these bursaries from Film Hub North to visit a city’s film festival, because there’s not anything like this in Barrow where we are from and it’s expensive to get down by train. I’ve also never been to a film festival and can’t wait to visit more in the future.’
To go to MyFlatpack Click here
To go Flatpack website click here
[slideshow_deploy id=’5620′]
