Here at Signal an exciting, new journey has begun for a group of promising young filmmakers, all from Cumbria and North Lancashire and all with a passion for various areas of filmmaking. For the third time here at Signal, the curtain came down for 16-19s to apply to be on our BFI Film Academy, a filmmaking training programme led by The British Film Institute and delivered by various regional facilitators around the UK. Signal Film and Media is one of three North West training providers for the BFI and our aim is to harness young filmmaking talent interested in a real career in the film industry.

The application process was competitive and our successful applicants were carefully selected for this intense filmmaking course that will run until February next year. We would like to thank all of those who took the time to apply.

The first filmmaking workshop got the ball rolling and our filmmaking juices flowing last Saturday. The first session was led by London Director Samantha Harrie, who engaged the group in an in-depth understanding of the roles of actors, directors and camera operators.

During October half-term we jammed in a week full of workshops for our BFI young members, who have already gained access to understanding technical areas of film including camera, lighting, production design, sound and directing. The group had 3 sessions learning about narrative conventions in filmmaking led by Roy Stafford, a renowned freelance lecturer and theorist working in cinema-based film education.

The group were introduced to the process of script-writing which was delivered by local acclaimed writer Zosia Wand and director Matt Palmer (Director of Gasman).  The scriptwriting sessions led to the final shoot which took place at Ford Park Community Garden. They now start their edited and post-production process. Watch out for the finished film to be screened at Cooke’s Cinema early next year.

The script written by the group is a coming of age story about a troubled teenager whose chance encounter with a kind stranger marks a turning point in his life. The film will star Niek Versteeg, rising young star of teen TV series Wolfblood, who has also featured in Waterloo Road and Inspector George Gently.

BEHIND THE SCENES SHOOT

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TECHNICAL SKILLS WORKSHOPS

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