Head of Lincoln School of Film & Media (LSFM) Dr Sarah Barrow: Great news – we have 2 nominations for the Midlands Royal TV Society awards this year in the student category. Every year for the past 12 (roughly!) we’ve been nominated and most years we’ve won at least one award; one year we also clinched a national award. The team of graduates who made these 2 films are also those who went to China this summer.
The student team were Thomas Mckie, Ashley Wilks, Luke Winter and Alexander Whitcombe (and at the time the four were Wallbreaker Productions) who have been nominated for the 2014 Royal Television Society (Midlands) Student Awards. Their films are in the student categories: ‘Comedy & Entertainment’ for Facebook Anonymous and in ‘Drama’ for The Last Fisherman – in the latter, location sound and mixing was by visiting US student Rob Paulson.
NEWS UPDATE 30 Oct: Facebook Anonymous did win an RTS regional award. Yay! The satricial film will be put forward for the national RTS Award nominations (held next Spring in London). Here’s a clip of the students at the RTS regional awards:
Now our Class of 2014 sum up the two nominations: Facebook Anonymous is a satirical, 25-minute mockumentary that reveals the dangers behind Facebook addiction. The Last Fisherman story encompasses a young man and his father who face family friction when the commercial fisherman are hit by drastic quota cuts. Here’s a behind the scenes montage from The Last Fisherman.
In addition to the RTS nomination, The Last Fisherman film has been selected to be screened this month at the 14th International Student Film Festival Pisek 2014.
Tom’s camera work on The Last Fisherman has been shortlisted in the top six films for the Bill Vinten GTC University Awards. He said: things seem to be going well at the moment … trying to earn enough to pay and all this it’s a bit mad. But it’s great to be nominated for these awards.
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- Tom McKie, DoP
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- Ash Wilks, Producer
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- Luke Winter, Director
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- Alex Whitcombe, Director
Senior Lecturer Chris Hainstock was the tutor on both RTS nominated films. These four – Ash, Luke, Alex and Tom – were my third year students in 2013/14 and I am obviously very pleased for them. Here Chris recalls the making of The Last Fisherman:
The students formed a strong production ethic quite early on during their Media Production degree and made two very strong films in the third year – Facebook Anonymous and The Last Fisherman.
The team planned The Last Fisherman with care and attention to all the details, from the location in Staithes, to the fishing boat, the town itself and the smaller props and art direction challenges. They also had quite a considerable list of safety issues to contend with. They decided to shoot The Last Fisherman using one of our new Canon C100 cameras as well as DSLRs and even a Go-Pro for certain shots. For the sound recording they also had visiting US audio student Robert Paulson to help.
I think why The Last Fisherman is gaining such interest lies in the fact that it builds on a strong tradition of what might be called classic film grammar. It takes a relatively simple story, based on a well honed script by one of the group – Luke Winter. To me there are shades of British films from decades ago, such as Local Hero, whilst at the same time using the latest high definition cameras its style echoes much of what is best about British television drama today, with thoughtfully composed shots, combined with subtle editing. The viewer is quickly immersed in the story and is left afterwards with a lasting memory of a snapshot, a glimpse into the lives of others. The group also tried to contextualise the story against the backdrop of the struggle local fishermen are having against the power of the mechanised producers – though this is understated and only really hinted at. The ISFF Student Festival entry will be an interesting test of its international appreciation.
Key dates this month are: 14th International Student Film Festival Pisek 17-19th Oct; Bill Vinten GTC University Awards 22nd Oct; and RTS (Midlands) 30th Oct.