Goole Straight 8
Our young people in Goole took on and beat adults in one of the most fun but challenging filmmaking courses - winning awards in Hollywood!
Straight 8 invites anyone anywhere to make a short film on one cartdidge of super 8 - without editing. The first time filmmakers see their film is at the premiere! So respected is this course, with it's focus on pre-prodcution planning, that select films premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
We created a mini-film school for our young people aged 12+, who learnt a wide range of filmmaking techniques with from a team of industry professionals led by David.
With young people today used to being able to make films on smart phones, working with film for the first time presented them with not just a novelty, but a unique set of challenges - not least the necessity to plan their films to the second! And as planning is the key to success, our young film-makers created amazing films.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed the entire process and it has encouraged me to continue making films and pursue a career in film making. I would also like to thank everyone who helped me to make this possible. I am really 'over the moon' Hannah.
"Going Up" won the Best Foriegn Comedy award. Directed by Harvey Griffin (aged 15) and co-written by Sam Pratt it featurs young crew members and actors from Goole. Harvey gave an acceptance speech live to the Hollywood audience from his home via a live video link. He said he was honoured and “proper chuffed” to win the award!
Hannah Turner (aged 13) made her first film aged 7. Her film “Man from the Moon” was awarded finalist for Best Foreign Drama and combines animation with live action. It again used a young cast and crew from Goole supported by a terrific performance by Alec Cark (aged 77) who travelled from Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire to play the title role. He said, “Great news about Hollywood. I knew I'd get there one day!”
‘We are immensely proud of what these young people have achieved; they really put so much hard work into the planning and creativity in these films. I’m delighted that they have won awards in Hollywood, a great opportunity for two teenagers from Goole to showcase the fantastic talents the youth of Goole has to offer.’
Charlie Studdy, Arts & Leisure Manager at Junction
‘This is an amazing achievement for these young filmmakers – to win International Film Awards in Hollywood shows how Yorkshire and Humber is a hotbed of filmmaking talent across all ages. I’d like to congratulate both teams on this brilliant success, next stop the OSCARs!’
Sally Joynson, Chief Executive at Screen Yorkshire
Goole Silent Movie Project
It all started when Goole Arts Officer, Nicola Dixon, took a group of young people to an International Youth Theatre festival in Poland and a screening of Charlie Chaplin's 'The Kid'. Amazed at how much this silent film from 1921 captivated her young people, Nicola came up with a great idea. Engage young people in their local history, through the making of a film in the style of the time period. Once inlisted, I added to that the guiding principle that we should use film - not digital technology - just the processes available at the time. Instead of green screens, we used back projection and optical effects. No cheating. No shortcuts.
The power of that idea has now become film history itself. The original Super 8 Film is preserved at the Yorkshire Film Archieve and exhibited on their website. The resulting drama film, The Lost Princess, was also chosen for the British Film Institute’s Mediatheque: Yorkshire Collection - 100 films exploring life in the region from the 19th century to the present day.
The Lost Princess is a fictional film based on the Russian Princess Anastasia and the circumstances surrounding her disappearance and death. In the film she has escaped from Russia to Goole where she is subsequently murdered. Co-ordinated by Goole Town Council, the project involved a group of young people between the ages of 13 and 20 who researched, wrote, directed, filmed, animated, acted in and edited and performed an original score for the film.
We also produced a companion newsreel about local hero, Dr AD Homles.
The film making project was made possible by a grant from Screen Yorkshire and UKfilm Council through the Regional Investment Fund for England. D
Instead of green-screens, we used back projection in this shot.
The local councillor came down to visit the set - and ended up in a cockroach infested bed - stop motion cockroaches of course!
Way to much fun not to have a go: myself with fellow programme director Peter Kershaw (left) in our cameo roles!
Stars for the night at the gala premiere