A short film competition has produced a series of sixty second films featuring some
of north Devon's most interesting characters. North Devon Moving Image (NDMI) ran
the Short Shorts competition to encourage local people to submit their own
contributions to the community film making organisation's collection. The first prize went to Jason Parker for his film Why Paint? featuring local artist
Derek Spencer. BBC Radio Devon presenter Judi Spiers was one of the judges. She
chose Jason's film for her shortlist saying "Great use of music complimenting the
elemental shots ... that and such a personal story really created a mood - not
always easy in such a short amount of time."
Second prize, a night out at The George Hotel in South Molton, went to Alice Bollen
for her one minute film about Stephen Perham, Clovelly Harbour Master and fisherman.
Alice says she chose Stephen as her subject "because he has such an interesting
life. Stephen represents many generations; past, present and future, whose work is
part of the fabric of rural North Devon tradition. I wanted to convey the feeling
that for Stephen, bringing in the catch was as normal and everyday as driving to and
from the office is for others."
In third place was Oscar Adams's Short Short about Torrington's town crier and
erstwhile Amsterdam drag queen Big Al, winning tickets to Bideford Cinema. Judge
Joel Cooper, Head of Content at the North Devon Journal said of Oscar's film " talk
about a colourful character! I loved the little snippets in to this man’s
fascinating life and would be eager to hear more."
Coming fourth was a group of talented young film makers from Goodleigh Primary
School who produced a charming profile of their school's postman Chris. The
children said: "We chose Chris as our colourful character because he delivers our
post everyday, and always says "good morning" with a smile. We thought it was really
cool that he is a volunteering DJ on the voice. It was really kind of him to let us
come and see what he does. He also makes curries to help raise money for charities;
he has cooked curry for our school to raise money which helped us to go on more
school trips. When we went to his house it was filled with the scent of spices!
Something else we found interesting about Chris was his Lotus because not many
postmen, DJs have a flashy car in Barnstaple! He is an all round soulful person!"
Thanks to North Devon Theatres the children and their teacher, Miss Grant, will be
going to see this year's panto Jack and the Beanstalk for their prize.
The Short Shorts collection is available to view on the Films page of the North Devon Moving Image website.
Keep an eye out for our next competition coming early next year!
Amanda McCormack and Peter Jewell present
first prize to Derek Spencer who collected on behalf of Jason Parker
Still image from Why Paint? by
Jason Parker showing artist Derek Spencer
The Winners:- First Prize - Sony Handycam from J&A Cameras - Why Paint? by Jason Parker
- Second Prize - a night out at The George in South Molton - Stephen Perham by Alice Bollen
- Third Prize - Bideford Cinema tickets - Big Al by Oscar Adams
- Fourth Prize - tickets to North Devon Theatres Panto - Chris the Postie by Goodleigh Primary School
- Judi Spiers - BBC Radio Devon
- Jo Stewart-Smith - Independent Film Producer
- Joel Cooper - Head of Content, North Devon Journal
- Peter Jewell - Co-Founder, Bill Douglas Cinema Collection
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