Tuesday 25 November 2014

Sixty Second Snapshots Capture Local Characters for Short Film Collection

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!
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPzSlz_tCkX8QA68aSRGJtr5Hx20-OC0Q•
 Amanda McCormack and Peter Jewell present first prize to Derek Spencer who collected on behalf of Jason Parker
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPzSlz_tCkX8QA68aSRGJtr5Hx20-OC0Q•
 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
The Judges:
  • 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 
Photos copyright NDMI (All rights reserved)

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