Every year at this time we have a film festival. It marks the point where we cross over from working on theatre skills into rehearsals and performances. We have two categories; fixed camera performed as a single continuous shot that can follow the action. The other category is for those clever people who can edit the work and play around with what video does with space, time and image. The winner of this category last year was Reading Theatretrain. They took the concept of putting on a show and drew in so many elements in their two minutes.
I’m sharing it here. It centres on a performer looking at a makeup mirror and it draws us into a story about the frenetic preparations for a performance. There is a big entry, costume rails and lots of other ingredients along the way. There is a big chocolate cake which gets greedily eaten, dance routines, cheerleaders, a random “Irish” figure and a yellow carpet. Our performer makes an entrance drawing everyone in – he’s a bit scary at first but steps forward with a smile and we are whisked off while everything gathers speed and breathlessly goes into reverse and ends up back at the make-up mirror. The performance, show biz soundtrack and editing bring all the elements together in such a way that it is a worthy winner. I like that it takes us on an unexpected journey and has so much variety.
The theme was arrivals and departures and the very different interpretations of that title made you realise how creative our creatives are! Not everyone has great expertise in telling a story on film but over the years I have noticed how even a simple offering empowers the participants and how wonderful to have a piece of work that you can keep and look at again in 5 or 10 years’ time.
This year the theme is winning and losing so I wonder who will come out on top this year. The entries are in and I’m forward to seeing the results.
Check out the entry on our YouTube Channel – https://youtu.be/W4GjpSp_Du8
