Looking China 2014 | Global Filmmaking Project by Uni Students

LookingChina_2014LogoFour of our graduating students, and two students from Cardiff University, along with the University of Lincoln School of Film & Media’s Senior Lecturer Marcella Forster undertook a 16-day filmmaking project in Dalian called Looking China 2014. Its aim was to enhance cultural communication between China and the rest of the world through the art of film.  Soon-to-be Class of 2014 Ash Wilks, Tom McKie, Luke Winter and Alex Whitcombe worked as media producers with fellow student filmmakers from universities in China, America, Australia, India, Singapore, South Korea and France.  

Participating students produced 10-minute films, which were screened at an exclusive ceremony earlier this month. Now the shorts will be shown accross China and worldwide from the USA to the UK. Marcella outlined our students’ short films: Tom displayed to us the architectural heritage and splendour of the city; Alex’s study of the spiritual focus in Dalian’s physical activities introduced us to some captivating characters; Luke captured the young people of Dalian and the fascinating phenomenon of Lightning Play; and you can see Ash’s film here, which brought home to us the care that Dalian workers put into their jobs and the pleasure they derive from them. [Ash, Luke and Tom have their own production company called Wallbreaker, see the services they provide here.]

Continue reading

UNTITLED Independent Film Night by Quandary Productions

2009 alumnus Michael Henry is one of our inspirational media mentors and has posted about Quandary Productions first indie film night, last week, at The Angel Coffee House in Lincoln (UK):  

Michael-Henry_untitled-film-night_QuandaryProductions

Hosted by Quandary’s very own Tom Bridger, the night was a chance for low-to-no budget short films to be showcased to fresh audiences. When first starting out as a filmmaker it can be hard to get your work shown. This is something we appreciated and wish to remedy within the local area. The night consisted of several short films continue reading →

Photos on FB  |  Submit your short for September’s indie film night. Email: quandaryproductions@googlemail.com  |

Lewis Coates, Class of 2014 | Trailer for ‘Synoptica’ Short

Synoptica marks our final project completed at university and we’re very pleased with the outcome.  The final short film has been praised by many tutors and students at the degree show, put forward for an RTS award and sent to international film festivals.  We’d like to thank our LSM tutors and other lecturers at the University of Lincoln who have shared their positive views on the piece and have helped us along the way. Here is the trailer for our futuristic drama.


[Crew: Lewis Coates Director, co-writer, co-producer | Mikaela Smith camera, co-writer, co-producer | Jordan Chulk camera, editor | Matt Swinn sound, editor | Wing Hangg-Chung co-writer ]

Synoptica_crew&cast

Crew & Cast on set

We were lucky with the casting. The script captivated the attention of Nathalie Cox  [Exam (2009), Kingdom of Heaven (2005), The Double (2013)] who auditioned for the lead role. Actors Nathalie and Chris Grierson (Alice in Wonderland (2010), Holby City ‘Everything to play for’ (2011) both worked very well together on set and developed the lead characters extremely well.

We had to overcome many location and budget problems, which put major pressures on the production’s schedule and pushed shooting back over two weeks. Continue reading

Richard McCormack, Class of 2009 | Red Bee Media’s BBC Four Doco

RedBeeMedia_logoI’m a graduate of 2009 and I work as a creative for Red Bee Media. It makes content, promos and designs branding for a range of clients. However Red Bee is probably most well known in the industry as being the BBC’s creative agency. You know the swimming hippos on BBC1? Red Bee did that. However this post isn’t so much about me; rather it’s about my creative director, his co-producer and a ten year project. It turned into a documentary ‘100 seconds to beat the world: The David Rudisha Story’, which is a co-production with Hill Ten film. The doco will be on-air 22 July at 10pm on BBC Four. Here’s the trail.

A decade ago Jim and Ed set out to make a documentary about Brother Colm, an enigmatic Irish teacher who has also coached many of Kenya’s most celebrated athletics including Wilson Kipketer, Matthew Birir and Peter Rono. Jim and Ed wanted to discover why a man without any professional training or athletic experience had managed to consistently develop gold medal winning athletes. However on 9th August 2012 the subject of the documentary changed, when David Rudisha ran the fastest 800 metres in history and took gold at the London Olympics. Jim and Edward looked back at their rushes and realised they had a range of footage and stills of David as a shy teenager developing into an athlete. So the documentary was refocused on David.

I came on board over the last year or so when Jim asked me to film an interview with Lord Seb Coe for the documentary. One bleak Tuesday morning, I met Jim outside Coe’s offices in Victoria armed with a Canon 5D, a Canon XF305 and a bed sheet for a backdrop (which Jim had spent thirty minutes the night before ironing). Continue reading

Andrew West Reflects on Post-Uni | What are you going to do now?

LSM’s graduating students, Class of 2014, will no doubt get asked what’s next? Soon-to-be alumnus Andrew West – a freelance camera operator, editor and award-winning photographer – shares his thoughts on that question and writes: refrain from asking what I’m going to do in the future … simply ask me what I’m doing in this moment now.

Andrew-West__2014Grad

For hire!

The last three years of University has been the greatest learning experience of my life so far and I’m due to graduate in a few months time. I feel like this requires a fresh blog, a new way of presenting what I’m doing and building on a foundation of experiences which have taught me a lot about who I am and what kind of person I want to be. It’s a really strange feeling, having had so much direction over the last 21 years of my life to suddenly be hit with the thought suspending question by many of ‘What are you going to do now?’, the answer to that, as I have realised over the last few months is that it doesn’t really matter. I don’t need to lead a life permanently set in stone, to immediately settle down in a continual routine, to become another brick in the wall. I’m lucky to be in a position in which I have liberty to wander in whatever direction draws my energy towards, so intend to do precisely that. Continue reading

Class of 2009, Michael Henry | ‘Time and Place’ Trailer

Michael Henry_2009GradPassionate filmmaker Michael Henry set up Quandary Productions. He said members of the indie production team strive to make both short and feature films of a professional quality, on the slimmest of budgets.” The latest ‘low budget epic film’ is called a Time and Place, which is due to be screened in October 2014.  In the meantime, Mike said you can see the official trailer:

We’ve finally been able to release the Official Trailer to the film, which we feel captures the tone of the intense dramatic moments and the surreal comedic moments. So far, feedback is looking great, with a lot of people eager to watch the film upon release.

‘TIME AND PLACE’ is our fifth feature film. Having crowdfunded nine months ago, shooting wrapped in March this year, and we are currently working on Post-Production. Continue reading

Class of 2010, Jack Shelbourn | Freelance DoP

Jack-Shelbourn_mid-cameraI studied my MA in Media Production between September 2009 and September 2010. I graduated in 2011 with a Distinction. Since then I have moved into a career as a Director of Photography. I’m very excited that HIDEAWAY, which is a new short film (written by Gabriel Henrique Gonzalez) that I shot and co- produced, has been selected for the No Gloss Film Festival in Leeds. 

Another short film, FRAMEd (shot in Italy and London) was recently nominated for Best Short at the London Independent Film Festival. Continue reading

20 Grads for 20 Week Advanced Film Course | Lincoln Film School

An exciting new industry-backed Lincoln Film School (LFS), based at the Twickenham Film Studios in South West London, is being run by the LSM for passionate filmmakers.

LincolnFilmSchool_TwickenhamStudios_LOGO-croppedOver twenty weeks, from 22 September 2014 to 28 February 2015, you’ll learn advanced film production with industry professionals. The course fee is £9,500 for the 3-terms and LSM graduates or University of Lincoln alumni can apply for a 10% discount. Leading the new LFS is Lincoln School of Media’s Senior Lecturer Brian Hall, a Cinematography pro, who said that places are limited to 20 graduates at TW1, so get in touch with him ASAP! Here’s Brian’s official LFS Invitation to Graduates (both graduating students and alumni):

“The University of Lincoln School of Media is delighted to be able to offer you the opportunity of a place on our industry-sponsored advanced practical film making course, delivered by LSM via the Lincoln Film School and based at the famous Twickenham Film Studios (TW1). Continue reading

LSM Showcase | Final Day | MHT Building | University of Lincoln

Bradley-Hart_LSMStudentLSM’s student Bradley Hart’s captured images, so far, of LSM Showcase and you can find his photos on Flickr here.  Today’s schedule at the LSM Showcase 2014 is from 12-noon to 5pm. The organisers of Lincoln School of Media’s end of year degree show said:  

It is your last chance to come down and see what amazing projects have been created by the LSM Class of 2014! A display of some of the most cutting edge and forward thinking work you can imagine. Feel free to come along at any point. LSM Showcase | @LSMShowcase | FB |

LSMShowcase_allimages-nodate

 

 

 

 

 

 

The public can enjoy a range of artwork, multi-media production and live performance across the College of Arts, which has a two-month exhibition programme to celebrate the work of final year students. More at the College of Arts Degree Show site.

LSM Showcase | Visual Programme | MHT | University of Lincoln UK

LSMShowcase_LOGO_croppedWhat’s on at the Lincoln School of Media’s degree show called LSM Showcase? See this visual programme, which will help you to find final year students’ work in the MHT Building on the Brayford Pool campus at the University of Lincoln.  The video was created by LSM students Emily Cowlishaw, Catherine Chibnall, with thanks to Alex O’Brien and Rachel Dodds and music by students in Audio Production and Media Production.

LSM-Showcse_Thur29May_9pmTHIS evening the LSM Showcase is still going strong, ahead of another day tomorrow, and you’re invited to network in the EMMTEC Lecture Theatre. Then from 9pm the organisers would like you to join in the celebrations at L4 Bar (just across the Brayford, on Guildhall Street) ‘for some drinks, music and merriment until late into the night!’   Follow @LSMShowcase | On FaceBook    Continue reading