The Award-winning Film 'Time Report' Nominated for Best School Production 2013

The children from Perryfields School have become real celebrities after winning the First Light Award for Best Film by Under 12s. Now they have another awards ceremony to attend  as their amazing short film 'Time Report', which is a project funded by First Light and The Ernest Cook Trust, is nominated for Best School Production at Limelight Film Awards 2013! 

The young filmmakers are passing on their message about preserving the environment by telling the story of a reporter travelling through time and reporting on the ecological state of Earth at different time periods. 

You can see what the news will look like in year 2091 by watching their show broadcasted directly from a space station. 

The young talents, with the support of Signals Media Arts Centre, came up with the script, constructed the set and props, which included a space station built from recycled materials, shot the film, made the sound effects and learned more about working with camera, green screen, sound, directing, writing, acting and editing.

Their efforts, enthusiasm and brilliant work didn't stay unnoticed and on 19th March 2013, 'Time Report' was awarded at First Light Awards ceremony in London! We can't describe the joy and excitement in the air so instead we will show you their happy faces. 

Recently the film was screened as part of Kino Flow: Colchester Children and Families Film Festival at Firstsite, Colchester. 

Now the school children have another opportunity to showcase their work and receive recognition from the industry. They will walk on the red carpet on 6th of June at Troxy along with 500 other filmmakers, celebrities, film and media personalities, artists and performers for the Limelight Film Awards 2013. 

"The standard of entries were also very high making the shortlisting an impossible task" say Limelight.

We are very proud of them and we know they deserve the award. : ) 

How important is having computer and media skills?

A recent research from The Prince's Trust shows that having computer skills is crucial for securing employment. 

The results show that 10 % of the young people cannot send their CV online and are embarrassed by their lack of computer skills. 17% admit they do not apply for jobs which require basic computer knowledge and believe they would be in work today if they had improved these skills. 

We can confirm that, judging from our own observations. After Media and Computer Skills courses we ran in Rowhedge, Jaywick and Tiptree, supported by TCHC, Skills Funding Agency and European Social Fund, some of the people started a new job just after the course and most of them felt more confident using internet and new technology:

"As I had no previous  knowledge, I found the photography and filmmaking really useful. Also the session on social media - no prior experience of Facebook or Twitter. 

It has given me the confidence to move out of my comfort zone and try doing something very different." Ian, Colchester, Essex

We live in a society that increasingly becomes more and more digitised. Our lives are centred around technology. Therefore improving on your computer literacy can not only help you in your career, but also in other spheres of life. 

We, Signals Media Arts Centre, are embracing new technology and innovation and this is why we are offering more new and exciting courses and workshops in Colchester aiming at improving your computer and media skills. 

Three-session Web Design Course - £110

We are running this course twice this year. Choose from these dates:

Wed 24th, Thurs 25th and Mon 29th April 2013, 6 - 9pm and 

Mon 11th, Wed 13th and Thurs 14th November, 6 - 9pm. If you are looking for some tuition in designing your own website, our 3-session course is just the ticket. Our professional web designer has tons of experience in creating beautifully crafted websites using the free online software 'Wordpress'.

NEW - Spring Photography - £25

On Friday 3rd May 2013, 10am - 2pm we introduce our new Spring photography workshop.It includes outdoor shooting guided by Nick Wood from Unshaken Photography and then back to Signals to learn how to perform basic adjustments to your photos using Photoshop. You can either bring your own camera or use one of our Canon Digital SLRs. Suitable for adults and families. 

Photoshop 1 - £25

Wed 15th May 2013, 6 - 9pmAn introduction to the basics of Adobe Photoshop. Bring your own photos in on a memory stick and we'll show you how to digitally enhance them. Basic computer literacy is essential. If you have Photoshop loaded on your laptop bring it along for a discounted price. 

Photoshop 2 - £25

Wed 22nd May 2013, 6 - 9pm Following on from the Photoshop 1, this workshop is designed for those who have a basic knowledge of the software. Transform your photos using layer masks and other features to further manipulate your images.

Practical Filmmaking - £75

Sat 22nd - Sun 23rd June 2013, 10am - 2pmExperience all the excitement of film production on this intensive course. Designed for those looking to gain practical filmmaking experience. Learn the principles of storytelling, film language and video production. Get to grips with writing, directing, producing, sound recording and post-production whilst producing a short film. This course will provide you with the basic skills you will need to make your own films. 

All the courses will take place at Signals in Colchester. 

For more information on these courses and all our others please visit our website or keep an eye out for our course brochure with listings of everything coming up over the next few months.  You can now book places through signalsmediaartscentre.eventbrite.com or save the booking fee and call the office on 01206 560255 to confirm your place. 

Love, Signals

A Guest Post from the Filmmaker Will Stone

Now I am back from Kenya, have completed the editing and now gearing up for my videos screening at the House of Commons in March, I have had alot of time to reflect on my filmmaking experience. I left the story somewhere in the middle of Kenya. The highlights of the tip are so numerous, each as inspirational and life changing as the next. However, if I had to choose, two moments stand out.

Firstly, at 4 o’clock on the Wednesday morning, Justice (I know, such a cool name) the driver and I boomed down the dirt roads towards Nyumbani Village, racing the sun as it rose behind us on the horizon. I was determined to get a sunrise shot for the project no matter how early it was or how tired I was. With a screeching stop in the car and lightning fast equipment set up, the awe-inspiring shot unfolded in front of me. From the peripheral violet tinged clouds nestled around the orange warmth to the white hot quintessence at the centre of the slowing growing ball of light, it was the perfect sunrise. In that extraordinary moment, I knew then, with complete certainty, that I was experiencing what defines true cinema - going that extra mile to make films that matter.

Secondly, I learnt that even when you know an experience will be life changing (emotionally or professionally) you cannot know the extent until you actually live it and feel the indescribable emotional wave of something beyond our normal selves; it is the experience of doing or finding something that confirms our insignificance as individuals but greater significance as part of something much more important that ourselves. The moment that best illustrates this is my sponsorship of a 10 month orphan named Wonders. 

The great realisation dawned on me that giving enough every month to pay for his anti-retroviral drugs means that I am helping give life to someone who deserves it but was not as blessed with health as myself or almost all of you reading this right now. I am 18 now, when Wonders is 18 I will be 36. All that time I will help Wonders grow from a child to a man in a world where, before Nyumbani, everything was stacked against him and he would never have even had the possibility of reaching manhood. Wonders showed me that even a small act can bring so much happiness and have so much effect.

In short, the children of Nyumbani created an amazingly electric and dynamic atmosphere. No lack of sleep, camera difficulty or emotional strain was going to slow me down. These children that are  stigmatised in their own society, have lost their parents and are afflicted by one of the nature’s most unforgiving viruses still always manage smile and make all the trivial worries from my life in the ‘bubble’ of the UK wash away. Thank you Nyumbani for all that you do. I hope there is a day that they no longer need to exist! 

A very humble filmmaker,

William Stone

Have you seen the amazing video Will shot at Nyumbani Art Festival?

Film editor Terry Rawlings talks about editing Alien.

Film editor Terry Rawlings came to Colchester on the 19th of May to talk about his career and answers questions from the audience. Terry has worked on some very successful films over the last 50 years after starting off as a sound editor. Alien was actually his first full credit as picture editor and in this clip he describes how he landed the job and went on to work with Ridley Scott to create the terrifying atmosphere of the film with a perfect marriage of image and sound.