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The annual Filmmaking Society screening event, Get Reel, saw a splendid turn-out of cinematographic and thespian talent, despite being held at the ungodly hour of eleven o’clock on a Sunday morning.
An early highlight was Alice Cox’s Bella Isola, a charming, whimsical paean to bicycles, cute horses, balloons and the joys of frolicking in the open air. The film’s combination of grainy, colour-corrected film, delightful script and apt music set the bar for technical achievement.
Things soon took a turn for the darker, with The Psychiatrist providing an intriguing, well-acted, albeit at times technically clumsy musing on the seven deadly sins. Overall, the breadth and general quality of material on display was overwhelming. Kate Shenton’s music video for James Duckworth’s Threshold showcased an original concept which was extremely well-executed, with humour and style.
The other music video featured, for Jay Foreman’s Stealing Food, while technically less accomplished, did exactly what’s required of a comedy music video – it made people laugh.
Surprisingly, so did another of the screening’s darker films. Filmmaking Society president Geoff Gedroyc’s Scarlett Obsession offered a campus sex-slasher story which succeeded masterfully in balancing the tone between horror, thriller and moments of (fairly black) comic release. Ed Duncan Smith, deservedly scooping the audience-polled Best Actor award, made for a convincing psychopath-with-a-heart-of-gold. Scarlett Obsession won best film, though not without facing stiff competition from several other superb shorts.
The Woman, directed by Daniel Ward, left some audience members scratching their heads, but this was another tightly-scripted, subtle exploration of an intriguing original idea. Niamh Walsh made the move from stage to screen with poise, picking up the Best Actress award as she went, and the supporting cast were universally very strong.
Most of the films were characterised by high production values, but Scarlett Obsession, The Woman, and Kate Shenton's Modern Grim were particularly convincing demonstrations of the talent on offer in that department. Shenton’s film was unbelievably accomplished, and beautiful –if at times uncomfortable – to watch. Visually stunning, it was also noteworthy for a sombre-timbred voiceover co-penned and weightily intoned by Jamie Wilkes.
Winning Best Script was an absolutely brilliant, and bonkers, “defence” of the London 2012 Olympic logo and its supposed ability to inspire people to “make a positive change in their lives.” Will Tribble’s impossibly funny script had the entire audience in stitches. Its no-budget special effects and deranged comic turns from Simon Maeder, Will Seaward, Nic Carter and Tribble himself helped demonstrate that the talent in Filmmaking Society runs through all areas of the filmmaking craft, from tight scripts for thrillers, to production design for horrific fairy tales and insane comedic gems.
Seb Owen won Best Filmmaking Society Newcomer, and Corrine Millson-Crane took the prize for “Biggest Contribution to the Society”. We caught up with Seb to ask him how the screening had gone down within Film Soc. “It’s been really great” he said “everyone’s put in so much work, and it’s really paid off. It’s been a big step forward from last year.”
So what can we expect from Film Soc next year? “We’ll be making fewer films, but with bigger budgets and we’ll be spending more time on them, while continuing to make the smaller films that are so important to Film Soc’s development…we’re confident that next year will be even better.”
It seems there’s never been a better time to get involved in making a film.
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