Shropshire Star

Students win titles in media competition

Four students studying at Shrewsbury College entered an international competition looking for the most talented in creative media animation.

Published
Arfon Williams, Paige Dixon, Lauren Garbett and Brandon Temple-Wood

And two of the students, who are studying creative media took the top places..

The competition, called A Sense of Hope, is a global film and animation competition for people up to the age of 25 years old. Each candidate was asked to produce an original 90 second short around a new theme each year.

It is run by award winning video production company Elstree Film Design Ltd and supported by Creative England who are dedicated to the growth of the creative industries, and Spotlight, the UK’s leading casting resource.

Industry professionals judged the entries across a range of categories and the competition was split into three main age groups. Primary (up to 11 years old), Secondary (11-18 years old) and the 18 – 25 year old group.

Lauren Garbett and Arfon Williams were chosen by the industry professionals to be the winner in different categories. Lauren, 20 from Newport was named ‘Best Original Music’ in the 18-25 category with her work titled, ‘A Selkies Lullaby’ and was chosen as a finalist in the ‘Best Sound’ category. She said: “I was quite surprised, I wasn’t expecting it. I put a lot of work into it – we drove along the Welsh coast to find filming opportunities. I’m really happy my hard work paid off.”

Arfon, 18 from Newtown, was awarded ‘Best Production Design’ in the 18-25 category with his work titled, ‘Refuge’ and was chosen as a finalist in the ‘Best Animation’ category. He said: “I put in hundreds of hours of work into this project and I’m extremely happy that I was awarded for my work. It’s been an amazing experience and I am proud of my achievement.”

Brandon Temple-Wood and Paige Dixon, both aged 17 from Shrewsbury were also awarded with their talent, after being placed as finalists in a number of categories in the Secondary age group. Brandon Temple-Wood was a finalist in the following categories, ‘Best Animation’, ‘Best Edit’, ‘Best Production Design’ and ‘Best Look’. Paige Dixon was a finalist in the ‘Best Costume’ and ‘Best Hair & Makeup’ categories.

Sam Finch, Producer at Elstree Film Design Ltd, said: “It was fantastic to have so many Shrewsbury College students take part in this year’s film and animation competition, and it’s brilliant that some turned out to be winners and finalists. We hope that everyone who took part enjoyed making their entries, and that this competition gives them confidence and encouragement to continue producing films and animations in the future.”

John O’Connell, curriculum lead for creative media, said: “I am extremely proud of our students and their achievements - they have put in a lot of effort and I’m pleased that their effort has been rewarded.”