FILM fans from Stratford College have received top reviews for their reviews.
Katie Jellicoe, Harry Gibbons, Ellie Checketts, Eve Flude and Lauren Heath from Stratford College entered their reviews to the weekly competition run by educational organisation Into Film. The UK-wide programme – funded by the British Film Institute – promotes the use of film in the teaching of students.
And for the first time in its history, the first week of September witnessed a clean sweep, with every single winner coming from the college’s A Level film course.
Katie, who wants to work in the film industry, was named as the overall winner for her analysis of the film Submarine directed by Richard Ayoade.
She said: “It’s one of my favourite films. I thought it would be really good to write about because it uses a lot of experimental filmmaking techniques. There’s a lot of interesting cinematography and the characters are really likeable.
“I tried to mix my own opinions with film analysis and subject terminology we’ve been introduced to on the A Level course by Sarah. We’ve been taught so much in just the first month, it’s exciting to think about what else we’ll pick up.”
Lecturer Sarah Downing encourages students to take part in Into Film’s competitions as often as possible, but said the latest success was far beyond her expectations.
She added: “It’s difficult to believe that when they wrote their reviews they had only been studying film for a week. I’m immensely proud of them and look forward to seeing them flourish in their future careers.”
And the budding film critics next task is to review Joe Stephenson’s film Chicken. Joe himself is visiting the college on Tuesday (October 10) for a screening and to take part in a question and answer session, sharing his industry-insider knowledge of the film-making process.
Visit www.intofilm.org/clubs/review-of-the-week to read the reviews.
