On the 25th February 2002 Orange and FilmFour held a workshop organised by Kate Ogborn and Laura Tanswell for the finalists and their producers.

The purpose of this workshop was to walk the film-makers through the whole process of making a digital short film. Starting from script development right through to the delivery of the finished films. It was a chance for them to meet some of the people they would be working with and also industry professionals who could talk them through the sorts of processes that they are about to tackle as their films are made.

Script Re-writes and Formats For Filming

Simon Beaufoy and Bille Eltringham were first to take the stand. Simon and Bille have been working together since they met at film school and have recently collaborated on their first DV feature, This Is Not A Love Song, which Simon wrote and Bille directed. Simon talked about script re-writes and how to listen to criticism of your work whilst taking it on board. He also went through collaborating with the Director, his experiences on This Is Not A Love Song and working with digital formats.

Bille concentrated on the advantages and disadvantages of working on DV. She also talked about problem solving when under pressure of time and money and how and when to compromise, the importance of team building and working with crew and cast.

Production

Brett Turnbull (Director of Photography) was next to take the stage. He has shot a variety of work ranging from Promos for Travis and Robbie Williams to documentaries for National Geographic. He talked through digital formats, lighting on a low budget and a tight schedule. He also talked about how a director can build an effective relationship with a DOP and talked about different ways in which a director could explain what they want to see.

Cameras

Practical advice on cameras and Post Production implications were covered by David Woodward, whose company Woodcut specialises in shooting editing and delivering on site with digital formats.

Post Production

Lastly Post Production was covered by Ian Dodd and David Klafkovski from the Farm Post Production company and David Charap, a freelance editor. Ian and David talked about issues to consider in prep, digital formats, special effects on a limited budget and common problems that might occur in post production. David Charap also focused on the creative relationship between an editor and a director. He showed extracts from two films he has edited: My Brother Tom, a digital feature, and The Last Resort. He then talked through how he had approached editing the scenes.

After the talks the film-makers were separated for one to ones with Simon, Bille and Victoria Beattie, the casting director, thus giving them an opportunity to ask specific questions about their short films.

Kate Ogborn (executive producer) was on hand throughout the day to give advice and keep the film-makers asking the right questions.

All in all it was a wonderful day, giving the film-makers a chance to meet each other and the people from FilmFour and Orange that they will be working very closely with.

In the coming weeks we will be bringing you an in-depth look into the workshop process, with video footage of the day's key moments, advice from the experts and extracts from the production diaries that each of the finalists is keeping.

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