The GSCC Special Events and Media Team is no stranger to CaSPA’s film making competitions. On every occasion, the Media Team has engaged with each of the themes over the years in their own unique and innovative way, using a variety of storytelling and digital techniques which has allowed for a central message to be communicated in a memorable and profound way. As a result of this deeply commendable work they have all conducted together, the Media Team have walked away from CaSPA’s Film Fest with yet another overall victory.
“From the moment we found out we were finalists, the Special Events and Media Team have been anticipating the day that the winner of Film Fest 2020 would be announced. Over the past month, the team had been counting down the days until the morning of October 16th, the day the winners of the competition would be announced, and the wait was certainly worth it... We are proud to say that we won! All the hard work and dedication that was put into this film surely paid off and it wouldn’t have been made possible without the ongoing teamwork from everyone who contributed to the making of the film.”
Rachel B. - Year 8 Media Team Representative
This marks the fourth year of winning CaSPA’s film competitions for the Media Team. It is an outstanding achievement amidst the global crisis of COVID-19.
We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate St. Michael’s Daceyville on their own victory as the ‘People’s Choice Award’ winners!
This article details the production process of this Good Samaritan’s winning entry into the Film Fest competition below; from the first drafts to the final versions, including the various stages of production that had input from all members of the team.
The Production
This year’s production needed to relate to the theme of ‘Care for The Earth/Environmental Sustainability’. The team had to approach this seemingly narrow topic in an unorthodox way in order to distinguish ourselves from the rest of the entries within the competition.
What followed was a series of ideas being proposed, each with their own strengths that had related to the theme for the year’s competition. With a healthy amount of time spent on the preparation and cementation of ideas, the team was off to work filming for the first version of the film.
It was the 7th of July on a Tuesday during the first set of school holidays, and the members of the Media Team came to school to record scenes for the film. With three filming sessions (with breaks in between) from 9am to 3pm, the team had successfully obtained all of the required footage needed to get a solid first draft completed.
However… as is with many projects, sometimes they do not come to fruition on the first time around. The film did not reach the team’s vision of conveying an effective message with innovative effects throughout. Edits were proposed to the existing film, however it was ultimately decided that the film would be reworked.
Regular meetings during lunch and recess amongst the junior members of the team had allowed for productive discussions regarding post-production effects and a new storyline to take place. It was during these meetings that the new vision for the film was planned and prepared to be set into motion.
A New Challenge
Several weeks passed without major progress made to the film due to other projects requiring greater attention. Furthermore, restrictions had been increased to limit grade to grade interaction which had the unfortunate downside of further impacting future film production… or did it?
“Due to the restrictions in place, we had to be year-group separated while filming scenes. Even though we faced some challenges as a result of this, it did not affect the message our video gave about the consequences of poor sustainability to the environment.”
Rachel B. - Year 8 Media Team Representative
The Media Team had still found a way to continue filming with the new restrictions put in place. By separating filming into year groups, they were able to successfully get progress completed for the film while abiding by social distancing regulations.
It was also during the time of temporary hiatus from working on the film that the team had taken on new members, who each assisted remarkably with the FilmFest production. Helping in aspects such as planning, acting and post-production editing, the film simply would not be what it was without these new members.
I would take this time now to thank them all for their efforts. Without them, the film simply would not have progressed to the final winning version that it was.
With the new footage collected by the team under a new concept, the Media Team had finally achieved their vision of an innovative and unique film which expressed the theme of ‘Care for the Earth/Environmental Sustainability’. The final post-production edits were made and the film was finally exported.
The film was submitted to CaSPA’s judges on the 11th of September, and the team was naturally nervous about getting potentially denied into the finals… however, that was not the case. It was on the 19th of September that it was announced that they had made it into the finals.
Ecstatic as it was, this was not the final stage of the competition. All they needed to do now was win.
And win we did… It was today on the 16th of October that CaSPA announced the winners for the 2020 FilmFest competition. The GSCC Special Events and Media Team came out on top once again.
It was thanks to the votes from the judges and viewers of our film that this was possible. We would like to extend a momentous thank you to each and everyone who had voted for the team’s film.
Here’s to yet another victory!