In the morning, they learnt the essentials: 

Film History - from the early days of film to the latest in special effects

Fight Choreography - analysing James Bond/Indiana Jones fight scenes... and filming their own screen punch

Camera - learning to use an iPad like a pro, tips and tricks to avoid common mistakes, making a practice 3 Shot Film about a theft

Screenwriting - discovering 3 key things every good script needs, how to tell a great story, create memorable characters... and make us care

In the afternoon, pupils took the 10 Shot Challenge: creating a short film (2mins, max) based on a classic narrative (e.g. 'Someone is kidnapped, an attempted rescue') for premiering at the end of the day. There were a range of roles for pupils to try, which they self-allocated within their film crew (writer, director, producer, screenwriter, actors).

Most adverts take several months to make, so the challenge of making a successful short film in just ninety minutes can be daunting. However, the groups gelled exceptionally well, showed great leadership and teamwork, and no-one missed the deadline. Their final task was to introduce their film, just like at the Cannes Film Festival, and give it a poster tagline (e.g. ‘In space no-one can hear you scream’). Then it was time for the VIP judges (Mr Illingworth, and the Young Film Academy representatives) to take their seats and decide which would win the ultimate prize: the Best Picture Oscar…

The standards were very high, so it was a tough decision... but in the end the Best Picture Oscar was awarded to 'Granny'. It told an engaging, entertaining story which was technically superb: the judges were particularly impressed by the excellent performances and high standard of camerawork, editing and sound design. Congratulations to the winning team - hope to see you at the (real) Oscars!

A big thank you to the One Day Film School from everyone at Rendcomb College! Lots of fun was had and lots of new skills learnt.