Winners of the MediaMagazine Lockdown Production Competition 2021 were announced earlier this week and we are delighted to be able to show the final showreels. Jenny Grahame and Claire Pollard, who are both executive members of The MEA, ran the competition and here's what they had to say to about it.
"There’s a real treat in store for you. This year we’ve divided our showreel into two parts, so make sure you catch them both.
The first showreel is introduced by Eva Riley. She will introduce each film with some individual comments (wonderful material for your portfolio if you are going on to continue your media journey) and will announce the winning entries for Best Experimental Film, Best Cinematography, Best Screenwriting, and Best Direction. Eva found it very hard to judge these entries because despite their variety they were all so interesting, well-made and inventive. We agree – while we had a brilliant range of entries overall, all of you who made it through to the showreel are winners and should be very proud of your work.
The second showreel is for those we shortlisted for special consideration for the Barney Oram Creativity Award. Barney was a much loved teacher of Media and Film Studies for many years at Long Road Sixth Form College, one of the biggest media cohorts in the country, and was passionate about film and developing his students’ creativity and film-making skills. The award in his name has been judged by two of his colleagues at Long Road, Tom Woodcock and Andrea Joyce. Again they will screen the shortlist and announce the final award.
All of our shortlisted entrants will shortly receive a certificate, and our five winners will in the fullness of time receive an individual trophy through the post. If you have not yet sent us your full postal address, please do so at jenny@englishandmedia.co.uk. It may take a while for them to arrive, but they will be on their way very soon. The films will be online on the MediaMag competition page for the next year. We know that you’ll enjoy them, and hope that teachers will use them in the classroom as inspiration for next year’s students. They really are amazing achievements, especially in this tumultuous year of Lockdown.
Finally, many thanks to Eva, Andrea and Tom for their judging duties, to Lucy Webster and Fran Stowell at The English and Media Centre, and of course to all of you who entered the competition this year. It’s been a real pleasure. Have wonderful holidays and good luck on the next stage of your journeys. See you next year."
Claire and Jenny