Media student working on Hollywood film
Media student Joel Court came to Bedford College to get some practical filmmaking experience before taking up a place at University this October. Little did he know when he made this decision it would result in Joel working on the set of Hollywood blockbuster Pan, which is being filmed at Cardington Hangers.

Pan is being directed by English director Joe Wright (Atonement, Pride and Prejudice) and stars Hugh Jackman, Garrett Hedlund and Patricia Rooney Mara. It is being billed as one of next year's biggest hits.

Joel started his work experience building the set with a team of grounds people from Shuttleworth College but has since then managed to get himself involved as a production assistant to the AD department.

Joel says:

“I've learnt a huge amount about how a professional film production runs, simply through being on the set and observing the industry practices which help make such a massive undertaking work quickly and efficiently. My experience has been utterly exhausting, but also utterly fantastic. Going on from working on Pan, I've made contacts within the British film industry which I hope will lead on to further opportunities with them later on, as well as having picked up skills and techniques which I can try to use in my own projects further down the line”.

Course Manager Sean Doyle says we are very proud of what Joel has achieved here, he has managed to use the skills he developed on our course to good effect and build on his initial opportunity Joel has really benefited from this whole episode. We would love for him to come back and share his experiences with our new intake next year to show what opportunities can arise, and how hard work pays off in the end.

Media staff and students Friend or Foe?
Staff and students from the media department have recently been asked to film a new musical based on the Michael Morpurgo book Friend or Foe. The story revolves around two young evacuees (David and Tucky) from London who find themselves in the Devon countryside. The war seems a long way a way until one night a bombing raid on Plymouth brings the war back into their lives.

The musical was written by Bedfordshire based Ruth Lusby-Yentis and Tim Brewster and performed at Bedford Theatre. Media lecturer Tom Wild filmed the performances with a hand picked group of media students. They have now edited the work together and it should soon be available for anyone interested in seeing the production.

As part of the production process Tom and the team filmed and interviewed Michael Morpurgo about Friend or Foe.

Morpurgo is best know for his best selling book War Horse which became a major hit on the British stage and was then picked up by Steven Spielberg and turned into a Hollywood movie. 

Mayor of Bedford commissions Media students' project
The Mayor has commissioned a live project brief for our Media students with prize money attached. On 24 March 2016 he spent the afternoon chatting to our Media students about their ideas.

The details of the brief are:

At Bedford Borough Council we are looking at ways of promoting Bedford Borough, not just to the people who live here, but also to people who may wish to visit as tourists. In short, we would like to let people know about the exciting attractions that the Borough has to offer. As part of this, we have been looking at the use of social media for viral marketing and would like to include some short videos that can be shared online on social networks and that can also be screened at events.

We are therefore asking Bedford College Media students to pitch ideas for a set of three videos lasting around one minute each. The aim is to promote and sell Bedford Borough:

The winner(s) will be asked to produce the three videos and will be paid a £500 fee on completion. The winning videos will also be screened on the main stage at this year’s River Festival in July.

Dave Hodgson – Mayor of Bedford

Photograph by Henry Whyborn-Taylor (Media Level 3 student)