Filmmakers thrive in House Media Competition

The House Media Competition gives the opportunity for every student at Berkhamsted Boys and Berkhamsted Girls School to take part an exciting video production project.

For the 2018 competition, the brief was to create a charity themed video.  Students were judged on their ability to create content that is informative, educational and emotionally engaging for their target audience.

The results judged by Robert and Lottie Stringer, founders of local charity Hector’s House.

House Media overall winner (boys): Bees House

Bees’ Director and Producer Nick Townsend (Year 10) said “I think my first reaction to winning the House Media Competition was a sense of elation. A lot of people in Bees had worked extremely hard on this project and it was nice to see them and myself get rewarded for that work.

“While there are lots of things that I will take away from this experience, the thing that has struck me so profoundly is the sense of community and collaboration that I did not realise was so strong in Bees. Together with the help a lot of the House, this project became one of enjoyment and exploration rather than something that required a huge amount of will power and determination.”

House Media overall winner (girls): New Stede

Judges’ comments: “I  feel more enlightened about the charity. There was a conventional and creative development of narrative – informative and interesting.

“The genre conventions were clear immediately – newsreaders, headline logo in the background and music. The on location reporter and the interviews in the lab were informative. The use of key locations and props was creative and had a great impact. Well done.”

Innovation and Entertainment Award winners (boys): Bees House for ‘School Aid’

Judges’ comments: “The narrative was strong from the start. The use of quotes and text to anchor the images is a conventional technique in the genre. The editing showed a sophisticated understanding of layering.”

Innovation and Entertainment Award (girls): Old Stede for ‘CRY’ and Russell for ‘Pepper’

Judges’ comments (Old Stede): “ The filming is in a variety of locations and we see a range of camera framings. The editing is also good using a range of techniques such as timelapse and the music works really well with the visuals.  Old Stede has been the most successful in terms of encouraging a call to action. “

Judges’ comments (Russell): “The pace of editing works well to keep the audience engaged and the inclusion of a nurse gives the chance to hear about it from a professional point of view. The local audience is reached immediately with the image of high street and the reference to community.”

Production quality Award (boys): Swifts House for ‘Dens’

Judges’ comments:  “The narration was particularly powerful in terms of language and pace. Microphones were used which really elevated this. This layered with the music created an emotive piece. The build-up of music which changes when the charity is introduced is great.”

Production quality Award (girls): New Stede for ‘MNDA’

Judges’ comments: “A sophisticated video that gave the judges so much to appreciate! Thank you.”

House Spirit Award (boys):  Adders House for ‘Smile Malawi’

Judges’ comments:  “The House Spirit award winners showed evidence of real team spirit with both the video and the webpage which resulted in a polished package.”

House Spirit Award winners (girls):  Adders House for ‘Smile Malawi’

Judges’ comments: “The inclusion of professionals to educate worked well and showed organisation and involvement within the House. This was also evidenced in the still shots of the charity event.”

Head of Media Studies Justine Bohitige said “I would like to congratulate every student involved in the House Media Competition for their fantastic efforts. From researching, planning, filming, production and editing there are many aspects of the competition to involve and engage many students.

“In terms of the skills needed to succeed in the competition the bar has been raised this year. I was blown away with the high level of narrative skills on display.”