After an epic and fun-filled summer holidays, it’s finally time to call “that’s a wrap” on this year’s Summer Shoots!
Young film students taking part in Sparks Film School summer courses have been busy making their own film productions all over the UK. Together in small film crews, they have written, developed, planned, directed, shot, crewed, edited and starred in lots of new youth film productions!
An Incredible Feat of Filmmaking
This summer represents the biggest ever slate of Summer Shoots hosted by Sparks Film Schools.
From Glasgow to Guildford, over 1100 young filmmakers aged between 5 and 18 have taken part in this year’s Summer Shoots. Summer 2023 also marked the first ever youth animation crews, who have also been busy drawing, modelling and intricately positioning lots of moving parts to deliver us some spectacular animations.
All throughout the summer, the young filmmakers and young animators have shown so much creativity, imagination, collaboration, talent, perseverance, artistry, skilfulness and positivity. It’s been a joy to see them shining with ideas and then to see them bring those ideas to life.
Altogether, the young crews have produced over 100 new youth film productions!
Worlds of Wonder
This year’s theme – Worlds of Wonder – challenged the filmmakers to conceptualise and build their own worlds as settings for their stories.
We looked at lots of fantastical inspirations, from Alice in Wonderland, to Spiderman, to Inception and Jurassic Park. The crews explored how to set up environments, cultures and worldly ‘rules’ to show their unique worlds and all the magical, impossible and terrifying things that can happen in them.
Of course, we also looked at lots of practical filmmaking techniques to help tell those stories on screen, with the filmmakers learning about how to construct their scripts and storylines, and how to show action happening on the screen.
Over 100 New Youth Film Productions
The crews this summer have worked really hard to produce and share over 100 new youth film productions, made by filmmakers aged between 5-18.
There is a huge variety and lots of original storytelling in the collection, with films spanning magical powers, technological dystopia, plenty of special fx portals, mystical beasts, films-within-films, interactive gaming worlds and even more. There is plenty to watch and enjoy!
One of the recent Summer Shoots productions, from Sparks Film School in Dorking & Leatherhead, has even just been announced as August’s Film of the Month.
What’s Next for Sparks Film School students?
As we sadly say goodbye to the summer, the film crews at Sparks Film Schools will be moving on to new challenges.
Our term time students will be starting back over the next few weeks, with filmmaking classes starting back for a brand new term. This term, they are set to explore a new theme – The Other Side, which will delve into lots of different filmmaking techniques around storytelling, perspective and use of the camera.
We also look forward to welcoming students to October half term filmmaking camps, where students are set to get stuck into lots of special effects!
For more details on upcoming courses at Sparks Film School, please take a look here >>
To enjoy more films produced by young filmmakers, keep an eye on the blog, or take a look at our YouTube channels >>
