Lauren McPoland and Max Stevens

Two students who produced the film capturing a major event in the Worcester calendar are celebrating their graduation.

Lauren McPoland and Max Stevens who each completed a degree in Film Production and Film Studies were hired to film and photograph the Severn Arts’ Light Night extravaganza. This is an annual event that sees light themed art installations all over the city centre for crowds to enjoy over two evenings in February.

The pair first got put forward after talking to a lecturer in the Humanities media team about potential film opportunities during a month studying abroad in Venice.

Hired on a voluntary basis, preparation started from January onwards. Organisers Severn Arts wanted two photos of each of around 25 installations and a 60 second film. While Lauren mainly handled the filming, Max concentrated on photos.

“We had a couple of meetings and were actually being treated like they were our clients,” said Lauren. “It was nice to have that process, even with the emails back and forth. It was formal but not daunting in any way. It was a professional relationship, working with real people and doing real projects.”

One aspect of the job was a completely new experience for the pair.

Lauren said: “They wanted us to film the audience’s reactions. It was difficult when you are filming real time people’s reactions in the moment. People will react to things and you have to capture them just there and then and also make sure you have got them in the right frame and the right light and really capturing that entertainment. It was a lot harder than we anticipated because you get the picture and then have to ask for permission.

“In the second year we did a film for a charity. It was six months, it was storyboarded and there was a script. This is real life people and documentary. It was nice to do something broader, have a go at doing something different.”

Max said: “It was fast paced. The main thing for me was technical issues with the camera. Shooting at night was harder than we thought it was going to be because of the equipment we had. Also we had a route planned that was changed on the day because of the rain as there were installations that were outside.”

Lauren added: “We had to think ahead and makes plans to make sure we’d get it in the end. There were things that went wrong but it was good because it made you think on your feet.”

Lauren said she didn’t think she could have done it without support from Max and other students. “I definitely think it was worth it,” she said. “It really taught me how to let people critique your work. I struggle with that. Your lecturers can critique your work, but with this you are with a client, you need to find a middle ground where you’re happy with it. This project definitely taught us to stand up for ourselves and have our own voices. There were certain points where we said this would work better. They were glad when we stood up and said things because it looked better than they imagined. It gave us more confidence.”

Max added: “My photos have improved. It was a learning curve dealing with clients and it’s good to have this experience on the CV.”

Both students now hope to do a Master’s in Film Production, Lauren focusing on editing and Max on filming, after a year getting some work experience.

Max would like to be a film reviewer, but also do on set photography, said: “The degree has definitely helped with skill development and the whole package of making films.”

Lauren wants to do film editing or directing. “I want to be doing something I love,” she said. “The degree has been really good because the different modules we have done and the different jobs has really opened my eyes to how big the film industry is and how many jobs you can get from it. A lot of people came from different backgrounds, some had never done film, but we all learnt together. No-one was left behind. We have seen firsthand people in our class where they thought it would be something difficult and they have thrived.”