Film and TV and Acting students celebrate Specialisms Week

24 April 2023

BA Film and TV and Acting students from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David have taken part in a week-long Film and TV production simulation experience called ‘Specialisms Week’.

BA Acting and BA Film & TV collaborate together on a project for Specialism Week

Students submitted their preferences to become writers, directors, editors, or cinematographers and were tasked with adapting a short story from The Debutante by Leonora Carrington.

The collaboration enabled BA Acting students to gain on-set experience of working with directors, and BA Film & TV students to gain experience of directing performers – together with a film for their portfolio. Many of the students have established such great partnerships that they are also now still working together on acting/film projects including as part of their final Graduate Projects.

BA Acting Lecturer Lynne Seymour said:

“It was wonderful to be able to work across campuses and enable our Level 5 Acting students to collaborate with the Film and TV students in their Specialisms Week. The Acting students had just finished their Short Film Production module where they work in small groups to write, plan, and create short films with the Filmmaking students based in Carmarthen so this was perfect timing for them to be able to build on those performance skills in acting for screen.

“The intensity of the week is a great way to simulate ‘real world’ experiences where you often have to work quickly and collaboratively with a hard deadline. Watching the groups work I was most impressed at the way they quickly built tight groups that worked effectively and professionally. This was a fantastic way for the students to build their creative networks and I know that many of the cohort already have plans to collaborate on projects together in the future. I hope that we can build on this event and develop more ways of collaborating to give our students a range of experiences in order for them to be exposed to various creative processes as a team.”

BA Film & TV Programme Manager Becky Ellis added:

“In a post-Covid context, students across all years in BA Film & TV have rarely met each other, let alone students from other programmes. It has been challenging to enhance and promote their interaction with each other and develop their social skills which in some cases have been a source of high levels of anxiety for many students post-Pandemic. It was delightful to see the students interacting with each other and enjoying each other’s company again.

“Film is a collaborative industry. By providing students the chance to work with their peers as well as students from another programme of study has provided students with creative networks that they can take forward in future projects. Many students have continued to stay in touch and work together on projects including their graduate projects.”

Grug Morus, a third-year BA Film & TV student said:

“During specialisms week, I was able to connect with peers whom I wouldn’t generally share an educational timetable with. I was able to expand on my skillset, by trying out roles I haven’t felt comfortable enough to take on before and was able to observe how others work within their roles. It was my first time working with professional actors in person, and the experience is one I’ll take with me when I graduate.”

Ingune Batjargal a 2nd Year BA Film & TV student said:

“Specialism week gave me an opportunity to experiment and experience a new way of being a film student. The collaboration with acting students was also a fun way to know how to communicate with people in the film industry. It was also a challenging week as we were given a week to finish the group project in multiple locations but at end I came away with confidence in my work and practice.”

For first-year BA Film & TV student Charlie Cook, Specialism Week, “Offered a unique opportunity to collaborate - not just with filmmakers in different year groups - but with performers too. The experience was challenging but I came away with lots more confidence in my practice.”

Acting student Anna Erwin said:”I learnt a lot from this experience, especially about working behind a camera and I gained some confidence along the way as I was collaborating with strangers, all of whom knew each other. I have recently been contacted by one of the group members I worked with and asked to film another short film with them which I am going to do in April which is an opportunity that has only arisen because I made connections with for this project and collaborated well with them.”