New College Lanarkshire: Film & Television

Digital Imaging, Photography, Film and Television Production Courses

recent posts

  • Student works on Cadbury’s advert shoot

    Jonathan on location

    HND Film & Television student Jonathan Lynn recently gained some very valuable work experience for his CV, volunteering as a runner on a day long location shoot in Coatbridge. Filming an advert for Cadbury with MTP Productions and documenting the experience in his HND journal:

    “Yesterday I took on the role of runner on location for Cadbury’s “Happy Birthday Mum TV advert”.

    The location for the shoot was my Aunt’s corner shop in Coatdykes so when I heard about it I asked if she could speak to location scout Derek Yeaman who has worked in the industry for 20 years and ask if I could come along and do some work experience. Derek agreed and said he would look after me.

    I arrived at 7am and was first on set. A fleet of vehicles, several large lorries and around 50 members of cast and crew showed up not long after. I was given a high-vis vest, a walkie talkie and started work. Me and the other runners were told to build and dissemble tents, move equipment, set up the catering area, make coffees and numerous other small tasks. I tried to work as quickly, efficiently and professionally as possible as I was learning on the job.

    I got speaking to as many people as I could on set and asked about their jobs and how they got started and got some contact details. Derek also talked me up to some of the production assistants for MTP Productions and asked them to keep me in mind if they have any future work.

    I finished at around 8pm as the shoot ran over from its initial schedule of finishing for 5:30pm. It was a long day and the work was hard but it was an eye opener seeing the scale of production for a short TV advert.”

  • James Edwyn & the Borrowed Band: ‘Pushing Statues’ Shoot

    On the back of their album “High Fences” release, James Edwyn and the Borrowed band convened at Govan’s Grade A listed building, The Pearce Institute, to shoot the video for their next single, Pushing Statues.

    Directed by Alan Moffat and assisted by HNDTelevision student, Albert Lucas, the band were filmed playing in the building’s atmospheric Billiard Room.

    “Albert did a sterling job on 2nd camera on this shoot employing his drone skills to great effect during the performance. We were on a very tight schedule which meant he had to use his own initiative for much of the shoot. He was also good at getting the coffees in, especially for Mick the caretaker, who we had to keep sweet as the shoot overran by 1 hour. The main difference between this shoot and the last was the temperature…no jackets required this time!!!”

    – Alan Moffat,
    Film & Television Lecturer.

  • In The Future There Will Be Robots

    “An elderly millennial loses the plot with a technological vision of the future.”

    “In The Future There Will Be Robots” is a short film written, directed and produced by Daryl Devine in his final year on the HND Television course here at New College Lanarkshire.

    Daryl’s After Effects skills were utilised extensively for this film, which features a range of compositing and digital imaging techniques to bring his dystopian vision of the future to life.  Our HNC and HND Television courses feature specific units that allow students to get to grips with this type of post-production work using Adobe’s After Effects.  Check our Courses page for more information.

     

  • Grave Day Productions Guest Lecture

    Kris Cummings (Left) and David Gray of Grave Day Productions

    The second in a series of guest lectures for our HN level students kicked off on Friday with a presentation from David Gray and Kris Cummings.

    David (an alumni of our 2014 HN Film & Television course)  and Kris write and develop comedy content through their YouTube channel Grave Day Productions and are regular contributors to the BBC’s ‘The Social’ and have also written material for the weekly BBC Radio Scotland satirical news show ‘Breaking The News’.

    Their presentation covered their own experiences of writing  developing and filming content. Showcasing characters and material they have created, from early sketches to their popular Planet Janet series that runs on the BBC”S “The Social” channel.

    “Kris and David delivered a great presentation that showcased their skills as comedy writers and  their future ambitions for Grave Day Productions.

    Their lecture was not only very entertaining but also contained some really sound advice, motivation and inspiration for all our HN students hoping to make a career in Film and Television.”

    – Michael Grant, Film & Television Lecturer.

  • James Edwyn & the Borrowed Band: ‘Quoting Sagan’ Shoot

    HND student, Albert Lucas, joined Film & TV lecturer, Alan Moffat, on set for the shoot of a music video at the weekend. HND alumni, Chris Shieritz, was also on hand to lend his expertise for a sequence of arial drone shots.

    James Edwyn and the Borrowed Band were making a promo for their forthcoming single, ‘Quoting Sagan’, at Auchinstarry Marina near Kilsyth. The single comes from their second album, ‘High Fences’.

    “Albert worked extremely hard on the day and  conducted himself in a professional manner throughout. I asked him to shoot a range of B-roll. He followed direction well and by using a high degree of initiative, came back with some beautiful footage.

    The shoot itself demonstrated the need to properly plan location filming. Working from a tight shooting script and shot list, we were able to get all the footage needed before wrapping late afternoon.”

    borrowed_vid2

    “The band were brilliant and took the sub-zero temperatures in their stride. Chris arrived and set up his equipment really quickly. He captured some pretty dramatic footage on the day which will help elevate the video to heights Carl Sagan would have been proud of!!!”

    – Alan Moffat,
    Film & Television Lecturer.

  • William Clapperton Guest Lecture

    William in conversation with our HN classes

    At this time of year many of our HN level students are starting to research their options in Undergraduate higher education for the next academic year.  To give our current classes some insight into this process we often enlist the help of former NCL students who have completed their degrees and are now working in the Film or Television sector.

    William Clapperton studied at HN level with us in 2013 and progressed on to the University of The West of Scotland’s Broadcast Production BA course, graduating in 2016.  He is currently working for Lion Television, one of the most successful television production companies in the UK. Their work includes numerous titles for Channel 4 and PBS in America and they have received a number of accolades, including an RTS award, Learning on Screen award and BAFTA’s for a diverse range of programmes and features.

    “William delivered a great presentation full of personal insights into the sometimes difficult process of finding your feet in the Film and TV sector post-degree. He has quietly worked on various projects since graduating and his honest endeavour has resulted in finding work with one of Scotland’s premier production houses.”

    – Alan Moffat,
    Film & Television Lecturer.

     

     

  • Heart to Heart

    Heart to Heart is a short documentary feature, filmed, edited and produced by Duncan Formosa.  Duncan’s film aimed to raise awareness of his brother’s rare heart condition “Hypoplastic right heart syndrome” and the effect it had on his family.

    In addition to researching, filming and editing the documentary Duncan also scored the soundtrack for this production. After graduating from NCL in June 2016, Duncan was accepted on to the BA Film-making course at the prestigious Royal Conservatoire, Scotland.

  • A Conversation With My Addiction

    “Paul is an addict. Losing grip on his sanity, he is one day trapped in his bathroom by his wife and forced to remain there until he is clean.

    Unexpectedly, the power of his addiction makes one final effort to remain, and Paul enters into a struggle with the personification of his addiction, and to an extent, the darker aspects of himself, in order to save his life.”

    A Conversation With My Addiction is a short film written, directed and edited by Daryl Devine.

    One particular challenge Daryl faced in production was the setting of this film, which takes place solely in the main character’s bathroom. This cramped and claustrophobic set tested his abilities both as a director and camera op’, between the equipment and the actor.

    Daryl wrote the screenplay for this feature during the Scriptwriting unit on our HNC Television course, which gives students an introduction to the craft of creating and formatting  screenplays for production.

  • Blade Runner 2049

    A Grand Day Out!

    Students from across all levels of our Film and TV classes joined lecturing staff for a day trip to the Glasgow Film Theatre on the 13th of October to see Denis Villeneuve’s eagerly awaited Blade Runner 2049.

    “The screening of the sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 Sci-Fi Noir classic “Blade Runner” offered us an excellent opportunity to bring all our classes together for a field trip and spot of socialising out-with the college environment. 

    Trips like these can be very beneficial for both morale and building working relationships between our students across all levels of our courses, which is a key element of Film and Television course work.”

    – Michael Grant, Film & Television Lecturer, New College Lanarkshire

  • First Class Honours

    Yvette Malone

    Congratulations go to our former NCL HND Graduate Yvette Malone who has recently completed her BA Hon’s in Television at Napier University’s Glasgow campus, graduating with a First Class Honours Degree.

    In February Yvette returned to NCL to give a guest lecture to our current NC Film and Photography students about their progression choices and we hope to repeat this event next year.

    You can catch Yvette at her YouTube channel Electric Vegan where she puts her production skills as a documentarist and vlogger to good use in her channel which is based around Vegan and animal activisim issues.