UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 01 DECEMBER 2017
Two creative Birmingham students are celebrating after being named among the winners at a prestigious awards ceremony celebrating talented people in TV, film and broadcasting.
The pair who study Visual Communication (BA (Hons) Film and Animation) at Birmingham City University scooped the accolades at the annual Royal Television Society Midlands Awards, which recognise production excellence and creativity in the region.
Andrea Haenze picked up the Student Factual Award for her powerful documentary Byc Moze, which focusses on a charity which sees Churches across Birmingham provide clothes, food and a place to sleep for homeless people during the coldest months of the year.
Meanwhile, Nina Parker Noon landed the Student Animation Award for her complex animated piece The Cosmonaut which charts the life of a lonely Russian cosmonaut who is stationed on the moon and wants to go home.
The awards ceremony was held at the National Motorcycle Museum last night (November 30).
Andrea Haenze said: “Thank you to the men I interviewed. They have a hard lot in life but their voices need to be heard.
“I was originally working on a different idea which was not really working out and my tutors had the idea for me to create a documentary on the Birmingham Churches Night Shelter, which I had been helping out with at the time.
“It's a really great organisation who take in 12 men referred from other charities around Birmingham and give these men a place to sleep in the evenings during the coldest months of the year, clothes and toiletries, two good meals and most importantly, community. And every night they are housed by a different church in Birmingham.
“I started helping out in the evenings as a Polish speaker, since many of the men happened to be Polish and originally I really didn't want to create a film about them because I didn't want to cross the line.
Clips from each of the winning entries were shown to a packed audience at the ceremony before the pair each took home engraved trophies to mark their successes.
Nina Parker Noon said: “This probably won’t sink in for another hour or so. I’m so underprepared.
Explaining the process behind her film she added: “My film is called The Cosmonaut and is about a lonely Russian cosmonaut who is stationed on the moon and just wants to go home.
“The technique was a tricky hybrid of 2D digital animation, paper cut-outs and stop-motion animation. There wasn't much to reference from when researching this technique so part of the challenge was doing this as efficiently as possible.
“For new students I would say take advantage of every opportunity there is as you never know when it might be useful or inspire ideas.
“I never think you can master animation as the beauty of is there’s always more to learn. So just keep making as many things as you can in many different styles until you find the one you like and are best at.”
The two students will now go on to compete against regional winners from across the country at the national Royal Television Society Awards.
Nathan Tromans, Head of the School of Visual Communication at Birmingham City University, said: “When you’re making a film or an animation, it’s not something you can knock up in a few days, or a few weeks, it’s something you’ve got to give an unremitting sustained effort to.
“Many late nights and a huge amount of dedication, it’s the only way you’ll get a successful film. And to have two nominees and two winners is just amazing.
“If you have to work that hard, over such a long period of time, then the project is going to have its ups and downs and its testament to the tutors that they help the students through to such a fantastic end.”