MEDIA students at Bridgwater & Taunton College (BTC) have received training from top industry professionals.
Students on BTC's Level 3 Commercial Media Production programme were taught how film sets work through a variety of workshops, including recreating a scene from Joaquin Phoenix's 'Joker'.
They were joined at the college's Bridgwater campus by Charmian Adams (art director on 'Downton Abbey', 'Edge of Darkness' and 'Sid & Nancy'), Mari Yamamura (director of photography for BBC series 'Dracula', 'Doctors' and 'Being Human') and Alex Withers (assistant director department on 'Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again' and ‘Everybody’s Talking about Jamie').
The professionals also advised students on creating CVs for media roles and offered tips on getting into the industry.
The college's Creative Media students were joined by Media Make-Up students from University Centre Somerset, who learned about design in the industry and were able to recreate make-up in the scene recreations.
The industry training was made possible by the course's ScreenSkills Select quality mark status.
BTC's Commercial Media Production programme is one of a small number of UK college courses that have been endorsed with the ScreenSkills Select quality mark.
ScreenSkills is an industry-led body for the screen industries, encompassing film, television, visual effects (VFX), animation and games.
The organisation aims to provide insight, career development and other opportunities to help people get into the sector and progress within it.
ScreenSkills' quality mark highlights the course's relevance to the sector, its high-quality course content, industry links, and the support available to students.
Jack Turner, a Level 3 Creative Media (Film & Television) student, said: "I had an absolutely amazing time with ScreenSkills.
"Getting the chance to work with professionals in my area of interest was fantastic and I can’t thank them enough."
Alexander Churchill said: "It was a very engaging and informative experience. I learned a lot from it, including practical skills."
Margaret Burgin, ScreenSkills’ head of careers, said: "To get their first jobs in the film and TV industries, students need real experience of how the industry works and what roles are available.
"They also need to know how to approach film and programme-makers.
"This 'Set Ready' employability day was a huge success because it combined all of these things with students learning directly from professionals currently working in the industry – exactly the kind of industry experience ScreenSkills Select is designed to promote."
Alan Hardcastle, course leader of Level 3 Commercial Media Production at the Bridgwater campus, said: "This has been an amazing opportunity and our students were lucky to be able to take full advantage of it.
"At a time when the industry is expanding and the need for talent is at an all-time high, showing students the reality of working on set and meeting people who are active in the profession is invaluable.
"It makes the whole thing real to them and breaks through the perception that living in a rural area makes it harder to get into the industry, even though the BBC, Netflix and Marvel all shoot locally!"
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