A Bafta-style award night has concluded NU Through My Lens, the short-film competition held by and for the students of Newcastle University.

As part of the competition students were given the opportunity to capture on film what they think is great about life at Newcastle University, but also the city and region as a whole, in a maximum of three minutes.

A panel of media experts judged the entrants, with students also getting a chance to vote for their favorite film, best concept, best cinematography, best original music and best trailer.

The winner for Best Film was Endless Opportunities, made by Emma Oulton, Catherine Davidson and Christy Clemence. The team won £2,500 for their outstanding video, which followed two students, showing the opportunities being at university gives you from playing sport, to studying in great facilities, to a varied and active social life.

The Best Concept award went to Christian Cargill and Ludo Roupell for Made in Jesmond, a spoof of Made in Chelsea.  Best Cinematography was won by Andri Suryo, Stoyan Roev and Ivan Lazarov for their film Friends from Uni - Friends for Life. The winner of the Best Original Music category was Raquel Gomez Frias for her film Sounds from Uni. All of these category winners were awarded £1,000 each.

The winners of the three Best Trailers were Alexandru Pitigoi for his film X, Emma Oulton, Christy Clemence and Catherine Davidson for Sometimes Wonderful and Holly Peacock for Two Cultures.

The awards were held in the Students’ Union and the competition and ceremony were organised and hosted by postgraduate media students Anahita Guha, Maham Masood and Zhenhua Jin.

Newcastle University Vice Chancellor, Professor Chris Brink, who funded the competition, said: “The NU Through My Lens competition has recognised that the best ambassadors for our University are our students themselves and I have been very impressed with the standard of all the entries.

“We hope to be able to use the winning film in our student recruitment efforts as they give a realistic, and appealing, insight into life at Newcastle University and the North East.

“I hope all the students involved have learned from the process, they have been helped by experts in the field of film making – as well as having some fun along the way.”

Competition judge Mark Scrimshaw, a member of Court, the governing body for Newcastle University, and producer/director and chair of BECTU (Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union) at the BBC said:  “The entries showed a very high standard of creativity and ambition in portraying the lives and thoughts of Newcastle’s students. Some were funny, some artistic and some thought-provoking , but all were the valid and uncensored voices of today’s student.

“It is extremely encouraging to see such talent and enthusiasm coming from within the University’s students.”

To view all the videos see the University YouTube site.

published on: 5 June 2013