Ratcliffe College Media Department host ‘A Night at the Oscars’ on Thursday 21st June 2012.
The chink of glasses, the melody of movie themes and the pitter-patter of lots of tottering heels heralded the beginning of the 2012 Ratcliffe College ‘Night at the Oscars’. As 80 parents, students and staff walked down the red carpet into the Old Library, there were many mutterings regarding who the eventual winners would be.
The tension and excitement in the air were palpable! Both print and video productions, which formed part of Years 11-13 coursework, were viewed by the guests, as part of a dynamic and technically ambitious show-reel lovingly created by Media technician, Mr Alan Ball. Awards were given out across 12 categories including such varied disciplines as Best Cinematography, Best Copy in a Print Production and Best Fiction Film Product, to name but a few. Highlights included One Force, One Leicester, a short documentary detailing the work of the Leicester City police and associated agencies in protecting Leicester’s night-time economy. The creators, Daniel Delargy, Alexander Gardner, Georgina Kerridge and Jay Thobhani walked away with two gleaming trophies, for Best Promotional Text and Production Most Likely to Succeed in a Real Media Context. This is in addition to the recognition which they have already received from the police force itself.
The audience was similarly wowed by the winner of the Best Music Video and Best Editing categories. Andrew Harkness’ and Hannah Spooner’s incredibly professional music video for the band Little Forts (featuring two other Year 13 Ratcliffe students, Edward Stiven and Paul Isherwood) impressed with its creativity and inspired use of editing and green screen effects. Certainly, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who left the evening humming the featured track Life Saver repeatedly under my breath!
The real success of the evening, however, was the student body as a whole. In addition to those students listed above, the remainder of A2 Media students each received two awards as can be seen below. It is no exaggeration to say that this was the best collection of work produced by any year group I have ever taught. Just as exciting was the quality of the work produced by those students nipping at the heels of our Year 13s!
There was some beautiful print-work produced as part of the music magazine brief at AS, crowned by the Best Print Production, Demi-Leigh Chamberlain’s indie rock magazine, L.A.M.B. Similarly, GCSE students in Year 11 produced work which could happily sit alongside that produced by their older peers.
Particularly noteworthy was the advertising campaign for a new alcoholic drink, ‘Identity’, produced by James Horner and Daniel Pick. Sophisticated and slick, I think it left us all convinced of the must-have beverage of the summer, and not a little thirsty!
Overall, the evening was an exciting and sophisticated occasion, of which Oscar would be proud!
Please view our Media students’ video work at
http://www.youtube.com/user/ratcliffeshowcase?feature=results_main or through the main school website at http://www.ratcliffe-college.co.uk/mediafolder/ (including print work).
2012 ‘A Night at the Oscars’ winners
Best Fiction Film Product
Matthew Brunton
Benjamin Keyworth
Rishi Kotak
(Year 13)
Best Music Video
Andrew Harkness
Hannah Spooner
(Year 13)
Best Editing
Andrew Harkness
Hannah Spooner
(Year 13)
Best Cinematography
Matthew Brunton
Benjamin Keyworth
Rishi Kotak
(Year 13)
Best Sound
James Perfect
Thomas Smith
(Year 13)
Best Brand Identity
James Horner
Daniel Pick
(Year 11)
Best Original Concept in a Production
James Perfect
Thomas Smith
(Year 13)
Best Promotional Text
Daniel Delargy
Alexander Gardner
Georgina Kerridge
Jay Thobhani
(Year 13)
Best Print Production
Demi-Leigh Chamberlain
(Year 12)
Best Photography in a Print Production
Reiko Ma
(Year 12)
Best Copy in a Print Production
Holly Powell
(Year 12)
Production Most Likely to Succeed in a Real Media Context
Daniel Delargy
Alexander Gardner
Georgina Kerridge
Jay Thobhani
(Year 13)
Photo r-l: Daniel Delargy, Reiko Ma, James Horner, Demi-Leigh Chamberlain, Holly Powell, James Perfect, Alexander Gardner, Miss Gregory (Head of Media Studies), Matthew Brunton, Benjamin Keyworth, Thomas Smith, Hannah Spooner, Andrew Harkness, Georgina Kerridge, Alan Ball (Media technician)