The early November event was held against the backdrop of an exhibition, hosted by the StoryLab research institute – “Storytelling in the Fourth Industrial Revolution” – which offered a useful means of exploring traditional and new forms of storytelling across existing and new platforms.
Watts was one of the contributors to presenter/producer and Star Wars superfan David Whiteley’s affectionate look at the British talent behind the Star Wars phenomenon.
An audience of more than 75, including two stormtroopers, enjoyed a screening of the original 60-minute version of The Galaxy Britain Built, winner of RTS East’s Best Factual Programme and Best Post-Production awards earlier this year.
Run by the BBC Academy, the event aimed to give the students an insight into working in the broadcasting industry.
The morning session on mobile journalism, taken by MoJo guru Marc Settle, gave them the skills to go out into the city and shoot and edit a film entirely on their phones. Grabbing lunch on the go, the completed films were reviewed and a Best Film award given.
Covering a lot of ground from the humble cathode-ray tube to the latest 8k displays, Lodge explained what it takes to make a production truly immersive – so the scene feels as real as if viewers were seeing it with their own eyes.
The viewers’ vision is filled with what’s playing out before them; cuts, mixes and zooms don’t make sense in this environment. The production needs to find other ways to lead them from one scene to the next.
This was just one of the questions put to director David Jackson by RTS East’s Fiona Ryder, following a screening of his impressive debut feature, Winterlong, at the Arts Picturehouse, Cambridge, in late April.
Jackson, who received his first big break from Nicola Shindler at the Red Production Company directing the RTS award-winning series Clocking Off, said he owed everything to TV drama.
He has served on the RoI committee since the centre launched in 1996 and took over from founding Chair Al Lennon in 2000. “Al was the inspiration for the RoI centre and it’s been a great honour to continue his work,” said Byrne.
He is proud that the centre’s Student Television Awards have grown over the past decade: “I’ve been delighted that jury chair Marie Penston and I have been able to build up the awards. For a small centre, we have enjoyed great success at the national awards in London.”
BBC East’s The Galaxy Britain Built, which celebrated the behind-the-camera contribution of British film craft to the first Star Wars movie, was named best Factual Programme.
Three BBC East journalists won awards: Richard Westcott took the News and Current Affairs Feature award; Robby West was named best On-screen Journalist; and Jo Thewlis picked up the New Talent On Screen award. Matt Wildash took home the Post-production Craft Skills award.
Rühl was a traditional TV producer until she picked up her first 360-degree camera rig in 2015.
At the RTS event, which was held in collaboration with Cambridge research institute StoryLab, she talked about her short VR film, Keyed Alike, which was produced and written by Rühl, directed by Chloe Thomas (ITV historical drama Victoria) and stars Gemma Whelan (HBO’s Games of Thrones). It is a love story about two women who meet on a London riverside covered in love locks.
Woods showed clips from some of the award-winning programmes he’s made through his indie, True Vision, over the past 20 years, mainly for the BBC and Channel Four.
The Norfolk-based production company took the Promotional Film award for RNLI and Finisterre and the Digital Content prize for Norwich Castle Keep.
The awards ceremony was hosted by ITV News Anglia presenter Becky Jago and Stewart White, host of BBC regional news programme Look East.
ITV Anglia enjoyed a successful evening, winning three awards: Sean Cockrell took the Production Craft Skills award; Chloe Keedy won the New Talent On-screen prize; while Sarah Byrd was named Best On-screen Personality.
