Film and High-End Television Production with Foundation Year

A view of Earth from space is shown on screen and the University of Derby logo and writing 'Film & High-End Television Production BA (Hons) is overlayed in white. 

Tom Craig's voice can be heard: Growing up as a kid, my friends and I all wanted to be different things. Some of them wanted to be astronauts, some of them wanted to join the Army.

Tom Craig, Programme Leader, for BA (Hons) Film and High-End Television Production, appears on screen and says: Me? I wanted to be in the movies. So how do you make a great movie? Well, you need an awful lot of expensive equipment. Film studios, post-production facilities, high end cameras, software, lighting, you name it and we've got it. But the most important thing is your imagination. So what story do you want to tell?

A variety of clips from films play on screen, ranging from some war scenes to space films. 

Stephen Watson, Senior Lecturer, for BA (Hons) Film and High-End Television Production, appears on screen and says: I think the students that thrive on this course push themselves to be creative and try new things in terms of filmmaking techniques to engage the audience, because ultimately that's really what it's all about, is if you can create sounds and pictures that are going to engage your audience in what's on the screen, then you're most of the way there in terms of being a successful filmmaker. We want our students to be successful filmmakers, and to do that, you’ve basically got to be able to put pictures and sounds on screen
that's going to engage an audience in whatever you're trying to say.

Tom Craig: You know, I always tell people I’ve got the best job in the world. And I mean it. Why? Because every day I see these stories unfold. See these dreams come true. I see the magic happening on the screen. That journey from day one. Maybe just an idea for a script or an image in your mind. To your final year degree show.

Tom Craig appears on screen and says: Now that's a story.

A black screen shows the University of Derby logo in white. 

The screen then changes to show a qr code and 'To find out more visit: dby.ac/courses-fa' 

I'm Christine Parker and I'm an Associate Professor of Practice here at the School of Art at the University of Derby. The Film and Photography courses at Derby, both undergraduate and postgraduate, are all about telling stories. The technology is always changing. Whilst we have the latest in professional technology for film and photography, by the time you graduate, that may have changed. So what we teach you is the principles of it and how to use any equipment in any situation to make a story that other people want to hear.

Our graduates are highly successful in the world of film and television. They're working in the industry before they even graduate from the degree. And a lot of our students participate in what we call live briefs, which means that they're actually working with their tutors and lecturers on projects for the real world.

Many of our students form companies, film companies, to make film and high-end television or to be art photographers or commercial photographers. They're very merged now because to succeed as a commercial photographer, you have to be an artist, as well as command the technology.

When students come into film and photography, they cover a wide range of topics, editing, writing, cinematography, and as you progress, we help you find where your passion lies, which area you want to specialise in. So you leave highly specialised, but you've also got a wide range of transferable skills.

In our Film and Photography courses, all the lecturers have experience in the industry. They know what they're talking about. And they do in fact introduce you to the industry as part of the degree and they teach you how to network and how to reach out to other members of the art, photography, and filmmaking community and form networks.

The facilities at Derby are fantastic. We have a Media Loan Hub, where students can take out equipment. There's film and television studios. There's photography studios. There's all kinds of spaces that students can book out for themselves to make work in. The world-famous Format Photography Festival is held in Derby. It's a wonderful festival that people all over the world try to get an exhibition in and our University has a big involvement in the festival, as it does with our community partners, such as the Quad, Derby which is a local art centre and cinema.

Studying at Derby is challenging, but it's fun and it's supported by a really great group of staff and students and graduates and it's a lifetime connection. This is not something that you just do for three years. This is something that prepares you for a lifetime of being a storyteller, an artist, and a maker.

There is the view of the Earth from the space with a satellite floating in its Atmosphere.

A guy is laying down on the bed with his head on a pillow, the left hand under the pillow and the right one between the legs, the whole room lighting scheme is blue. He looks tired.

A door with a wheel as handle is seen with a board on the right saying, “Airlock Active, Artificial Gravity Active”. The room lightning scheme is still blue.

The man who is laying down is looking at the door.

Zoom in on the door.

Zoom in on the man’s face.

Lights are turned on and the man close his eyes because of the bright light. The lightning is not blue anymore.

A board with written “7:30 AM, Time to wake up, it’s going to be a great day” is shown.

The man gets up and start looking around the room and yawn. He is in a space suit. The room is completely with some gadgets.

The man is doing push ups near his bed in his space vest.

The man is rotating on itself while listening to some musing with black headphone.

The man is doing abs crunches while listening to music.

The man is sitting on the bed eating an apple in a steel plan, then put the plate on the bed and gets up and sit on a chair. He then clicks on a touchscreen panel while looking at a screen that shown green lines radar and a black panel one the wall opens showing the Earth.

There is the view of the Earth from the space and then a white heading “A space Apart “appears in the middle.

The man walks around the space shuttle room reading a book and looking at the radar.

The man is carefully looking at glass vial containing a black substance.

Zoom in on the mans face looking at the vial.

The man suddenly turns looking at the radar which show a red flashing point.

The man goes near the radar and look at the point with attention. He then looks at the window. The windows show the Earth with a floating satellite. The man walks towards a black telescope and start looking through it and more the telescope around.

Through his telescope, the man can see a woman dressing a space suit in a room like the man’s ones is shown. She is writing with a pencil on a note regarding a red point on her radar.

Zoom in on the woman writing.

The man looks through the telescope and then through the window.

The woman put down the note.

The man is smiling looking at the window.

The woman looks in her telescope, view the man and wave her hand towards the man smiling and looks in the telescope again.

The man smiles and wave his hand.

Black Screen shown.

The man is laying down his bed with blue lightning with his eyes open.

The lights turn on and the man’s face is illuminated. He slowly gets up yawing.

The man looks at a flower in a vial, and then he hears a beep and start smiling.

The red light reappear on the radar and the man goes to look through the telescope.

He sees the woman who has noticed a red flashing point on her radar as well. She gets up, look at the radar and then look in the telescope.

The man looks at the window and smile.

The woman looks at the windows, smile and wave to the man.

The man wave at the woman and look in the telescope again.

Zoom in on the woman face who is smiling.

The man is looking through the telescope and the to the window smiling, then, with a hand gesture, he tells the woman to wait and turns around.

He goes to grab the vial with the flower.

The man goes back to the window and shows the flower to the windows, showing that it is for her.

The woman sees the flower through the telescope and then looks at the window smiling and touching here heart zone. Then with a hand gesture tells the man to wait and turn around.

She grabs a flower from a vial as well and then goes back the window. She shows the flower to the window telling the man that it is for him.

The man is smiling a lot while looking in his telescope and then looks smiling at the window.

Some glass vials are shown with some flowers that needs to sprout.

The time pass and the flowers in the vials sprout.

The man is writing with a black pen on a note. He is playing “Tris”. He shows the note with his move to the window and look in the telescope. The woman looks the man’s move on the telescope and does her move on the board, then she shows the board at the windows saying that she woman and then looks into the telescope.

The man moves his head smiling and disappointed about the lost game.

The woman looks at the radar and then at the window and with hands gestures tell the man to come where the woman is.

The smile slowly fades from the mans face. He looks toward the space shuttle door with the wheel as handle.

The man looks towards the windows with a worried face and tells that he cannot.

The woman looks at the window and insist.

The man is thinking about it with a worried face and tell again that he cannot.

Zoom in at the woman disappointed face that moves from the telescope and looks at the radar.

A man is looking through a telescope and lifts his head, pauses and then rests this top lip on the telescopes viewfinder. A few seconds pass, he lifts his head again looks away and then stands up straight and walks away turning his back to the telescope.

The camera shows a close up his face for a couple of seconds before switching to show him from the back looking at the spaceship door. Putting his arms out he leans forwards and rests his head on the door.

The man is sat on a bed holding plate eating. He drops the spoon he is eating with on his plate and then puts the plate down on the bed beside him. Leaning forwards he rests his elbow on his thigh, covers his mouth with his hand before turning his head and noticing an old unfinished noughts and crosses game.

The camera shows a close up side profile of his face, his eyes are closes and he has his fingers pressed against his forehead.

There is a beep and he looks up in shock and confusion. There is another beep, he stands and walks back over to the telescope, pauses and then looks into the viewfinder. Through the viewfinder he sees nothing, lifts his head and gives out a sigh. He looks to the side and up, he notices the daffodil by the spaceship door are wilting.

He picks a daffodil up, looks at it and rests it upon his bottom lip for a couple of seconds. He looks out of the corner of his eyes then the screen goes blank.

Lights being to flicker, the sign ‘AIRLOCK ACTIVE’ is illuminated and from the back we can see the man stood in a spacesuit in front of the spaceship door. He turns around looks around the room, puts a space helmet on his head and plugs in the air supply.

He looks down at his hand, he is holding the same daffodil he picked earlier, it is packed in an cylinder canister. He takes a deep breath and the closes the cylinder canister making it airtight and no longer visible.

He turns back around and presses a button under the ‘AIRLOCK ACTIVE’ sign. The room darkens and slowly begins to flash red and mechanical noises can be heard indicating machinery is moving.

The camera shows a close up of his eyes. The flickering of the lights make him scrunch his eyes closed. The scene changes, the flickering stops but this eyes are still tightly closed and his face is slightly shaking. He opens his eyes and the camera zooms out to show he is slowly floating through space with the Earth in the background.

He opens his hand and notices the cylinder canister with the daffodil is gone. The camera shot changes and the cylinder canister can be seen floating through space by his side.

A hand comes into shot and grabs the cylinder canister, the shot changes and it is a women in an astronaut suit who has grabbed the canister. She looks at it and then looks at the male astronaut. He begins to smile at her and she smiles back.

Camera pans out and both astronauts can be seen slowly gliding towards each other in space arms stretched out wide against Earth in the background.

The scene fades out to a blank black screen.

Credits start to role: A Space Apart

Starrring Tom Silverton, Ruby Eva

Director/Writer Chris Duplock

Producer Ben Puskas

Cinematographer Michael Humphreys

First AC Connor Spinks

Sound Designer Matt Wells

Composer Paul Withers

Art Director Thomas Skerritt

Art Assistant Matt Wells

Costume Designer Chris Duplock

Lead Editor Robbie Deaville

Editor Ben Puskas

Lead Colourist Ben Puskas

Colourist Robbie Deaville

VFX Artist Ben Evans

Music

Paul Mottram “Lonely World”

Paul Mottram “Ambient Piano”

Paul Mottram “Danger”

Paul Mottram “Sunset”

Paul Mottram “Floating On Air”

Luke Richards “Look To The Stars”

Sunna Wehrmeijrt “Hollywood Romance”

Annie Drury “Time To Grow”

Special Thanks

Pete Saunders

Duncan Deaville

Karen Puskas

David Wells

Steve Watson

Caitlin Magee

Adrian C. Andrei

Hannah Underwoord

And Marley The Dog

Red Digital Cinema Redcine-X Pro logo

University of Derby logo

Puskas Productions

Blank black screen