Akaash Meeda and Richard Pengelley, with support from Directors Charitable Foundation, led a Masterclass that explored the art of directing film for members of the Film&Screen Saturday Club at Banbury and Bicester College, Activate Learning and Reading College, Activate Learning.
The Masterclass started with introductions from Akaash and Richard, who gave insights into their career by showing storyboards and examples of their past work. They then presented various film directing techniques and discussed the elements involved in setting up a shot.
Club members were then divided into groups, each tasked with filming a scene from a specific genre. Using the same basic storyline, each group had to transform it into either a comedy, drama or horror scene, crafting a sequence of ten shots. As they planned, they considered how to communicate their genre without dialogue, focusing on camera angles and shot composition to capture the right tone.
After a 30-minute planning session, the groups took a brief break, then gathered cameras to film their scenes. The challenge was to visually show their chosen genre through the selection of shots, props and movements, with no spoken words to guide the audience. Each group made the most of the available space, experimenting with different setups and completing a few practice runs before recording.
Once they finished filming, Club members returned to the main room to edit their footage. They later screened their films for each other, followed by a feedback session