As a student it can be a hard fete trying to get your work taken seriously outside of the schooling community, but thanks to Trent Edwards, Media Studies teacher at Lara Secondary College and the Youth Development Unit at CoGG, it’s become a little bit easier.
“I had so much talent in my classroom, and such immaculate artistic talent, that I wanted it to be seen to a further audience,” Trent says. “And around the local secondary schools too we had so many media students that were creating great content.”
Back for its second year, Odyssey Film Festival showcases the works of Year 11 and 12 Media Studies students from 11 schools across Geelong and the Surf Coast.
Creating the film festival isn’t at all in Trent’s job description and is something he has taken on outside of his work as a teacher, though his passion for teaching has attributed to its creation. Though luckily, it’s something he hasn’t taken on alone.
“The Youth Development Unit have been an incredible help in the process of this from day one until now, it’s been phenomenal. I couldn’t do it without them, Odyssey wouldn’t exist,” he says.
Trent has also received support from Cr Jan Farrell, fellow teachers and those at other schools as well as parents of students involved in the event.
The general idea of Odyssey is to give an added incentive to the gruelling process of creating a piece of work for VCE. “The main aim of the festival is that you do all this work for the whole year and your mum and dad may be the only people who see it, Odyssey then gives you the opportunity to show it at a major cinema,” he says.
With the quality of clips shown at last years event, which Trent assures me has increased with this year’s submissions, it would be a shame not to show them. The students are taking the camera to new places and angles in every clip to recreate the images in their heads.
“They strap the camera to a car, put it on a tripod or do whatever they need to do to get the shot they need,” Trent says.
“Last year’s winner Joey Knox was in a tree with a camera on the end of a pole so he could get panning shots from the point of view he wanted to – so they’re very creative about how they go about it.”
Aside from sourcing new and unusual ways to capture a shot, the students have created original scripts and intriguing characters through their own creativity and the guidance of their teachers.
As the 18 clips are screened over the three nights, those watching will have the chance to vote for their favourite with an app created by Chris McDermott. The two winners are awarded with prizes on the last screening at Village Cinemas and everyone gets the joy of having their film on the big screen.
When&Where: Surfworld, Surf City Plaza, Torquay – December 3, Potato Shed, Drysdale – December 5 & Village Cinemas, Geelong – December 6.
By Amanda Sherring
