So you wanna make a movie?

TnaG is running a short film competition for the second year running. The competition, Comortas Fiseain TnaG '98/ '99, is open to Transition Year students throughout the State. Entrants have to submit a script and a plan for a five- to 10-minute video - loosely based around the theme "Young People". Five finalists are then chosen and their plans are turned into actual films with the assistance of technical staff and equipment provided by TnaG. The winners and runners up are chosen to represent Ireland at an international film festival in Italy next summer - all expenses paid!

Students can choose any format they like - comedy/drama/cop show/ whatever; it can be in colour or black and white, and it can be in English or Irish.

The closing date for registration is December 15th. Finished scripts will be due in by January 31st. The five finalists will be notified a month later.

Students should submit a script and a detailed plan of how the production might look. The judges will be looking for evidence of team work, imagination and an interesting theme. (See below left for more details.)

Last year's winners were the Mercy Convent, Sligo, who produced a film on young people's rights in the workplace. Eimer Higgins did the voice over, and helped with the editing and scriptwriting. "We had lunchtime meetings to brainstorm, to come up with a new idea which was relevant to young people.

"We all worked on the script together, focusing on how to get the point across. We decided to use music and make it all quite splashy, so it would be interesting.

"The whole thing was really enjoyable, and going to Italy was the icing on the cake. We all felt really proud to represent our country at an international level."

Sarah Fox was involved in camera and sound. "I have always been interested in cameras and how films are made. I decided to do camerawork because I knew this would be an opportunity to learn how it all works. It was a great experience. It was hard work but there was a great team spirit among the class - no arguments or hassle!" The runners-up were Ard Scoil Mhuire, Dungarvan, Co Waterford. Sarah Dolan was the director there. "We decided to make a drama about a young girl who is being stalked by her best friend.

"We had a lot of fun shooting the film, though it was very hard sometimes. There was one particular scene which was taking place outside a night club and there were loads of people looking out at us, so the girls got really self-conscious and kept bursting out laughing. But eventually we got it right."

Joan Young played the part of the stalker victim. "We used creepy music to create a sense of tension, and we got some help with ideas from the TnaG crew. "The most difficult part was editing. A couple of nights we were in until midnight, and it could get very tedious. It was my first time acting, and it was brilliant crack. "Going away to Italy was amazing. It was my first time on a plane - and the standard of the other films was very high. But Ireland won a prize for best idea!"