When students of film operations and production at Ballyfermot Senior College, Dublin were invited to participate in the Kodak Student Commercial Films Awards, they jumped at the chance.
It was, explains course co-ordinator Finn Van Gelderen, the first time that Ballyfermot had been invited to compete in the event. The students' enthusiasm - and hard work - paid off and their commercial, Bounce Up A Fizz, won first prize for best interpretation of the brief.
"We were given the choice of a range of products to advertise," recalls the film's scriptwriter and director, Eimear Markey. Among them were jeans, perfume, champagne and Andrews Seltzer Extra. The Ballyfermot students decided on the Andrews option because they reckoned that making a film about such a product would be relatively inexpensive.
Jeans, perfume or champagne, they figured, would demand glitzier commercials. The whole class submitted scripts and ideas, but, in a vote, Markey's was the winner. All 19 students on the course were involved in the production, but as scriptwriter and director, Markey got to assign positions.
Gerard Murphy was top of her list for producer. "He's the most responsible person in the class," she says. "You can really rely on him and that's what you need in film making." To finance the production, the students raised almost £500 and picked the brains of generous professionals. "Without their help, it would have cost us thousands to make the film," Murphy says. Bounce up a Fizz describes the morning after the night before as experienced by a 30-year-old man. The remedy - Andrews Seltzer Extra - is suggested by two typically Dublin bouncers. (Originally, the bouncers were going to be east-end-of-London criminal types, but the students were advised to stick to the Dub accent - which, they were told, is "sexy" these days.) Pre-production started in early December. The film was shot in two days in mid-December and editor Sarah McTeigue then spent her Christmas holidays in the cutting room. Two days before the deadline, the film was despatched by courier to London.
"We were praying it would get there on time and rang up to check it had arrived," Murphy recalls. Buoyed up with their success, all the Ballyfermot students are now working on their graduation films - two 15-minute works each - which give everyone a chance to experience different roles. For the future, Markey would like to write and direct. "It's everyone's ambition," she says. She hopes to register as a trainee with SIPTU and then get work as a trainee assistant director in film. Gerard, meanwhile, is considering his options: either Ballyfermot's BA in media management, becoming a trainee or setting up his own film production company.
Filmbase, in Dublin's Temple Bar, encourages young film-makers to get going, he says.
According to Van Gelderen, most people on the two-year course, which has only been running for four years, find work in the film industry. Of the first crop of 22 graduates, 17 are employed in the industry, he says.
