The Other Half

DRAMA, FILM AND MEDIA 100 Documentaries Aimed primarily at the Lower School, this clubs watches and discusses recent and topical TV documentaries. No one particular genre of documentary is favoured but rather a wide variety – historical, cultural, geographical, economic, natural history and the topical. Hopefully awareness is increased about the world around us. Abingdon Film Unit The Abingdon Film Unit was formed in 2003. Since then its members have produced over 100 short films, a number of which have won awards and been screened at the National Film Theatre in London, and at festivals in France, Sweden, Hong Kong and throughout the UK. The Unit enables students to make their own films under the guidance of industry professionals. Please note: membership is offered to boys in the Third Year and above after a process of applications and interviews that take place during the Summer term for entry in September. Once accepted, students become members of the Film Unit for the whole year. Films are researched and planned in the first part of the Michaelmas term; shooting usually begins around November; editing occupies much of the Lent term. The finished films are screened the following September. Members of the Unit can also be invited to make films for others, whether within the school or the wider community. They can also undertake special film projects abroad. AFU members have made films in Cambodia, Moldova, China and Hong Kong, for example. Trips may also be organised to cinemas, exhibitions or film studios. You can view material on the Abingdon Film Unit website. Amey Theatre Technical Crew Members gain experience of all aspects of technical theatre from the design stages to implementation. They are regularly involved in the preparation and running of drama productions, concerts, school events and external hires. Wednesday afternoons are put aside for the main bulk of the work but due to the large number of events, much of the work happens on other afternoons, evenings and weekends and therefore a high level of commitment is required. Creative Smartphone Photography In Creative Smartphone Photography Club boys get the opportunity to explore the capabilities of the camera and image processing apps on their smartphones. They are taught the basics of good compositional skills such as ‘rule of thirds’, leading lines and cropping before being set themes for their photographs like shadows, unusual viewpoints, structure and nature. Boys use apps to enhance their photos, adding a filter or high dynamic range and cropping their images for example. 10