New College Student Dubbed Best Young Filmmaker in the World

Will Royal has won the ‘My Rode Reel Young Filmmaker award 2016’, the world’s biggest short film competition.

The 17 year old from Southmoor was selected out of 1,400 entries from over 100 countries to win the prestigious award. As part of the award he has been invited to attend a four-week workshop at the New York Film Academy as well as flights, accommodation and thousands of pounds worth of film equipment.

“Going to New York is exciting enough in itself, but I can’t believe I’ll get the chance to work with some of the biggest names in Film. It’s another step in the right direction to fulfil my dream of being a Cinematographer. From the age of 9 I used to grab the family video camera to direct my siblings and film them in short sketches. From there my passion grew and I bought my first camera at the age of 14.”

The HND Film & TV Production student spent three months to plan, film and edit the winning entry ‘Serenity’ which was shot in Oxford town centre and the White Horse Hill in Faringdon.

Will wanted to use sound to tell a story and that’s where the idea of using a flute came from. He then decided to use invisible cuts (an editing technique used in film) after hours of researching and watching a variety of short films.

To view Will’s winning entry go to http://www.rode.com/myrodereel/awards/young-filmmaker