Cinesnaps competition starts soon

South West high school students with a flair for filmmaking are encouraged to start thinking about entering the fifth Cinesnaps short film competition.

Students aged 15 to 18 years old can work individually or in teams of up to six to produce a three-to-five-minute short film centred on the 2018 theme “mirrors”.

Supported by schools partner Rio Tinto and schools associate partner ATCO Gas Australia, Cinesnaps is part of the CinefestOZ Community Schools Program, which includes festival incursions such as filmmaker Q&As and filmmaking master classes with industry professionals.

The competition will culminate with the judging of finalists by Australian film industry heavyweights in front of more than 200 guests at a youth red carpet screening during the CinefestOZ Festival from August 22 to 26, 2018.

Bunbury Cathedral Grammar student James Forster won the coveted Cinesnaps trophy at his third attempt in 2017 for his film Salt Water and encouraged budding filmmakers to get involved.

“This year was my third time entering and after getting feedback from my two other failed attempts, I finally had the skills and knowledge to make a winning film,” he said.

“The festival ran many workshops and these were a great opportunity to see how many of the techniques I had learnt to a basic level to work in the professional environment – it also gave me a chance to develop them further.”

James said other perks included getting to meet big names in the Australian film industry. James’ advice for those competing in 2018 was to keep it short.

“Remember you only have a maximum of five minutes. A short concise entertaining story is better than a large complex narrative which would be better off in a feature film.”

Entries will open on December 1, with entry packs available from cinesnaps.com.au.