And the results are in!
We were nominated in 3 categories! A great achievement for our first year!
A great evening was had by all at the DV Mission Awards ceremony at the Wedgwood Rooms on Saturday (7th). In total 26 entrants completed the task and their films were entered. The selection and quality of films was outstanding and we were very excited to be nominated for 3 categories, which was excellent for our first year. Watch out for us in 2027 — we will be going for a prize!
The Challenge
The class decided to take part in the DV Mission 2026 film making competition. You are given 48 hours to produce a short (2 minute) film. At 5.00pm on Friday 27th February the theme was revealed — Pirates — along with 2 lines of text that had to be included. Everything had to be finished by 5.00pm on Sunday 1st March. No pressure then!
Luckily for us, Billy had taken part in this competition before and was able to give us some very useful pointers. We all agreed to meet in a pub — where else could we go? All the coffee shops were closed. Honest!
We decided to make our film about proper pirates, starting with press gangs and trying to avoid them. This evolved into treasure, skulduggery and all the things pirates are known for. We came up with the title: "Pirates! In an adventure with Slippery Dick and the stolen treasure."
It was suggested that Slippery Dick should be dressed as a woman to disguise himself from his pursuers — and that it would be funnier if the man had a beard. So, guess who got volunteered. Yes, our very own Dick.
Quote from Dick: "What was I thinking of?"
Saturday — Filming Day
We all met up at the Rock Gardens in Southsea where we filmed the scene where the treasure was buried — and a great drone shot was captured by Billy. From there we moved onto Old Portsmouth, filming scenes around the Cathedral. Billy had contacted the owner of the Sallyport pub and arranged for us to film there, including a private room when the main bar filled up with customers. This is when we got our first look at Slippery Dick dressed as a woman, which caused much mirth amongst cast and crew!
We then headed to the streets of Old Portsmouth for further scenes — providing much amusement to passers-by — before finishing down on the Hard for the last scene. Then, naturally, we retired to a local hostelry for a well-earned beverage. It had been a long day!
Sunday — Edit Day
Sunday dawned and it was the day of the edit, which had to be completed by 5.00pm. Billy had already started before Chris arrived, followed later in the morning by Dick, bringing supplies of very large pastries from Crazy Crumb in Marmion Road — which disappeared very, very quickly. There was an awfully large amount of footage to condense down to 2 minutes. As the hours ticked away, Karah joined and slowly they started to make progress. At 4.00pm — "Don't panic," said Chris. 4.30pm — "Don't panic, almost there." Then at 4.45pm — perhaps we should start to panic! Karah was becoming a nervous wreck! But Billy carried on adding in titles, gunfire, the logo and yes — we got it finished and sent off. Phew!
We would like to say a very special thank you to Jon Jupp, who without joining in and letting us have access to all his props and costumes, the film would not look as good as it does!
All I can say is that everyone involved in this should be very proud of themselves. The film looks amazing and win or lose, it is a great testimony to what you can achieve if you put yourselves to the test.