Students celebrate wins at RTS Student Awards

Charlie Friend, a BA (Hons) Film Production student, picked up the Factual Short Form award for directing, Makers of Monsters. The judges described it as a piece shot with ‘warmth, honesty, and beautifully lit’…. ‘a must watch for monster lovers’, while audiences appreciated the honest and likeable portrayal of the protagonist.

The documentary is about Fito Dellibarda, an Argentinian special effects artist based in Madrid, Spain. It follows his passion for his craft, while at its core it speaks about family, film, horror and the morbid curiosity with monsters.

“The inspiration came from Fito and his work, he’s such an interesting person with such passion and talent for his work, explained Charlie.

“The themes of family came from Fito’s heart and spoke to regret with depth and honesty. As a director, my interest in horror, gore, and monsters shaped the story. Why create monsters and gore why do we want to see that? And when speaking with Fito, he summed it up – ‘Dream a dream. Or dream a nightmare. But Dream’.”

Charlie shot her film alongside Producer Sophie Schot, Director of Photography Emily Jones, Sound Ella Dicker, and Editor Sam Arocas, with Music Composition by Tomás Dellibarda.

“To receive recognition for a project my crew and I worked so hard on feels unreal. We’ve had so much love from fellow students and family members, so it makes me really proud of what we’ve created,” Charlie said.

While on the back of his Gold Award in the Digital Animation category at the Taiwan International Student Design Competition, BA (Hons) Animation graduate James Doherty topped the Animation category, beating his shortlisted peers, with his grad film, Before Lights Out.

The animation uses a blend of CGI and a 2D painterly style to tell the story of a dog that meets a spaceman on a lonely road and follows them as they journey towards the moon.

“It feels surreal to win an RTS award. During university there was a special cabinet in the animation studio for RTS trophies. We would sometimes stop by and look at the previous winners. So, it’s very weird now, owning one that has my name on it,” explained James.

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