Two Irish animation short films Old Fangs and Please Say Something have been selected for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Both Films have Kilkenny connections.
Old Fangs is directed by Adrien Merigeau and produced by Carton Saloon (The Secret of Kells). Cartoon Saloon was created by former members of Young Irish Film Makers and, of course, the famous producer with the hat, Paul Young. The film was produced under the Frameworks short animation scheme funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB), the Arts Council and RTÉ.
Please Say Something is directed by former YIFM member, David O’Reilly, and won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlinale Film Festival earlier this year. The film is also set for theatrical release in Germany next year.
Congratulations to all at Cartoon Saloon on their Oscar nomination for The Secret of Kells!
Director Tomm Moore was a member of Young Irish Film Makers for many years as well as fellow Cartoon Salooners Ross Murray and Ross Stewart and Skunk Fu! TV series director, Aiden Harte.
After college they gathered fourteen of their friends together and created Cartoon Saloon through participation in a three year FAS scheme in Young Irish Film Makers set up by Oliver Clancy and Michael O’Meara. During their time here they developed the early concepts for Rebel, the early name for the film that was to become The Secret of Kells.
Tomm and his team had a real struggle over many years to put all the elements of The Secret of Kells together and there were times when it looked like the film would never happen. But they stuck with the task and now we can see their completed vision, The Secret of Kells, in all its luminous beauty.
Well done, Tomm, from everyone in Young Irish Film Makers. Your vision and creation of The Secret of Kells is an inspiration to all our young members and a wonderful gift to the world.
Every best wish for an Oscar win in 2010. And then five in a row!
Caffeine – Young Irish Film Maker’s 24 Hour Film Festival Wrapped up on Saturday the 16th of January 2010 last at 6pm. over 30 teams took part in this years contest. Teams were give 4 objects (Photograph, Sign, Date and Toy) and were set the task to make a film based on these objects, they had 24 hours to do so! Today the films were screened in front of out judging panal (Darragh Kelly, Mike Kelly, Dave Minogue & Darragh Byrne) choose the winners!
UPDATE: CLASSES WILL NO LONGER BE STARTING BACK THE WEEK OF THE 11TH. THEY WILL NOW BE BACK THE WEEK OF THE 18TH OF DECEMBER.
DREAMSTUFF AUDITIONS HAVE BEEN MOVED TO MON THE 18TH AND WED 20TH 7-9PM
Classes are starting back the week of the 11th of January.
Drama Classes
Tuesday 4-6 Junior Drama
Wednesday 4.30-6.30 Senior Drama
Thursday – 4.30-6.30 Advance Acting (Audition only)
Friday 4.30-6.30 Senior Drama
Technical Classes will start back Friday 4.30-6.30 and will be split for weeks after this.
Auditions for Dreamstuff Youth Theatres latest production will be taking place Saturday the 16th of Jan 3.30-6.30.
Please note that rehearsals for Dreamstuff will no longer be Tuesday and Thursdays it will now be Monday and Wednesdays nights (this may be changed depending on availability of people cast)
Fees for the term will be €80. If you have any questions email angelabarrett@yifm.com
It’s Back by popular demand! – Caffeine, the 24 hour international film festival, returns on the 15th of January 2010. You can now register your teams here to take part.
2009 winner “Sclever”. On the team were Stephen Colfer, SarahWalsh, Conor Barry, Richie Cody and John Doran
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.
.
.
Conditions
> All participants must be ages 12 and over
> The Competition runs from 6pm Friday 15th of January 2010 to 6pm Saturday 16th of January 2010
> Running time of each film must not to exceed 5 minutes
> All films for the competition must be hosted on YouTube, posted as a video response to the YIFM CAFFEINE YouTube Channel.
> Films must be scripted, shot and edited within the 24 hour time limit.
> The objects given and named at the offset of the 24 hours must be relevant to plot.
> Crew and cast may be prepared before the 24 hours begin.
> Films may be shot on any medium (from camera phones, Hi8 to HD and beyond).
> Films may be edited on any software or edited in camera.
> Films may be of any genre,
> YIFM equipment may not be used in the making of these films, however YIFM computers will be made available for upload to YouTube should that be required.
> All teams and individuals taking part must register for the competition before the deadline of WEDNESDAY 14th JANUARY 2009.
Top tips for Caffeine
.
Write your script
Make sure it has a beginning , a middle and an end! The three act structure with plot point one at the start and plot point two near the end is preferable.
A comic story with a twist at the end is usually the best for this type of film.
A protaganist and an antagonist are usually working against each other with a climax at the end.
Keep away from too much interior monologue or too much talking- this isn’t a novel or a play.
Think visually- this is visual medium!
Show your character through action not by what they say.
Make sure there is narrative tension in your script- boring your audience is death!
Hide your back story and avoid too much exposition.
Show – Dont tell your story.
Find locations-
Be warned you lose an hour everytime you change location.
Try to use one location preferably interior – two at the very most.
Schedule your film-
Be careful that you give yourself enough time for every scene and not to spend too much time on the shorter ones.
If there are any that can be cut out leave them till the end so you can shoot them if you have time.
Spend a good five hours scripting, three hours pre production, five hours shooting, five hours editing, two hours uploading.
Do not spend too much time on any of them. If you behind schedule while shooting change your story or combine shots to tell the same story.
If you have night time scenes outside be careful.
Do your storyboards-
Draw a comic strip of your story.
It should be possible to see your story through these panels without any dialogue.
Dont worry about the quality of the drawings.
Do an overhead of your scenes(especailly if it is a dialogue scene)-
If you have a talking scene with lots of shot reverse shot be careful not to cross the line.
Do a shot list-
This is a list of all your shots so that it will save you time
The three main types are-
Close Up (CU) -This is usually a characters face and shoulders.
Mid Shot (MS)- This is a characters from his waist up.
Wide Shot (WS)- A characters from their feet up.
There are other shots like Extreme Close Up, Tracking shot, Handheld, Two Shot, Over the Shoulder etc.
You will only use the wide for beginning and end of scene usually then go to mids and close up in the middle. Then back out to wide at the end.
Rationalise your shot list!- That means shoot all one way besides wasting time having to come back and set you camera up twice.
Leave the cutaways till last as they take time to do and actors prefer to get the flow of their performance out of the way.
Camera- Remember the rules of compostion when you are shooting- The Rule of Thirds.(Imagine a Tic Tac Toe grid on your shot- try to have something of interest where it intersects.)
Try to keep everything in the left of right of your frame not in the middle.
Avoid too much negative space on left or right.
Watch out on the head height of your characters from the top of the frame.
Be careful of over exposure and the opposite under exposure which is worse.
White balance, focus and adjust the aperture of your camera(Use the auto settings if you want- its easier on smaller cameras!)
Help your director but don’t take over!
Directing-
Overlap all your shots- shoot coverage that will join up with the next shot in your sequence!
Create transitions- make sure that you know how your scenes will edit together.( A nice match cut is always cool!)
Keep calm and be authorative while listening to everyones advice but be the final say!
Listen to actors performance and watch everything are doing through the viewfinder if possible.
Give them notes after every shot. Praise if they deserve it but be constructive in your criticisms.
Communicate with everyone especially your cameraman.
Be decisisive- if you are panicing set up a cutaway shot while you think about it.
Get your main shots done that will tell the story and then do the ones that you can live without.
Shoot loads and loads of cutaways- these will save your life in the edit.
Editing- Digitise all your footage. Watch every take and take notes. You never know what you will use.
Try to find movements of characters in shots that you can cut on.
Do not always come in on a wide- sometimes it is funnier to start on a close up and jump out to a wide.
Use close ups for more emotional shots.
If an actors performance is too broad use the wider shot.
Avoid the shots that last too long- these will bore your audience.
Let the pace reflect the film- a moody film shouldn’t be cut like an MTV video!
Editing is about finding solutions to the mistake of the shoot. Help the director find those solutions but don’t take over.
Try to get a montage sequence or at least one scene involving music.
Watch the transitions between scenes.
Try to cut dialogue scenes using the reaction of the other person they are talking to as much as possible.
Tighten every single edit on the final cut.
Watch the film with the sound turned down and see if it still works.
Editing in Camera
Be warned you do not have a second take.
Planning is essential.
Make sure you have a few tapes if you mess up.
Be inventive as you can. Use the cuts.
Uploading-
Turn it into a Quicktime clip
Then create a YOUTUBE account.
Upload your Video and MAKE SURE WE CAN FIND IT!
Good Luck! and Remember Have Fun!It’s Back – Caffeine, the 24 hour international film festival, returns on the 15th of January 2010. You can now register your teams here to take part.
2009 winner “Sclever”. On the team were Stephen Colfer, SarahWalsh, Conor Barry, Richie Cody and John Doran
Conditions
> All participants must be ages 12 and over
> The Competition runs from 6pm Friday 15th of January 2010 to 6pm Saturday 16th of January 2010
> Running time of each film must not to exceed 5 minutes
> All films for the competition must be hosted on YouTube, posted as a video response to the YIFM CAFFEINE YouTube Channel.
> Films must be scripted, shot and edited within the 24 hour time limit.
> The objects given and named at the offset of the 24 hours must be relevant to plot.
> Crew and cast may be prepared before the 24 hours begin.
> Films may be shot on any medium (from camera phones, Hi8 to HD and beyond).
> Films may be edited on any software or edited in camera.
> Films may be of any genre,
> YIFM equipment may not be used in the making of these films, however YIFM computers will be made available for upload to YouTube should that be required.
> All teams and individuals taking part must register for the competition before the deadline of WEDNESDAY 11th MARCH 2009.
Top tips for Caffeine
.
Write your script
Make sure it has a beginning , a middle and an end! The three act structure with plot point one at the start and plot point two near the end is preferable.
A comic story with a twist at the end is usually the best for this type of film.
A protaganist and an antagonist are usually working against each other with a climax at the end.
Keep away from too much interior monologue or too much talking- this isn’t a novel or a play.
Think visually- this is visual medium!
Show your character through action not by what they say.
Make sure there is narrative tension in your script- boring your audience is death!
Hide your back story and avoid too much exposition.
Show – Dont tell your story.
Find locations-
Be warned you lose an hour everytime you change location.
Try to use one location preferably interior – two at the very most.
Schedule your film-
Be careful that you give yourself enough time for every scene and not to spend too much time on the shorter ones.
If there are any that can be cut out leave them till the end so you can shoot them if you have time.
Spend a good five hours scripting, three hours pre production, five hours shooting, five hours editing, two hours uploading.
Do not spend too much time on any of them. If you behind schedule while shooting change your story or combine shots to tell the same story.
If you have night time scenes outside be careful.
Do your storyboards-
Draw a comic strip of your story.
It should be possible to see your story through these panels without any dialogue.
Dont worry about the quality of the drawings.
Do an overhead of your scenes(especailly if it is a dialogue scene)-
If you have a talking scene with lots of shot reverse shot be careful not to cross the line.
Do a shot list-
This is a list of all your shots so that it will save you time
The three main types are-
Close Up (CU) -This is usually a characters face and shoulders.
Mid Shot (MS)- This is a characters from his waist up.
Wide Shot (WS)- A characters from their feet up.
There are other shots like Extreme Close Up, Tracking shot, Handheld, Two Shot, Over the Shoulder etc.
You will only use the wide for beginning and end of scene usually then go to mids and close up in the middle. Then back out to wide at the end.
Rationalise your shot list!- That means shoot all one way besides wasting time having to come back and set you camera up twice.
Leave the cutaways till last as they take time to do and actors prefer to get the flow of their performance out of the way.
Camera- Remember the rules of compostion when you are shooting- The Rule of Thirds.(Imagine a Tic Tac Toe grid on your shot- try to have something of interest where it intersects.)
Try to keep everything in the left of right of your frame not in the middle.
Avoid too much negative space on left or right.
Watch out on the head height of your characters from the top of the frame.
Be careful of over exposure and the opposite under exposure which is worse.
White balance, focus and adjust the aperture of your camera(Use the auto settings if you want- its easier on smaller cameras!)
Help your director but don’t take over!
Directing-
Overlap all your shots- shoot coverage that will join up with the next shot in your sequence!
Create transitions- make sure that you know how your scenes will edit together.( A nice match cut is always cool!)
Keep calm and be authorative while listening to everyones advice but be the final say!
Listen to actors performance and watch everything are doing through the viewfinder if possible.
Give them notes after every shot. Praise if they deserve it but be constructive in your criticisms.
Communicate with everyone especially your cameraman.
Be decisisive- if you are panicing set up a cutaway shot while you think about it.
Get your main shots done that will tell the story and then do the ones that you can live without.
Shoot loads and loads of cutaways- these will save your life in the edit.
Editing- Digitise all your footage. Watch every take and take notes. You never know what you will use.
Try to find movements of characters in shots that you can cut on.
Do not always come in on a wide- sometimes it is funnier to start on a close up and jump out to a wide.
Use close ups for more emotional shots.
If an actors performance is too broad use the wider shot.
Avoid the shots that last too long- these will bore your audience.
Let the pace reflect the film- a moody film shouldn’t be cut like an MTV video!
Editing is about finding solutions to the mistake of the shoot. Help the director find those solutions but don’t take over.
Try to get a montage sequence or at least one scene involving music.
Watch the transitions between scenes.
Try to cut dialogue scenes using the reaction of the other person they are talking to as much as possible.
Tighten every single edit on the final cut.
Watch the film with the sound turned down and see if it still works.
Editing in Camera
Be warned you do not have a second take.
Planning is essential.
Make sure you have a few tapes if you mess up.
Be inventive as you can. Use the cuts.
Uploading-
Turn it into a Quicktime clip
Then create a YOUTUBE account.
Upload your Video and MAKE SURE WE CAN FIND IT!
For one night only Young Irish Film Makers, in association with Office of Public Works, Kilkenny Castle, will present an intimate, dramatic reading of the seasonal classic A Christmas Carol in the Parade Tower.
This reading will bring together the pleasure of hearing a one of the great Christmas stories, the joyful music of the season, and the inspired reading of some of Kilkenny’s leading personalities, John Morton, Betty Manning, John McGuinness, and Sue Nunn.
Please join us on Tuesday 22nd December at 7pm to enjoy this unique version of Charles Dickens timeless story
Young Irish Film Makers and Dreamstuff Youth Theatre are back in action this September when their exciting film making and acting classes for young people start up again. There will be a class or workshop to suit every young person interesting in acting on stage or making films to professional standards.
Every Tuesday from 4 -6pm is Junior Drama for 8 to 12 year olds. On Wednesdays 13 to 18 year old take part in Senior Drama from 4:30 to 6:30pm. Film acting classes for 13-18 year olds are held on Fridays from 4:30 to 6:30pm.
There will be a special young professional acting class for 13-18 year olds held on Thursdays. Entry to this class is by audition only.
These classes cover theatre games, improvisation, stage and film acting. Most classes will include some film making experience. All young casts for Dreamstuff Youth Theatre and YIFM film production come from these drama groups.
Film Making Workshops will be held on Fridays from 4:30 to 6:30 for 12 to 18 year olds. These workshops will cover camera, lighting, sound recording and editing. On Saturdays there will be intensive film production and directing classes from 11am to 1pm for 12 to 18 year olds. There will be a special script writing class developed with the film production and directing students.
We are also interested in young people who would like to develop web design, special visual effects and editing skills. If you have good computer skills and want to develop them through working on web design or film productions then contact us directly or call in to our Waterford Road studios and start working with us.
Classes begin on Tuesday 15th September and you just come along on the date and time of your class or workshop.
Our 2008 Summer School film is now online. This the first Young Irish Film Makers film to be released online in its entirety. Please watch this film and leave a comment/review. This homage to silent comedy was directed by Stephen Colfer from an original story by John Morton. It was produced by Mike Kelly and Darragh Byrne with an original score by Neil Brand the greatest silent movie composer in the world. [blip.tv ?posts_id=2210205&dest=-1]
Our latest short film directed by Fergal Costello starring Paddy Corr, shot by James Marnell and produced by Darragh Kelly. This uneasy tale of looking into the abyss was rotoscoped afterwards to give it a graphic novel look with some CGI by Alan Doyle who also did sound. Enjoy.
Young Irish Film Makers Summer Feature Film needs a cast and you could be it! We are shooting in July and you need to be availible for the whole month. We are looking for 3 boys and 3 girls for our main cast as well as a dozen or so extras. Parts range from 10-18 for boys and 8-18 for girls.
Everybody is welcome and will be considered seriously for the roles. It is a pyschological horror movie and will the most exciting experience of your life. Please call to us on Saturday 13th June from 10.30am onwards at St Joseph Studios on the Waterford Road in Kilkenny city.
We welcome Angela Barrett as the new full time Artistic Director for Dreamstuff Youth Theatre. She will be joining us at the end of May. Angela was a member here for many years and involved in all our films and plays. She directed one of our funniest productions, The Three Musketeers, in 2005. She is currently finishing her degree in Drama at Middlesex University.
Mike and Darragh are working with a group of young writers- David Galster, Fergal Costello, Alan Doyle, Aoibhinn Murphy, Peter O’Connor Michael Sherlock and Nick Sheridan to develop the screenplay.
First Draft of screenplay will be ready by Saturday 30th May.
Summer feature will be cast and crewed by YIFM members. The film will be shot over four weeks from Monday 6th to Friday 31st July.
Dreamstuff Youth Theatre, the stage production unit of Young Irish Film Makers, have begun casting sessions for four of Shakespeare’s plays to be staged as part of their 2nd Shakespeare in the House festival in association with Rothe House on Saturday 27th and 28th June 2009. The performances will be performed on a custom built stage as open air productions in the middle yard of Rothe House. The yard will be converted to resemble a Tudor open air playhouse.
All the Dreamstuff junior and senior actors will be involved in the productions. The junior company (8 to 12 year olds) are restaging last years comedy hit play A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well taking on the difficult Macbeth which the seniors staged last year. The senior company (aged 13 to 17) will stage a re-imagined Romeo and Juliet, and the hilarious The Comedy of Errors. Cast lists will be on the website soon.
Each play is abridged and runs about 45 minutes. Two plays will be staged each afternoon in the original Shakespeare Middle English text. Over 40 young people will be on stage for the plays and Devious Theatre Company will also be performing in the house during the festival. Full programme details soon.
Rothe House is a historic house in Kilkenny and a unique example of a Tudor merchant’s townhouse in Ireland. The building of Rothe House and Shakespeare’s stage writing career almost exactly mirror each other.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, in England in 1564. While his exact birth date is unknown, it is most often celebrated on April 23, the feast of St. George. The building of Rothe House began thirty years later in 1594 by John Rothe Fitz Piers and 1594- 95 was the first performance of Romeo and Juliet and The Comedy of Errors. A Midsummer Night’s Dream was first staged between 1595 and 1596.
The third house was completed in 1610 the year Shakespeare retired from the theatre and six years before his death on April 23, 1616. The first performance of Macbeth is not known but scholars place it somewhere between 1603 and 1607. The earliest account of a performance of the play is April 1611, when Simon Forman recorded seeing it at the Globe Theatre.
Dreamstuff Youth Theatre has already staged full scale productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth by William Shakespeare in the Watergate Theatre. Several of the young performers have gone on the third level degree courses in Drama in Ireland and England, Angela Barrett has just completed her Drama degree in Middlesex University and soon joins Dreamstuff as its full time Director, and the boy who played Romeo in our 2004 production is completing his second year in Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
The premiere performance of all the plays will be held for parents in Film Makers yard on our Open Day, Saturday 20th June. Full details on our website soon.
Dreamstuff Youth Theatre will stage a true classic of the Irish theatre, The Playboy of the Western World by John Millington Synge from Tuesday 28th April to Saturday 2nd May. 2009 marks the 100th anniversary of the death of J.M. Synge and what better way to commemorate of Irelands greatest playwright than by staging his greatest play.
This timeless, classic tells the story of Christy Mahon (Peter O’Connor) a young man who on arriving in a remote Irish tavern claims he has killed his father, much to the entertainment of the locals, especially the publican’s daughter Pegeen Mike (Aoibhin Murphy), all are in awe of his courageous deeds, until his father turns up to spoil his brave tale. When Christy attacks his father a second time thinking he has killed him this time for sure the locals instead of praising him turn on him and led by Pegeen insist he is handed over to the authorities to be punished. Christy’s life is saved when his father, beaten and bloodied, crawls back onto the scene having survived his son’s second attack and the two depart for home together, leaving Pegeen to lament losing the man she loved: “Oh my grief, I’ve lost him surely. I’ve lost the only Playboy of the Western World”.
This is a masterpiece of Irish drama presented by Kilkenny’s premier youth arts group, Dreamstuff Youth Theatre, and is a great night out for all the family. The play is directed by Mike Kelly and runs from Tuesday 28th April to Saturday 2nd May at 8pm each night at the Watergate Theatre. Tickets cost €10 (€8 opening night) and can be booked on 056 7761674.
Young Irish Film Makers had two wins this year at the Fresh Film Festival. Aisha Baraut won 2nd prize for her film Transparent and Alan Doyle won Best Comedy for Unarmed. The over all winner was Nick Sheridan from Wexford and Rory Reily, an ex-student of YIFM won best individual film maker.
Congratulations to all at Cartoon Saloon on their Oscar nomination for 
Remember the rules of compostion when you are shooting- The Rule of Thirds.(Imagine a Tic Tac Toe grid on your shot- try to have something of interest where it intersects.)
Digitise all your footage. Watch every take and take notes. You never know what you will use.
production come from these drama groups.
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