Carlisle College are once again collaborating with Keswick Film Festival which takes place from Thursday 28th February until Sunday 3rd March, as the festival celebrates its 20th year. The collaboration begun a number of years ago as the festival aimed to reach out to a new audience and has now become a project many Carlisle College art students look forward to each year.
UAL Foundation Diploma in Art & Design students have been tasked with using different formats including illustration, graphic design and photography to visually communicate their ideas of the films on show over the festival weekend which are then exhibited to the public.
Paul Taylor, Course Lecturer for the UAL Foundation Diploma in Art & Design at Carlisle College, said “As the majority of the films are yet to be released in the UK the information the students have to go on can be very little, sometimes just the film title, which means they are wide open to interpretation, allowing for a whole range of creative and alternative ideas. The themes taken for the films can vary greatly from student to student, ranging from emotional to the strange and wacky. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to once again showcase how our students have interpreted the films on show at the festival.”
The Foundation Diploma in Art & Design programme involves experimentation, technical workshops and wide ranging projects and provides an opportunity to further explore and refine creative skills and develop a portfolio. Working in collaboration with Keswick Film Festival not only allows the students the opportunity to exhibit their work and reach a new audience but also to expand their creativity and skills and draw inspiration from other areas.
In addition, this year, on Friday 1st March, students from Carlisle College will put on a series of exhibits based around the legacy of John Hurt who was patron of the festival before he passed away. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain’s finest actors having gained BAFTA award, Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. Students were given the task of watching six of Hurt’s films over the Christmas break and from this they drew upon inspiration for designs and ideas which developed into artwork such as fashion outfits, fine art sculptures to short reel films and even a poem recital.
Jessica Hewitt, UAL Foundation Art & Design student said “This has been my favourite project so far. I love films, so I found it easy to find inspiration. I created a series of prints using a photo of John Hurt and then changed the background for each to show his life story. I discovered that he went to art school in London so I used a London landscape background and then highlighted with gold to show success. I also wanted to include my favourite film of his, Snowpiercers, so for this background I used a scene from the film and used blue colours which we tend to link with the frozen theme.”
Carlisle College of the Arts gives students access to top level facilities and teaching to explore your creativity and decide on the route that best suits individual’s skills. Carlisle College of the Arts has been designed to meet the ever changing demands of the very diverse and fast moving art industry, providing state of the art equipment to ensure a learning experience in a real life setting. To find out more about the courses available at Carlisle College come along to our next open evening on Thursday 21st March, drop in anytime between 4pm-7pm to meet the tutors and tour the facilities.
The exhibition is currently on show in the Friends’ Gallery at Theatre by the Lake, until the 3 March 2019.
