From the fantastic scenery of mountains and castles, the hustle and bustle of events like the Food Festival, to the everyday stories of the locals and rich history of the town, there’s much to be inspired by in Abergavenny. If you feel like stretching your filmmaking muscles, Blorenge Films is putting on a 24 Hour Film Challenge on the 21st April.
The magical world of movies can sometimes feel like an intangible, mysterious thing. However, Abergavenny & the surrounding areas have seen their fair share of movie-making magic.
Julie Walters and Rupert Graves starred in the 1996 movie Intimate Relations, which was filmed in and around Abergavenny, and nearby Crickhowell saw Johnny Depp in historical drama The Libertine in 2005. More recently, supernatural horror The Devil’s Vice, written by Blaenau Gwent director Peter Watkins-Hughes, and filmed in and around Abergavenny, was aired on BBC One.
Another BBC production – an adaptation of Lady Chatterley’s Lover, was partly filmed in Blaenavon, and the movie adaptation of Abergavenny local Owen Sheers’ well-known novel Resistance, was set and filmed in the Black Mountains.
Think you can do better?
On 21st April, challenge participants (in teams), armed with camera and computer, will have 24 hours to write, shoot, and edit a short film. The films can be any genre, from comedy, to thriller, and documentary, and must be at least 2 minutes long. The event is open to people with all levels of filmmaking experience, and any kind of camera will do, from smartphones to SLRs!
For absolute beginners, the challenge will be prefaced with a ‘crash course’ talk on filmmaking and storytelling by Cardiff University graduate, writer, and general film and TV geek Honey McKenna (also an Abergavenny Now contributor!). Participants will then be let loose to work on their films – and keep an eye out for the ‘making of’ about the challenge, soon to come from Blorenge Films!
After submission, the entries will be screened in a mini film festival from 2-4pm, Sunday 23rd April, in Get Together. The winners of the challenge categories (TBC) will receive prizes including gift vouchers from Vision Computer Centre.
For more information, you can view the event here on Abergavenny Now, or join the Facebook event to follow all updates.
