Book, Film & TV Reviews
(Competition for Currys PC World, which I won.)
The end of summer means that it’s time for a new batch of freshers to begin their time at university. Whilst the first few weeks are about getting to know your new friends, your new home, and attending every event that Freshers week throws at you, here’s a few tips for when the hangover starts to kick in and the uni work begins piling up.
(Edited version of my competition entry. Click image to view layout on ISSUU.)
Racism is something we’re all aware; we hear about it constantly in society, in football and in our everyday lives, but what about in film?
It’s likely that you would have heard stories about directors, writers and producers typecasting characters and it’s not uncommon to see particular actors play the same racial stereotype all of the time. What is a rarity, however, is an audience’s reaction when they don’t agree with the race of a character cast in a certain role.
Continue reading “Comment: Apparently it Does Matter if You’re Black or White”
Two-year serving General Manager Ciaran Clarke has left his position at Falmouth’s arts and science venue, The Poly.
Ciaran withdrew from The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society at the beginning of March due to a change in personal circumstances, but also from a desire to get back into making and creating theatre again.
“It’s a place I care about a great deal, and one I’d like to continue to play a part in seeing it blossom as a cultural hub for Cornwall and the South West,” he said.
(Published in Fan The Fire. Click image to view layout on ISSUU)
Set to have its world premiere at this year’s Edinburgh Film Festival, Charlie Derry interviews Luis Prieto, director of the upcoming crime thriller, Pusher, about remaking a Nicolas Winding Refn cult classic, as well as working with British actor Richard Coyle and world-class model Agyness Deyn.
Set to be released later this year, Pusher is the first in a trilogy of films that explores the criminal underworld of Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally written and directed by Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn, best known for last year’s highly acclaimed crime thriller, Drive, and released in 1996 with the same name, Pusher is known for being the film that launched Refn’s career.
Continue reading “Luis Prieto Talks Remaking Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Pusher’”
(Click image to view layout on ISSUU.)
With this year’s ceremony coming to an end, Charlie Derry talks to Gregory Galant, the co-creator of The Shorty Awards, about how getting recognised for using social media can advance your career, and why it is important to keep your social media profiles up to date in today’s society.
Set up in 2008 by New York technology start-up company Sawhorse Media, The Shorty Awards honour the best producers of short content on the web, recognising people and industries using the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, FourSquare, and the rest of the social internet.
Continue reading “Interview: CEO Gregory Galant Discusses The Shorty Awards”
(Published on HeyUGuys. Click Image to view layout on ISSUU)
You may have heard of prestigious film festivals such as Cannes and BFI London. But with the launch of Sundance London next year, Charlie Derry investigates into whether lesser known festivals are in need of more recognition, and how organisers plan to deal with this competition.
There are thousands of international film festivals worldwide, with the world’s oldest continually running festival, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, currently going into its 66th year. But what about more recently established festivals? Or festivals that have a smaller, more focused, audience? How do these festivals get recognition amongst the ever-expanding crowd?
Continue reading “Do International Film Festivals Need More Recognition?”
(Click image to view layout on ISSUU)
It’s a cold and rainy night. A man with a badly burnt face sits alone in his parked car. Outside a woman is returning home; the man sits and watches her. As she reaches her house the man goes to approach her. He knocks on the door. What happens next?
This is what we are made to question in the latest video campaign from Changing Faces, the UK’s leading disfigurement charity. Charlie Derry talks to one of the charity’s members, Alison Rich, about how they aim to change our perceptions of people with facial disfigurements, with a focus on how they are portrayed in the media.
(Written for The National Student. Click image to view layout on ISSUU)
Ever wanted to be a part of an international film? Well The Upload Project are giving you the opportunity to do just that, with the chance to contribute a short video of yourself to their global filmmaking project.
Based in Bristol, The Upload Project is an online film collaboration organised by three final year Drama students at The University of Bristol.
Launched in February earlier this year, their project looks to bring together people from all around the world by using the internet.
Continue reading “Global Film Project Calls For Contributions”
Since the downfall of the Press Council and its replacement with the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in 1991, there has been an increasing tension between journalists and public figures over the disclosure of their private information. Public shaming in this form has become an emerging tradition in the media, as the definition of privacy has become an ever-shifting notion in our increasingly invasive popular media culture with the likes of reality TV shows and social media. With the introduction of the Human Rights Act (HRA) in 2000 as well, public figures are now able to go straight to court on privacy matters, which has ‘encouraged a new wave of challenges to the media on privacy issues in the UK courts’ (Tambini and Heyward 2002: 4).
On 1st November 2007, British exchange student Meredith Kercher was murdered in her shared apartment in Perugia, Italy. The case received worldwide press coverage, particularly in England and Italy, and has been of high media interest on an international magnitude for over four years. However, since the release of suspect Amanda Knox on 3rd October 2011 the media’s shift in the spotlight has left Kercher’s family to believe that, ‘Meredith has been hugely forgotten’ (Kington 2011). So why did this change of focus from the media happen? And how and when did it first come into place?
(Published on FilmFestivals.com and Bruno’s blog )
For a university project, I wrote an international feature asking Do International Film Festivals Need More Recognition?. Unfortunately I contacted Bruno Chatelin, Managing Editor of filmfestivals.com, too late for me to include his response in my feature before its deadline. Still, Bruno was kind enough to answer my questions, and even to publish my interview on his website. Read it below:
(Published on Liquid News Room)
For my BA(Hons) Journalism course at University College Falmouth, I am undergoing a three-week work placement at Stranger Collective, a creative service and copywriting agency based in Penryn, Cornwall. Starting out as a bimonthly lifestyle publication titled ‘Stranger’ that launched in September 2004, the magazine offered a flavour of life in Britain today, shining the spotlight on the talent of young people in Cornwall, focusing on the creative side of Cornwall’s culture with a mix of music, film, environment, current affairs, surf, skate and fashion. The last printed edition of the magazine was published in August 2007 after 16 issues; Stranger now continues through Stranger Collective, publishing features, reviews and news on their website, and creating one-off print projects, such as zines, produced to coincide with local events and festivals.
April 29th, 2011 will be a date well remembered around the whole world. Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding. A joyous occasion for all, hosting a number of marvellous street parties all over the UK to bring neighbourhoods together in celebration. But for the small town of Falmouth, Cornwall, the day saw a handful of students getting tipsy; a bit too hyped up to be described as a mass of ‘revellers’ who created an ‘out of control’ street party.
It’s not often that you get to study in a beautiful seaside town such as Falmouth, so for the students of University College Falmouth and Falmouth Marine School, what are the privileges of living and studying by the coast? And how do you make the most of Falmouth’s culture and history whilst doing so?
(Written for the Falmouth Navigator).
A new website launched this week, specialising in quality student accommodation in Falmouth and its surrounding areas.
For students who are still house hunting this term, Diggs Cornwall are a group of student accommodation providers and dedicated property managers set up to help students find accommodation.
For the third term of my BA(Hons) Journalism course at University College Falmouth, I will be undergoing a work placement at Stranger Collective, a creative service and copywriting agency based in Penryn.
Stranger Collective started out as a bimonthly youth, lifestyle publication titled ‘Stranger’ which launched in September 2004. The magazine offered a flavour of life in Britain today, shining the spotlight on the talent of young people in Cornwall and focused on the creative side of Cornwall’s culture with a mix of music, film, environment, current affairs, surf, skate and fashion. The last printed edition of the magazine was published in August 2007 after 16 issues; Stranger now continues through Stranger Collective, publishing features, reviews and news on their website as well as one-off print projects, such as zines, produced to coincide with local events and festivals.
(Written for the Falmouth Navigator).
The acclaimed UK teen-drama ‘Skins’ returned with a new series last week whilst the US remake began in America. America responded by criticising the program in every way, yet the UK freely accept its portrayal of teenage life. So what has provoked this intense response from America and why is this contrast in opinions so extreme?
(Written for Falmouth Navigator.)
A local student was conned of £350 last week when a “confident trickster” offered him a drug deal before disappearing with his money.
The victim, who wishes to remain unnamed, had befriending the con-artist over a few days. He planned to meet the dealer on Monday January 10th to make the deal after gaining his trust, but the deal didn’t go to plan.
(Published on Falmouth Navigator and in my student newspaper Flex, on Page 9)
As the new year commences, it’s time for students to start looking for accommodation away from the halls that have been central to uni life for the past months. Charlie Derry discusses the highs and lows of living off campus and the important features to look for when house hunting this term.
It may only be the start of term two, but this is the time of year that you should be sat trawling the accommodation list with your potential housemates, searching for the perfect house to live in next year. But what exactly should you be looking for when you’re spending weeks on end viewing house after house? And who do you go to if you if you’re having trouble finding somewhere to live?
The Human Rights Act (HRA) came into force in October 2000, giving effect in the UK to the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Article 8, The Right to Privacy, and Article 10, The Right to Freedom of Expression, are the two most important articles for journalists in the UK. A journalist’s right to express their views publicly always needs to be balanced against another’s right to private life, but many ethical implications are raised when trying to find a balance between the two. How do we know when somebody’s private life comes in the public’s interest to know, and how do we define the difference between the two? This conflict has become widely debated in the role of journalism, demanding a balance to ensure the best standards in reporting.
Read, Watch & Drink Coffee 