1. The Genetics Debate
Summary: A short documentary on the concerns various parties raise on Genetic Engineering- scientists, doctors, priests, greenpeace, and the public.
Best Bit: The opening Sequence http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe-8st-ayUI
What I Learned: I had directed an embarrassing series of shorts you (luckily) cant find anywhere anymore between 2005 and 2007. After about a year in the wilderness, my local cinema held a short film competition, and my entry won second place. I was reinvigorated, and when our GCSE Biology class was asked to do a short video on Genetic Engineering, I filmed this over the course of a week, collaborating with everyone on their individual clips. The most difficult moment to film was when the public are interviewed. This was filmed with the whole cast, in view of the whole school (the location was in the centre of the school during lessons), so as well as getting to grips with the documentary format and had to learn how to organise a location shoot with a large cast. One thing you might notice in both the score and the intro is how heavily influenced I was by Ron Howards Frost/Nixon- so this wasnt quite an original or personal work, more a pastiche. Yes, the camerawork and the picture quality is crap but this was a major step was the first film I had made at my school. And also the precursor to a successful documentary spin-off...
