College to make light workof becoming Bard film set

A COLLEGE will be transformed with light to become a film set next month for an ambitious feature-length film of Shakespeare’s Richard II.

Some 500 youngsters from northern Lincolnshire and Yorkshire will be involved in the Co-operative British Youth Film Academy production, which will also see location filming on the coast near North Coates, during the summer holidays.

Director John Montegrande, a graduate of the BYFA, said the Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education would be “completely unrecognisable”.

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He said: “What we are doing is creating a fantastical and surreal world in which to tell the story of Richard II, with very original techniques, a system of projectors and lights to create spaces using light. For the light to be picked up by the cameras we will be filling it with haze.”

The Shakespeare play has been heavily edited and set in an underground world for the production, which has a budget of just £25,000 and also involves students from Kirklees and Bradford, who can try out everything from acting to make-up.

Mr Montegrande said: “What these young people can bring to the screen is very original. You don’t get this kind of thing anywhere else.”

Amanda Rudolph, Dean of Faculty for Creative Arts, Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education, added: “We have been impressed by the quality and professionalism of BYFA films and look forward to hosting a new film this summer and bringing this unique opportunity to the region.”

Shooting starts on July 25.