Pictured: Media students Melissa Odish (left) and Daya Bharj at the finals at BAFTA.
Uxbridge College Creative Media Production students were among 15 finalists in a vlogging competition held at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
The students were chosen from more than 1,000 entrants in the Vlogstar Challenge, run by the Media Trust and the Jack Petchey Foundation, in partnership with YouTube and the Evening Standard. The competition was open to 16-25 year-olds from London and Essex to make a vlog - a video blog - on a subject which was important to them.
Uxbridge College finalists were: Melissa Odish, whose vlog was about life as a vegan and the positive impact this dietary change has had on her life; Daya Bharj, whose vlog was much more comical, focused on the subject of maladaptive daydreaming.
The students were from a larger group who took part in workshops run by the organisers during the College’s Enterprise Week, learning skills in creating vlogs on their smartphones, including in shooting, lighting, editing and sound, and how to tell a compelling story and present on camera. Regional finalists – including business students who had vlogged about business-related matters - then attended further sessions at the YouTube headquarters, where they also found out more about how to develop their own YouTube channels.
Dave Lashbrook, Media Lecturer, said: “The whole of Creative Studies were proud to have Melissa and Daya representing Uxbridge College in the final. They both produced fantastic videos, and were rewarded with an awards ceremony at BAFTA. The videos produced for the final were wide ranging and produced to a high standard. It was also fantastic to see that all the finalists were very supportive of each other and their work.
“The Vlogstar Challenge was a great opportunity for all students involved to develop their confidence in front of the camera by discussing topics that were important to them, learn about safe self-promotion online, and how to be creative with their videos. The challenge was a great success, and we look forward to taking part next year.”
Students who took part in the semi-finals included:
Farris Simmons
Rafia Amani
Melissa Odish
Karim Younis
Joseph Ruan
Harry Taylor
Daya Kaur Bharj
Daniel Cooper
Bartosz Wisniewski
Harry Keeler
Thomas Carroll
Suzane Osorio