Inn View puts films with a South Devon connection in your local, for a relaxed, cultured night out that lets you settle into your snug and sample some top talent while supporting your local pub.

Part of the screening includes some of the Exeter Phoenix Bursary winning films, that were premiered in the Two Short Nights event on Saturday, November 28, including the award winning works by David Salas for Uncomfortable and Tom Austin for La Legende~Dali. Tom Austin also won the audience award for La Legende~Dali

Inn View takes place on two nights at the View from Here.

Wednesday, December 2: 8pm-10pm
The Castle Inn, Totnes; the Landowne, Dawlish; the Jolly Famer in Newton Abbot

Thursday, December 3: 8pm-10pm
The Barrel House, Totnes, and The Silent Whistle in Ashburton.

• Catch Ashley Wing and Clayton Fussell’s D+CFilm Open award-winning film from Two Short Nights at the Last Night of View from Here on Friday, December 4.

Tera Toma, the real-time digital film from Exeter-based Syndrome Pictures will have a special screening as part of the View from Here at the Blue Walnut Cafe in Torquay on Wednesday, December 2 at 7.30pm

Tera Toma (read the D+CFilm review) was filmed is five days of real-time shooting in Exeter, and pushes an ethos of filmmaking and collaboration that was begun with Mike Figgis. It’s also a compelling and claustrophobic psychological drama.

The screening will be followed with a Q&A with director Josh Gaunt.

Pop along to find out about the reasons behind the making and methodology of the film, and maybe event get an insight into the future of digital filmmaking…

The Big Question is a drama documentary encouraging action towards a more sustainable future. Writer, Tom Stone from Teignmouth said: “I got so much creative control, it was a great project and an excellent place to start if you have an interest in filmmaking like me.”

Seventeen-year-old Dom Thomas from Coombeshead was an actor in the film. Dom has been in lots of schools plays, but was performing for screen for the first time and said, “performing for the camera is different, you have to do less. It was good experience for me and a lot of fun!”

Rae Hoole, community arts director at Coombeshead College, a specialist media arts college, said: “Over 30 people were involved in the making of the film and I would like to thank them all, especially Mike Bow who expertly mentored the project.

He was able to guide the process of making the film without once taking over”. The cast and crew of the BIG Question are hoping for a good turn out on the night, which is the first night of the View From Here film Festival. The night is called Young View, and is a showcase of the best of young people’s films. “This one will not disappoint” said Rae.

YOUNG VIEW starts at 7pm and tickets are free. If you want to reserve a place contact Dawlish Tourist Information Centre on 01626 215665

The View from Here is hosting other events in Newton Abbot, Torquay and Totnes.

Forkbeard Fantasy is a theatre and film company who have been touring their shows, films, exhibitions and special events since the mid-1970’s. Their theatre shows combine comedy with special effects, wild mechanical sets, outsize characters and their unique trademark interactive mix of film, animation and cartoon live on stage.

Their productions tour the length and breadth of the UK and they have appeared across the world from Argentina to Poland as well as all over Europe.

As well as their theatre shows, the company creates and tours elaborate interactive exhibitions, films and animated cartoons. Their hugely popular retrospective exhibition Forkbeard: Architects of Fantasy enjoyed a two year run at London’s Theatre Museum attracting over 380,000 visitors.

Originally formed in 1974 by brothers Tim and Chris Britton, they were joined in 1980 by Penny Saunders and by Ed Jobling in 1987. Janice May, Deborah Harrison and Robin Thorburn are also now part of the Company.

Forkbeard stems from a long tradition of experimental visual performance called, in the seventies, Performance Art. They were inspired by Kantor, Beuys, The People Show, Phantom Captain and by such varied influences as The Goons, Lewis Carrol, Edward Lear, The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band, Flann O’Brien, Tintin, Zappa, Beefheart and Beckett… just to name a few!

One of the main trademarks of a Forkbeard show has long been the interaction between film and live performance. It’s a technique they were pioneering and perfecting as far back as the mid 1970s. In its simplest form it’s the trick of merging from stage into screen and engaging in dialogue across what they call The Celluloid Divide. This technique can now be widely seen on the stage.

For further information about the company visit the Forkbeard Fantasy website and you can check out their work on the Forkbeard Fantasy Youtube site.

The View from Here film festival in South Devon has arranged a master class for documentary filmmakers to get their idea into pitching shape, and primed to start chasing cash.

The day will be led by award-winning documentary filmmaker Jerry Rothwell, who has shown his story about Donald Crowhurst’s Teignmouth Electron and punk band biography Heavy Load at previous festivals.

He’ll be joined by BBC producer/director and founder of A38 Films, Mick Catmull.

Together they’ll screen examples of what to expect during a pitching process, pitching practice, and time with each director working through the ideas.

Because it’s an intensive day, there’s only enough space for six filmmakers.

The cost is £140 with lunch included and bursaries are available.

• Check out the View from Here website, for this and more about the festival

The View from Here film festival launches with a free family animation workshop in Newton Abbot, on Saturday, November 28. We caught up with Lucy Jackson of Creative Workshops for Children, who is running the family animation day, to find out what will be in store

Explain a little about the work of Creative Workshops for Children.

Creative Workshops for Children is run by artists Lucy Jackson and Andy Coombes. We provide high-quality creative workshops and projects for children of all ages and abilities.

Much of our recent work has involved working with groups of children to create stop motion, animated films. We work in schools, shopping centres, museums, galleries, youth groups and community venues and have helped young people create films on a huge range of subjects from the issue based: global warming, anti bullying, sustainable fishing to historical; romans, egyptians and how to survive the stone age to animated poems, plays, stories and more abstract moving shapes and colours.

Our workshops offer anything from a short taster session to a several week film making project.

The family animation day kicks off the View from Here film festival. What’s in store for the event?
Participants will have the chance to have a go at some different sorts of animation from simple drawings in flickbooks, and zoetropes and praxinascopes – which you spin to create the illusion of movement to stopmotion animation using laptops, cameras and computers. creating.

Throughout the day we will be creating a short film and will be inviting families to create characters using lots of different materials and then have a short go at animating them. The end result will be a two to three minute film which we will post on Youtube for people to see.

What skills, if any, do you need for animation?
Patience and imagination. Anybody can make animation and you can animate almost anything!

People have always been attracted to animation and telling stories, however small, why do you think that is?
Animation has a magical quality that captures people’s imagination. Stop motion animation has a lovely, playful, homemade quality which appeals to people especially at a time when so much of what we see is so slick and perfect looking.

What do people take from being involved in animation workshops?
A fun, postive experience, confidence in their ability to create, tell a story, make a film, record sound, edit and work with others.

Lucy Jackson, thank you

Check out some of the work of Creative Workshops for Children on Lucy’s Youtube channel

There’s just one week left to get your film in the View from Here film festival in South Devon.

Now in its third year, the View from Here has proved to be an excellent opportunity to get your film added exposure, throughout South Devon – even in the most unexpected places.

Part of the festival is Inn View, which goes out and about to pubs and cafes to take films to where people are, while pushing the idea that a night in your local can be a culturally uplifting and entertaining event.

There’s also a chance for Young People to get their films screened, and to be included in the final night showcase and networking event at Coombeshead College, Newton Abbot.

The deadline for submissions is Monday, November 9.

Check out the site for more details of the festival and to submit your film.

1471 from Robin Whenary on Vimeo.

Robin Whenary’s film 1471, which premiered at the first View from Here film festival in 2007, has won the Bronze Medal in the Amateur category at the 50th Brno16 International Short Film Festival, in the Czech Republic.

Robin told D+CFilm: “1471 was my final film for an A-Level Film and Video course at Exeter College in 2002, and was edited in a day under exam conditions. It received 100 per cent marks, but wasn’t screened until 2007 – it premiered as part of the first View from Here festival.”

“The story, if you can call it that, is very simple – just an excuse to experiment by filming and editing in a rather more intricate way than usual, using lots of close-ups and fast cutting. My favourite bit is just under three minutes in, when I kick a bit of gravel out of a telephone box.

“I made it entirely on my own, using myself and my mother and father as actors. It hasn’t been screened as much as some of my other films, so I was delighted for it to be selected – getting an award is a nice bonus.”

Robin’s latest outing as a filmmaker is as cameraman on Tom Austin’s Exeter Phoenix Media Centre bursary film, La Legende~Dali, which will be screened at the Exeter Phoenix’s Two Short Nights , and will be up for one of the D+CFilm sponsored awards

And there’s still time to submit to this year’s View from Here film festival, which takes place throughout South Devon. And check out the View from Here website.

• Join the View from Here Facebook fan page

The View from Here film festival is premiering a film about the work of Transition Newton Abbot with the Newton Abbot Community Garden.

As part of the process, the community gardeners were taught about the process of filmmaking from artist and filmmaker Volkhardt Müller, learning the basic film skills that will help them make a five-minute documentary about the development of the garden.

“It was an amazing two-day experience and we learnt a lot and not just about film making, but thanks to some inciteful discussions we also learnt more about our own attiudes and ideas for the garden,” says the Newton Abbot Community Garden blog.

The premiere of the documentary will be screening on the opening day of the festival at Newton Abbot library after the family animation workshop, at 3pm.

Other documentary events at the View from Here include:

• Professional Development Documentary Day (only six places, with considerable bursaries for local filmmakers).
• Films that change opinions

Visit the View from Here website for more about the South Devon film festival.