A Year 12 student from The Friends’ School with three cinematography awards already under his belt has won a fourth at the University of Tasmania’s Film, Fire and Food night at the Hedberg.
Sam Jones is one of 44 high schoolers from across the state completing undergraduate subjects at the university as part of the High Achiever Program delivered by the Peter Underwood Centre. His film was created during the ‘Making Media’ unit last semester and was shown alongside the works of a select group of top first, second- and third-year students.
Despite only being in Year 12, Sam won ‘Best Film, First Year Student’ in the people’s choice awards at the event last Thursday.
“I had a lot of people come up to me and say they really loved my film, so it was really cool to feel like I won something,” he said.
Sam’s film is a music video for fellow Friends’ student and local song writer / singer Rupert Bullard’s new track ‘Human Form (Angel)'. The pair have collaborated before with their award-winning music video ‘The Ocean'.
Andy Terhell, Associate Lecturer in Media at the University of Tasmania, shared his admiration for Sam’s work.
“After meeting Sam and presenting an award to him at the 2022 MyState Student Film Festival, it was exciting to have him come and study with us at UTAS. It was great to be able to offer him that opportunity during his Year 12 studies. He was a great addition to the class, the other students benefited from having him in the class, and I think he benefited from collaborating with university media students.”
Secondary school students enrolled in the High Achiever Program can count their University of Tasmania units towards both their TCE and ATAR. Sam earned a place in the program based on his outstanding videography portfolio.
“Sam’s portfolio of work was exceptional, and it was clear having access to the University’s teaching and learning would only support his journey and skills in filmmaking further. It is fantastic to have worked with Sam’s school to support his entry to the High Achiever Program, and to see him doing so well,” said Dr Jess Woodroffe, Coordinator Partner Programs at the Peter Underwood Centre.
100% of High Achiever Program participants received their TCE in 2023, and 15 students were in the top 100 TCE students in the state.
Find out more about the High Achiever Program.
Find out more about studying Media and Communication at the University.
Caption for banner image: Andy Terhell, Associate Lecturer in Media and Coordinator of the ‘Making Media’ unit at the University of Tasmania with Year 12 student and High Achiever Program participant, Sam Jones. Image credit: Peter Allen.