Exeter School alumnus inspires school children with Summer Film School
An Exeter School alumnus is celebrating co-running his third annual Summer Film School which was attended by 25 young people, including pupils from his old school.
1998 leaver Philip Symes is part of Four of Swords Theatre and, together with business partner Sarah White, runs the successful Summer Film School at Poltimore House just outside of Exeter.
Summer Film School provides children aged 10-14 with the opportunity to work with highly skilled filmmakers and create a professional short film in just one week.
Alumnus Phil said Four of Swords was formed with the ethos of making theatre immersive, visceral and accessible via a fusion of drama with live music, film projection, and visually striking make-up, costumes and puppetry.
"This is an amazing ongoing venture and collaboration with The Phoenix which provides young people with the opportunity to work on all aspects of making a short film from scratch, including scripting, designing, filming, sound work, animation, and, of course, acting."
This year's theme was gothic ghost story and Exeter School pupil Dominic Manning said he really enjoyed his death scene and seeing everyone's reactions.
Holly Metcalf said her favourite bit was the animation.
Lydia Brookes-Ferrari said it was really fun.
"The best bit was being splashed with red paint, or going on the skateboard. They made it look like I was floating," she said.
Joe Gough loved getting buried alive whereas Tom Metcalf said he enjoyed playing a ghost and getting to scare people.
Philip remains grateful for Exeter School's educational grounding which inspired his love of literature as well as visual art.
"These passions are combined now in Four of Swords and I have especially rich memories of working with Dave Seddon and Molly Doyle in the Art department, and the incredible range of skills and ideas they opened up to me.
"No less significant were the contributions of English teachers Chris Finn and Jacky Tarleton who brought classic poems, plays and novels to life in illuminating and compelling ways, just as Four of Swords aspires to do via bombastic and multi-faceted performance."
This year, Phil was joined by another Exeter School alumnus and film maker Owain Astles who helped out with the Summer Film School. He is currently working with The Phoenix on 'The Hardest Fight', part of a campaign looking at mental health in boxing and how the sport can help to combat issues such as depression and anxiety.
Since forming in 2012, Four of Swords has performed in such spaces as Poltimore House, St Nicholas Priory, Exeter Cathedral and Beer Quarry Caves, and in October is set to take over the Tropicana in Weston Super Mare, recently famous as the site of Banksy's Dismaland.
The company has visited schools across the South West to perform or put on workshops, and worked on a host of other educational projects with partners such as Plymouth University, Cambridge University Press, Pearson Edexcel, AQA and Studio Education Shanghai.
Photo credit: Rhodri Cooper
