Shortlisted for the RTS’s North West Student Awards

Three School of Digital Arts (SODA) students have made the list of nominees for the Royal Television Society (RTS) North West Student Awards.

Two students have been shortlisted for the ‘Best Animation’ award and one has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Animation – Music Composition’ category.

BA (Hons) Animation student Olivia Timms’s film ‘Out of Office’ (above) is in the running for ‘Best Animation’. The film follows Berta, a robot doomed to spend her life working alone in an abandoned office who catches a glimpse of the outside world, forcing her to consider how far she’ll go to touch her dream.

Olivia said: “I landed on the idea of a sad robot, which really resonated with me, and the transactional relationship between humans and robots, especially when considering the idea of sentience.

“It feels incredible for my film to be appreciated in this way and I feel really lucky that people have liked it as much as they have. It really motivates me to keep working to continue to make the best films I can.”

Niamh Boorman is also in the running for ‘Best Animation’ for her short film ‘The Night Owl’ which tells the story of an unlikely friendship of two nocturnal characters that bond over a shared way of life.

Niamh said: “I wanted to portray the idea that friendships can be formed in the most unlikely circumstances with the most unlikely people, yet still be as strong.

“It feels surreal to be nominated for the RTS Student Awards, especially with a film we completed during our first year. It has given me such confidence and I am so grateful that my tutors put the belief in our work.”

Niamh collaborated with Alexander Yewan, a BA (Hons) Music & Sound Design student, who was shortlisted in the ‘Best Animation – Music Composition’ category, after their courses came together for a module and Niamh pitched an early concept of the film.

Alexander said: “The ideas for the music came to me relatively quickly after seeing the early versions of Niamh’s animation. I decided to write a mostly cute and cheerful sounding score with piano and strings, trying to match the energy Niamh’s story and artwork projected.

“I’m so proud of us getting nominated for a project we did in first year. It was an extremely rewarding surprise.”

The RTS North West Student Awards recognise and celebrate the best film and video content created by students at undergraduate and postgraduate level within the region.

Lecturer Eleonora Asparuhova, who teaches the students, said: “It’s such an amazing achievement as first year students to be nominated for such prestigious awards.

“’We are extremely proud of our students and their hard work demonstrates the talent we have on the course and the strong effort staff put in the delivery on the programme.”

Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony which takes place Thursday 23 March.