Come make a film at Oxford!

Over the past few months, we at OUFF have been working hard on plans for a project that we’re super excited to launch this year.

We call this project ‘The OUFF Film’.

OUFF, as the university’s official filmmaking society, is going to organise a film project that gets as many students involved as possible at every stage of the process. We want this project to be a vehicle for collaboration and for giving students valuable training and experience. Our dream would be for the film to harness the talent that we know is out there within the university and for students who share a passion for film to connect, hopefully spawning a wave of further film collaborations and perhaps even glittering careers in the future!

We see mentorship as a hugely important part of a project like this, so are thrilled to announce that the legend that is film director Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Donnie Brasco) and brilliant producer Cleone Clarke (The Father, Loving Vincent) will be helping to make this ambitious project happen by generously supporting us with their invaluable experience and expertise. 

So, how is this all going to work? 

One of the main questions that we had to ask ourselves was about the format for the film. Our number one priority is to get as many of you as we can involved in all stages of the project (writing, directing, acting, producing, cinematography, sound etc.), so we really wanted to find a way to open the film up collaboratively. 

As such, we want this film to be an anthology/portmanteau, a collection of shorter films brought together under the title “Oxford Tales”. Think Paris, je t’aime, New York, I Love You, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs etc. 

Timeline for the project: 

Michaelmas: The Screenplay Competition 

• Those of you who want to write have until Sunday 22nd of December to submit your scripts. Each short in the film should be around 5-10 minutes, so we’re looking for scripts of 5-10 pages. We don’t have a hard-set page number minimum/maximum as we appreciate that scripts vary in dialogue etc. but please bear this in mind. When we put the segments together, we’re looking for an overall length of around 35-40 mins, most likely through collaging 4-5 shorts.

• Creatively, the project is really open. We encourage submissions from a range of genres/periods, the only rule outside of the length is that they must be set in Oxford, so they can be filmed here and fit within the "Oxford Tales" title. We want to see the city/university from a range of angles and perspectives, whether that be the Oxford of Brideshead Revisited or modern Cowley — whatever this place means to you!

• After the submission deadline, Mike and Cleone will read your scripts and we will work with them to pick out the selection of four or five short films to collage. We know that it can be challenging to tell a full story within a shorter medium but rest assured that Mike and Cleone are looking for snap shots, juicy little insights which when put together in this anthology form leave an impression!

Lent: Pre-production

• After a final collection of shorts has been selected and the scripts developed, following Mike and Cleone’s feedback, we will start to build the teams. Each smaller project will have its own director, assistant directors, producers, cast and crew etc. We want to get as many of you involved as we possibly can! 

• Mike and Cleone will run workshops with the involved students to provide advice and prepare them for the opportunities and challenges of shooting. 

Trinity and Summer Vac: Production and Post-production

• We will aim to shoot the project during the first couple of weeks of Trinity but may also use a couple of weeks at the start of the summer holidays (depending on how long pre-production takes). We appreciate how intense things can get further into Trinity as exams draw near and would hate to rush the process.

• Regardless of whether we can complete production at the start of Trinity or not, our aim would definitely be to have the film edited over the summer, ready for a screening gala in Michaelmas next year!

A couple of things to note:

• You must be currently be a student at the university to participate in the project and must be a member of OUFF (this is completely free and the sign-up is on the website in the ‘Membership’ section). 

• You can submit more than one script, although each submission should be treated as its own individual short film.

• Most of you will likely write your own script individually but we also very much encourage teams of writers to work on a script together. 

• We’re looking to get as many people working on each project as possible, so writers will not be allowed to direct their own scripts.  However, writers can be considered to direct other scripts and are absolutely encouraged to get involved in other roles too. 

In short, there are three things we need from you right now:

1. Sign up on the form linked at the bottom of this page (‘Click here to get involved!’) and indicate what role(s) you might be interested in. Nothing you put on the form is at all binding at this stage but it would just be helpful for us to have your details on our books so we know who to get in touch with as plans develop. 

2. Encourage as many of your friends as possible to get involved too, even if they’ve never held a camera in their lives! We want to make the quality of the films as high as possible but this should also be a really fun learning experience. 

3. Get writing!!! 

We at OUFF are truly excited about what this project could do for the film community at Oxford. We have no doubt that it could be a fantastic opportunity for many of you to develop and showcase your talents, with a healthy dose of industry support and mentorship along the way!

Below you will also find an ‘Updates’ section, where will will be posting updates as the project develops, as well as a ‘Script Submission Portal’, where you will be able to send us your scripts prior to the 22nd December deadline. Keep your eye out on our Facebook and Instagram too for more news about our Michaelmas Launch Event for the project. It will be a great chance to meet the wonderful Mike and Cleone, as well as other students looking to get involved!

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions — we’re here to help!

All the best,

OUFF