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College News
23 March 2004
Sound success for gifted Royal Holloway student
Maria Castro, a PhD music student at Royal Holloway, University of London, has recently returned from the Berlin Film Festival where, selected from hundreds of composer applicants, she reached the final of the Volkswagen Score Competition - part of the Berlinale Talent Campus, for gifted composers and sound designers.
Currently working on the final stages of her PhD in composition, specialising in music for the moving image, Maria was one of three finalists chosen in the (film music) composer/ sound designer category.
The Berlinale Talent Campus, which took place in February, at the House of World Cultures in Berlin is an initiative of the Berlin International Film Festival, exploring all aspects of film making, from the latest technical developments and stylistic trends, to future markets and philosophical approaches. One of its most exciting aspects is that it allows emerging filmmakers from around the world to meet experienced professionals from the international film scene, who can give advice on how to develop skills and techniques.
Over 500 emerging filmmakers
- including Maria - from more than 80 countries were selected among
3600 applicants worldwide to participate in this year's Berlinale Talent
Campus. Up-and-coming directors, screenwriters, producers, cinematographers,
and actors are eligible to take part and, for the first time this year,
film music composers, sound designers and film editors were also included.
A key part of the application process was the submission of a one-minute
film, with screenwriters, sound designers and composers being asked
to submit an appropriate alternative sample of work.
Let's Get Passionate about Film!
Following the success of 2003's inaugural event, this second Berlinale Talent Campus ran under the banner Let's Get Passionate About Film! Its six-day programme included a range of events, workshops and master classes, offering great networking opportunities for those attending. This year's high profile speakers included Eleanor Bergstein, Mathilde Bonnefoy, Frances McDormand, Ken Adam, Michael Ballhaus, John Boorman, Daniel Brühl, John Cale, Stephen Frears, David Holmes, Mike Leigh, Andrew Lesnie, Walter Murch, Alan Parker, Nicolas Philibert, Zbigniew Preisner, Jack Valenti, Wim Wenders and Slavoj Zizek.
The programme's content explored practical aspects of film making from an international perspective, and was structured on the five stages of film creation: Philosophy, Pre-production, Production, Post-production, and Promotion. Launching also, a series of focal points aimed at specific aspects of making film. Particularly relevant for Maria was the special theme, The Sound and Music, which was supported by a series of events exploring the creative use of sound design and music from pre-production to post-production and marketing.
Some of the biggest names from music and sound attended the event to present and offer expert advice to the participants. These included, Walter Murch (the 'father' of Hollywood sound design, and collaborator with Francis Ford Coppola on Apocalypse Now and Anthony Minghella on The English Patient), David Holmes (composer for Ocean's Eleven and Out of Sight), John Cale (formerly of the Velvet Underground), Zbigniew Preisner (composer for Three Colours: Blue, White, Red) and Larry Sider (from the School of Sound, London).
The Volkswagen Score Competition
One of the highlights of this year's Berlinale Talent Campus was the Volkswagen Score Competition. Composers and sound designers who had already been invited to attend this year's Campus, including Maria Castro, were further challenged to create new soundtracks for three 2-minute clips, including an excerpt of a feature film (Run Lola Run by Tom Tykwer), the short animation film Sterne by Thomas Struck, and a Volkswagen commercial. The participants were required to compose a score layout and design the sound on all three clips.
Maria, alongside Tom Third from Canada and Kimmo Vantinnen from Finland, was chosen as one of the three finalists by a Jury led by David Holmes. And under the supervision of Martin Steyer (the sound mixer of Good Bye, Lenin!) the three finalists were then given the chance to record their compositions in Berlin with the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg, conducted by Scott Lawton.
Afterwards, with the support of Cine plus and Elektrofilm Berlin (5.1 mix made by Manfred Arbter, the sound mixer of Wim Wenders`s The Soul of A Man and Alexander Sokurov`s Russian Ark), the clips went into post-production. They were finally presented at the Farewell Ceremony on February 12 at the House of World Cultures, Berlin, hosted by sound designer and editor Walter Murch. Maria was not the ultimate winner - that honour went to Tom Third - but as one of the top three she made invaluable contacts and accrued considerable experience.
"Being a participant at the second Berlinale Talent Campus was an invaluable experience for me". Maria said, "Not just because of all the exposure it gave me, but because of all the work and networking opportunities it provided. I can only recommend it to any other aspiring filmmakers and film composers. It is a unique event and I feel very proud to have been given the chance to be there."
Campus Diary: 'The Making of the Talent Campus'
Another challenge for Maria was an invitation to compose a soundtrack for the first instalment of a 'Campus Diary' documentary, In the very best of recent film traditions, the aim being to capture the Campus atmosphere and cover all the activities taking place. This first instalment covered the making of the Talent Movies of the Week, impressions on the city of Berlin, and a presentation of the Talent Campus staff). Working on the documentary presented Maria with a chance to work with director Chiara Malta (France), cinematographer Henning Brümmer (Germany), and editor Laurent Notaro (Switzerland), and with the support of Apple Computers and Vis-A-Vis, a leading post-production company from Berlin.
"The Berlinale Talent Campus is about more than just discussing film", Maria said, "It combines theory with practice, and aims to inspire filmmakers to go and do it! It is also a fantastic opportunity for emerging talent to showcase their work, meet experienced professionals and network with peers".
Dieter Kosslick, Director of the Berlin International Film Festival, supports this viewpoint describing the Talent Campus as "a breath of fresh air", and one that was "absolutely needed". British director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, Cold Mountain) commented similarly on the event, underlining it as "one of the most important initiatives for the future of the Berlinale".
ENDS
For further information contact
Royal Holloway, University of London, Press Office:
Christine Long, Press & PR Officer
01784 443967, email: Christine.long@rhul.ac.uk
Vicky Cousins, Assistant
Press & Communications Officer
01784 414480, email: Victoria.cousins@rhul.ac.uk
EDITOR'S NOTES
To contact Maria email info@mariacastro.co.uk,
and to find out more about Maria's work visit www.mariacastro.co.uk
Picture available of Maria Castro on stage at the The Berlinale Talent Campus event in Berlin, with the father of film editing and sound design, Walter Murch, editor and sound designer for award-winning Apocalypse Now and The English Patient.
