Photo Credit: Montel Vernege at the EVCOM London Live and Film Awards ceremony captured by Steve Forrest
Montel Vernege was a shortlisted filmmaker for our FOCUS Award, which offers 18-25 year old POC filmmakers the chance to win mentorship opportunities with leading corporate film companies in our industry. Montel joined us at the EVCOM Clarion Awards this year as our videographer, and you can watch the film he created at the end of this article.
We interviewed him about his own career development, telling a story and shooting a corporate film.
What has influenced your decision to choose a career in film?
My decision to choose a career in film has been fuelled by the need to send a message to people in a creative and compelling way. I find that film is the most impactful way to engage an audience as more of their senses get used from watching a visual piece of story-telling. Story is one of the main reasons I do this and doing this in a different way to the norm is my aim.
Where do you see your future in film going? What roles would you love to explore?
I see myself happily going through the challenges of a few roles within the industry, finally making my way up the roles to director. Currently, I class myself as a self-shooting director with an interest and experience in camera operating, directing and editing. These three skills have helped me in personal projects and portray the art of storytelling in my own creative way. I would love to run my production company in the near future, basing my work on things that interest me like travel, music and sport.
How did you approach this project? What story did you want to tell?
I approached this project whilst thinking about the most effective way I can document the EVCOM Clarion Awards 2023. These awards are an acknowledgement of the hard work of dedicated professionals and a celebration of achievements, so making this the main focus of the film was the main aim. I wanted to portray a journey for the viewer from the start. Introducing what the film is about with establishing shots, to the actual awards being given out, to the drinks at the end representing closure and a happy ending to the film.
You’ve filmed and edited this film. Would you have done any of the filming differently having now done the edit? What was challenging, or unexpected about the process?
I would say for this type of film, the way I have created it was correct for the target audience aimed at, as well as the purpose of the video. For this edit, I got past the challenge of making it shorter and cutting down frames of clips to make the film flow, and get a straightforward message across. I would not change that aspect but I could play with different compositions next time, making the film more dynamic and other types of cuts to provide a different perspective.
What did you learn from it?
One thing I learnt would be that whatever type of film you are making, there is always a clear story that can be told. Although the corporate content does not portray the maximum of my creativity, I was able to show the event’s importance and why someone should be looking forward to the next. That is what I thrive off.
Watch the EVCOM Clarion Awards film that Montel created for us below: