GALLERY OF
Achievement
Hartlepool College of Further Education
PARODY STAR WARS FILM “THE COURSE AWAKENS” GOES DOWN A STORM
Hartlepool College showed it’s a force to be reckoned with in a comical new mini-movie that features some iconic characters from the Star Wars universe. Entitled “The Course Awakens”, the short parody, complete with visual effects, tells the story of an Imperial Stormtrooper who feels he’s stuck in a rut in the Empire and turns to Hartlepool College to try out a variety of different skills. The film was written, directed and filmed by the College’s Creative Director, Gary Kester, and the project gave him a chance to mix his job with one of his biggest passions. Gary explained: “I saw Star Wars: A New Hope as a 10-year old when it first came out, and I’ve loved the original trilogy ever since. In fact, they’re the reason I went into art and design. So, like every other fan, I had a total nostalgia trip when I saw the trailers for the prequel film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.”
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Gary also noticed something else familiar. “The Rogue One trailers showed that Imperial Stormtroopers still existed mostly to get beaten or blown up, or just walk around a lot in their armour. So I thought that they must get a bit cheesed off about that, and started to think about what jokey things they could find themselves doing if they tried out the various courses the College offers. From that came the script for The Course Awakens”. Gary pitched the idea to Head of Student Recruitment Shaun Hope, who gave him the green light to bring in members of the 99th Garrison, a nationwide charitable Star Wars costuming group, who loved the idea and agreed to take part for a donation to charity. The final 8 minute film was very warmly received, and can be viewed at
bit.ly/UseTheCourse
GALLERY OF
Achievement
Hartlepool College of Further Education
COLLEGE STUDENTS TAKE PART IN MAJOR EMERGENCY SERVICES EXERCISE
Students and staff from Hartlepool College of Further Education played a major part in one of the largest emergency services training exercises to be held in the north east for many years. Exercise “Sandpiper” was designed to test the response of police, ambulance and fire services in the event of an “active shooter” scenario, where public safety is endangered by a gunman or gunmen. Such incidents have recently been highlighted by events in the USA and France. The scenario involved an armed robbery gone wrong and the gang being pursued to “Sandpiper College” on Hartlepool Marina, shooting students and causing a significant motor accident before taking students and staff hostage.
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The fictional College was actually the disused retail outlet Jackson’s Landing, and Hartlepool College was approached many months ago with a request from the exercise planners to convert the empty interior into a layout of corridors and classrooms. A team of Construction students worked to exacting specifications and constructed a maze of rooms in which casualties, hostages and the gunmen would by placed to provide a realistic challenge to the police firearms and medical teams. A large number of College students and staff from areas such as Sport and Public Services were also drafted in to play victims on the day, with College Production Arts Make-Up students led by Tracey Jukes providing a series of realistic make-ups to simulate a variety of wounds.
GALLERY OF
Achievement
Hartlepool College of Further Education
COLLEGE STAFF HELP HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR TO HONOUR SIR NICHOLAS WINTON
Hartlepool College has been assisting a Holocaust survivor in her efforts to honour the man who saved her life, Sir Nicholas Winton. It started when as part of its RESPECT campaign the College made a film about the life of Lady Milena Grenfell-Baines, who then aged nine was smuggled out of Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia in 1939 on one of a series of special trains organised by Mr. Winton. Milena was so impressed and moved with the result she asked the College if they could help her with some other projects something staff were only too happy to do. These included updating and redesigning a presentation Milena uses on the talks about Sir Nicholas she delivers around the world, and also for help with a website to promote a proposed sculpture commissioned by Winton survivors at Prague Railway Station as a memorial to the man who saved so many lives.
Creative Director Gary Kester, who had made the earlier film, volunteered to undertake the presentation work, while the website, which had some very challenging and complex aspects such as a multiple language provision and the ability to make donations, was created by the College’s Web & Social Media co-ordinator Brian Barnes. Finally, for the Prague sculpture, which will be a life-sized vintage train door cast in bronze with handprints sculpted into the glass, Engineering Lecturer Mark Elliott built a model Milena could use to raise awareness - something she had been quoted elsewhere as costing £4,000! Mark brilliantly modelled the sculpture in CAD and arranged for it to be 3D printed. Mark later attended a function in London for “Winton Children”, where he was thanked on behalf of the College by the Slovakian Ambassador. The original film can be seen at bit.ly/HMDNicky