Motherwell pupils set to start filming

Motherwell-based cameraman Thulani Soqaga is ploughing back into his community by teaching schoolchildren what goes into making a film.

Soqaga, 28, received a small grant from the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality and decided to teach children from Motherwell just what it takes to make a short film.

“Our aim was to shoot five short films in schools in Motherwell. We sent out a call to the schools and the children wrote scripts and we selected five from 11 schools.

“This past weekend we conducted a workshop teaching them how to use a camera, how to record, how to produce and how to direct a film,” Soqaga said.

The cameraman said each of the school projects had a director as well as five crew members, including a producer, sound and lighting engineer and others from the arts department.

“We were busy training in those departments and this coming week we’ll start filming the short films they wrote,” he said.

The five high schools Soqaga selected are Soqhayisa, Ndyebo, Mfesane, Coselelani and Cingani.

Filming will start on Tuesday and each film will be between five and seven minutes.

“After shooting, we’ll edit and host an awards evening. The point is to transfer skills to those interested in the film or media industry,” he said.

Soqaga, is a former matriculant at Masiphathisane Secondary School, where he also entered and won a film competition in 2007.

From there, Soqaga won a scholarship to study at Big Fish Film School in Cape Town.

“After that I came back and worked for Bay TV, then worked for M-Net filming bubblegum stories. From there I worked for ANN7 as a cameraman and then also freelanced for eNCA,” he said.