A filmmaker and lecturer has started a YouTube channel as a response to the coronavirus lockdown. He will also be sharing some of the tips he has drawn on throughout his career.
Glenn Hanstock, the Liverpool-based Creative Director of production company Electrobank Media, was inspired to create his Film Direct YouTube channel during video calls to the students he teaches on creative media courses at Wrexham Glyndŵr University.
During those calls, he discussed ongoing coursework with the students as well as keeping in touch with them while they stayed at home. Glenn stressed the need to stay creative and began thinking about his own work.
Stay Creative!
He said: “Starting Film Direct is not something I gave serious thought to until the Covid-19 lockdown. Being a creative person, I have to find a channel for the ideas I have. It seemed a great option. In the video calls I’ve had with my students since working from home, I’ve stressed to them the importance of staying creative, keeping their minds busy and having a routine. It really helps.”
Until the current lockdown began, Glenn – who has previously filmed BBC dramas and documentaries, music videos and much more – had been finalising the last edits of a hard-hitting public awareness film, called To the Edge, for an external client. His face-to-face university lecturing is currently paused, while people across the UK follow the government’s guidance to stay at home and save lives.
Glenn added: “The need to keep producing work while To the Edge and everything else has been put on hold, meant I wanted to find some way to exercise those creative urges. Staying productive and focused is really important at this time and is something I’m constantly telling our students.”
Simple Technology Can Get Good Results
One of the driving factors behind Glenn’s channel is to show his viewers how simple technology can be used to get results. All of the work has been filmed on his mobile phone.
He added: “My pieces to camera for the Film Direct Channel have been filmed on my iPhone. Yes, I’ve taken time to light them properly and record separate audio, but they have been shot on a phone. This is something I’d like my students at Glyndŵr and the viewers of Film Direct to know.
“Being in lockdown without access to my normal kit, I’ve had to be creative. This shows it can be done. All the techniques and theories covered in my videos can be learned using minimal kit like a phone. Obviously the better equipment you have, the better the quality of what you produce will be. I want my students and the channel’s viewers to be creative. I want them to see that with a little thought they can turn our current situation into a positive one.”
“An Extra Push”
As well as running the free tutorials on his channel, Glenn is also providing versions for his students at Glyndŵr. This is alongside the online guidance and tuition he and his fellow lecturers have been offering since the pandemic began.
He added: ”The Covid-19 lockdown has given me an extra push to experiment with online learning options, which I see as the future of education. All the tutorials on my YouTube channel will be packed up as Moodle versions for our students too. It’s the least I can do given the situation we find ourselves in.”
Anyone wishing to see Glenn’s can find it here.
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