Young film fan heads for the hills

Kieran Lamb, a member of St Ninian’s high school’s film club, had the chance to go to Hollywood for a behind-the-scenes look at Walt Disney film Frozen.

The 16-year-old was invited to the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Los Angeles as part of his role as a young reporter on the FILMCLUB Talent Development programme, which enables those with an exceptional passion for film to experience a behind-the-scenes look at the industry.

The teenager watched a special preview screening of the film, which is loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen, and interviewed various members of the filmmaking teams — including the film’s director and screenwriter Jennifer Lee (Wreck-It Ralph).

The teen also got to take part in some demos with CG supervisor Frank Hanner in the rigging lab — where he was shown the process of building the animated characters and the set of animation controls used to move the character and create believable human expressions.

Kieran told The Extra: “I was incredibly excited at the prospect of travelling to America, as it was the furthest I had ever been from home. When we landed at LAX the sun was shining and it was nice and warm, a stark contrast to the weather back home! I was very excited to go to Disney Animation Studios in Burbank.

“The entire experience was one of the best experiences I have ever had and likely ever will have. The chance to go to America to go into Walt Disney Animation Studios,and even the travel, all culminated in four days which I am unlikely ever to forget!”

Kieran joined the FILMCLUB Talent Development programme earlier this year and his previous assignments have included interviewing Dame Judi Dench and Steve Coogan on the red carpet at the BFI London Film Festival premiere for Philomena.

FILMCLUB was launched in 2008 and is free to state schools. To find out more information about a FILMCLUB in your school, visit www.filmclub.org.