This film won a Gold Award and the prize for Best Youth Entry. Encouraged by my success in the 2005 BIAFF competition [with Hong Kong] and my eye on the Daily Mail Cup. I was eager to submit again in 2006 . I am delighted to have won the 2006 best youth entry - Gold Level for my film Making Music and also received awards for Lost In Time a nostalgic documentary about the world of steam engines and Here Inside a pop video which I shot entirely in locations near my home in Somerset

I have been fortunate enough to have grown up immersed in the world of film because my father Mark Thomas is a professional film composer. He is very prolific and has scored numerous feature films and television dramas as diverse as Agent Cody Banks 2 for MGM, Dog Soldiers for Pathe, Dalziel And Pascoe for BBC and currently on cinema release in America the animated feature film Doogal - The Magic Roundabout with the voices of Whoopi Goldburg, Chevy Chase, William H. Macy, Sir Ian McKellen and Dame Judi Dench.

Over the years I have met various film directors, editors and other icons in the film industry who have individually inspired me and added to my passion for film. While my dad was scoring the British spy-spoof comedy feature film Back In Business starring Martin Kemp and Dennis Waterman in the famous Abbey Road studios it occurred to me that there was a music - led documentary in there somewhere right under my nose. Here was a chance to film some world class session musicians in action and delve into the fascinating world of feature film post production.

Abbey Road studio one is a fantastic place in which to film, because there are various vantage points to place the camera and an large balcony that allows for a panoramic wide shot of the whole studio. While recording is taking place nobody in the room is really aware that filming is taken place because the concentration of musicians and conductor alike is very intense, so the resulting shots have a nice 'fly-on-the-wall' feel. My interviews were shot in the control room at Abbey Road and in my father's own recording studio.

Between takes I could change my camera set-up easily - I used my Canon XL2 with a Manfrotto tripod, some hand held tracking shots and for the speeded up sequence I used a locked off wide shot from the balcony and treated the footage in Final Cut Pro by enhancing the time code breaks to create a rapid action effect.

Lost In Time was shot at the 'Somerset Steam Show' on both Canon XL2 and the Sony Mini Dvcam which I enhanced using adobe after effects. It is a nostalgic celebration of the days of steam; a poignant trip down memory lane with fun live action vignettes featuring the public at large.

I kept the Sony locked off on a tripod for the interviews and covered the same interview with the Canon on the Manfrotto tripod - the combination of textures gave a nice flow in editing and to me felt quite modern in a stylised way. The daylight and the subject matter made for some beautiful shots and silhouettes and in the edit I created some abstract montages using extreme close ups of the moving parts of the various steam engines and stylised blurring of carousel horses. The engine drivers were very accommodating and proud to have their lovingly restored 'babies' shown off on film. I have enough footage for a half hour film and I plan to cut the longer version over the Summer.

Here Inside is a pop video created to promote the single recorded by my sister Rosanna. It was shot in various locations in Somerset, with many handheld backward tracking shots, some locked off close ups and moving rotating shots filmed from the back of a moving vehicle. It was my first attempt at editing a music video therefore I found there were areas in the process of creation in which some experimentation was needed. For example matching the muted video to the pre-recorded track of the song.

This Summer I am going on an expedition to Namibia where I plan to shoot a movie focussing on the wildlife and extreme arid conditions. Shooting in extreme geographical locations is a challenge especially when you have to carry a backpack with all but the kitchen sink weighing almost half your body weight - it's a good thing my Sony DVcam is so tiny !

If I had to give any advice to would be film makers I would say always try to tell a story and entertain rather than get too caught up in the technical stuff, work within the limits of your equipment, keep lenses squeaky clean to avoid pesky unwanted lens flare and always allow a few beats of time when you start to shoot and before you shout 'cut' that way you can edit with more subtlety and poise.

- Tristam Thomas, March 2006

Page updated on 21 March 2008

Authors' views are not necessarily those of The Institute of Amateur Cinematographers

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