Oscar Lock is a BA (Hons) Filmmaking student, about to enter his second year. Alongside his studies, he produces videos for St. George’s Crypt – a Leeds-based charity supporting homeless people in the city. In this blog, he explains how this opportunity came about and what he’s enjoyed about his course so far. 

Course: BA (Hons) Filmmaking

Tell us a bit about yourself, why you chose to study your course and what interests you the most about the subject area?

My name is Oscar and I’m originally from Loughborough. My favourite film is Ocean’s 11, I make films, run a radio show and study film at Leeds Beckett University. I’ve been making films for about ten years now, initially just for fun. After some time that fun grew into a hobby, hobby to passion and hopefully one day a passion to a career. I decided University would be my best bet as I knew I loved film but, as I enjoy both Scripted and Documentary, I needed to figure out which bit I love most. 

Leeds Beckett was the standout choice for me. As soon as I visited the Leeds School of Arts building on an Open Day, I could see the facilities were second to none and the structure of the course was very appealing to me.

What have been your highlights of the course so far? 

My first year at Leeds Beckett has been incredible. As someone who sometimes struggles with change, coming to Leeds was daunting, but as soon as I got here any worry disappeared. I have absolutely fallen in love with the city and the University. Working as Director of my documentary ‘Drive my Kart’ has been the highlight of my time at university so far. The creative freedom to make any film I wanted in the Documentary module allowed me to make something I could truly love and be proud of. Seeing the film get screened in front of the entire year was a great moment, and the praise I received made the hard work my crew and I put in so worthwhile.

Can you tell us about the work you’ve been doing with St George’s Crypt? How did you get involved with working with them and how have you benefited from the experience? 

I’ve been working with St. George’s Crypt for a few months now. The Careers team sent an email about “Challenge week” at Leeds Beckett (something definitely worth getting involved in). One part of that was to create a short video for the local charity St. George’s Crypt, for them to use to spread awareness and bring in contributors. I was eager to get involved, so I signed up and secured a place as Camera Operator on the project. I had a wonderful time working on the video, filming at multiple locations around Leeds, and in the end creating a video that the charity were very happy with.

Afterwards, a member of St. Georges Crypt asked if anyone on the team would be interested in helping the charity with any future content. I expressed my interest in helping and went to meet with them a few days later. We spoke about various projects the crypt had in mind and I gave my ideas on how we could accomplish these projects. My role at the charity now is Volunteer Content Creator, in which I create videos for the Crypt for their website and social media. This has been such a fulfilling role for me and I’m glad I can give back to Leeds. 

What are your plans for when you complete the course? 

After I finish my course, I plan on finding work somewhere up north, within the Film and Television industry. Thanks to the opportunities I’ve had so far at Uni, I already have work lined up now, so I hope that work continues as I move on from Leeds Beckett. I also plan on continuing my work with the Crypt, given how welcoming they have been to me, and how rewarding working there is.

What would you say to someone who is thinking about studying Filmmaking at Leeds Beckett? 

To anyone thinking of studying Filmmaking here at Beckett, I think you absolutely should. Make sure you really throw yourself in there, get involved with other people’s projects, make films outside of the course, and if you get an email about an opportunity, go for it! There’s nothing to lose, and so much to gain from studying in Leeds. The city, nightlife and people are all great. The Lecturers on the Film course are great at what they do, and give great industry insight, covering many aspects of film and TV.

Take a look at Oscar's portfolio of work, which includes the St. George's Crypt video he worked on as Camera Operator.