BY SANDRA SIAGIAN
St George & Sutherland Shire Leader
16 Feb, 2010 04:00 AM
An Aspiring filmmaker has had a confidence boost after winning the Caltex "I love the Sutherland Shire'' video competition.
Andrew Chambers, 27, of Kirrawee, was the lucky entrant whose video caught the eye of Sutherland Shire Council's and Caltex judges, with his take on why he loved the district.
The 30-second video has no narrative or written words, except for an introduction of his name and the line "I love the Sutherland Shire''. Mr Chambers said his idea was to highlight all the iconic spots in the area, in a way that viewers could instantly recognise what they were looking at.
"The storyline followed a couple of friends driving to the beach and the locations they pass on the way,'' Mr Chambers said.
"I used railway stations as the header for each suburb, putting in snippets of local spots.
"It was an interesting challenge to lay out a story without telling the audience what they were seeing.''
Mr Chambers has been filmmaking for seven years and has had his fair share of rejection, with his work knocked back three times from the Tropfest short film festival.
"I was losing confidence, making films that weren't going anywhere,'' Mr Chambers said.
"My unlucky run at Tropfest was the catalyst for me entering the competition. I knew how to make films and I wanted some exposure.''
A Sutherland Council spokeswoman said the first-time competition was created to support the local arts community and encourage youths to be creative.
"The competition offered a forum for the shire's up-and-coming film and video-makers, as well as for hobbyists,'' she said.
"As it was held over the busy Christmas period it attracted just seven entries.''
A Leader reader wrote in to complain about the film when it was broadcast at the Cronulla Australia Day celebrations, bemused by the contents of Mr Chambers's entry.
"The video showed young guys hooning around in a car visiting every drinking hole between Sutherland and Cronulla,'' said the reader.
"Surely this video did not capture the essence of our beautiful shire, which abounds with many healthy activities for our young to engage in.''
But Mr Chambers has hit back at these suggestions, and said only six out of the 63 shots in his film showed local pubs.
"When each location is on the screen for only five frames, the audience doesn't get a full feel of what I was showing,'' he said.
"It never crossed my mind that I was promoting establishments that serve alcohol.
"The majority of my shots were of street signs.''