1) Hi Nada, can you tell us what you've been up to since graduating from THINK Global School in 2022? Since graduating in 2022, I've been pursuing a passion I found while at TGS, sustainability, and I am currently majoring in engineering in renewable energy systems at Al Akhawayn University, in Ifrane, Morocco. But there is way more than that! I've had a chance also to explore the world of...
Read MoreWe’re pleased to share that THINK Global School 10th grader Elliot Weir’s “The Pursuit of Adventure” was recently named best documentary film by a 13-15 year old at the Brighton Youth Film Festival.
“The Pursuit of Adventure” was originally created as a project for Elliot’s Grade 9 humanities class, which combines elements of English, global studies, and visual arts into an integrated lesson plan. During our term in Athens, Greece, Elliot and his ninth and tenth grade classmates embarked on a ten-day weXplore recreating the events of Homer’s epic The Odyssey, and as they sailed from one Ionian island to another, the students were tasked with creating a humanities project that captured their own personal life odyssey, tracking significant moments of transformation from their childhood up until present day.
Each student was given the artistic freedom to create visual pieces in the medium that they saw fit, leading to Elliot’s decision to capture his personal narrative in the form of a documentary video, utilizing the techniques he had learned in Lindsay Clark’s newMedia Lab.
Elliot and his classmates during the TGS Odyssey
After presenting “The Pursuit of Adventure” to his teachers, Elliot took it upon himself to find a wider audience for his film by searching for student film festivals and submitting it to those he saw fit. It was through this channel that Elliot ended up winning his award at the Brighton Youth Film Festival.
We asked Elliot a few questions about his process, which you can find below. Also, be sure to regularly check out Elliot’s blog for more writings, photos, and videos by our self-proclaimed “curious carrot-top.”
1) What other film festivals did it get selected to be in? Did it win any other awards?
“The Pursuit of Adventure” also got accepted and shown in the Fayette Youth Film Festival in Fayetteville, Georgia, but it did not not win any awards.
2) What was the inspiration behind the poem that is the voiceover of the film?
The inspiration for the poem is a mixture of our class learning about Odysseus and journeys and adventures in Greek Mythology, the TGS lifestyle and my personal travels, adventures, dreams and aspirations.
3) What does it mean to you to have other people around the world see your film?
Knowing that this film is being seen all around the world is both exciting and scary and it really pushes me to keep on improving my work and making it something that is worth showing to a large audience.
4) How much training and experience do you have in video production?
Before I came to TGS I made a few videos using Microsoft MovieMaker that were not really worth sharing but once I joined TGS I taught myself Final Cut Pro (with the help of Lindsay and New Media class) and then I started to make one or two films and videos for every country I went to.
5) Is it too soon to ask if this is a potential career path for you?
I most definitely want to pursue a career related to filming and photography but I think I would prefer it to be more science based, more specifically wildlife photography and filming but I would also like to do travel-based photography and filming, as well as travel-writing. I would have to find some way to tie these all together!