An Olympic exchange

The spirit of the London Olympics has been captured on film by a team of students from Bedfordshire and Russia.

Students from the University of Bedfordshire took part in an exchange programme with Russian students from St Petersburg, visiting earlier this year before their return trip this month.

The two groups of students recorded footage from the Olympic Games and edited it in the University’s media production studio.

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St Petersburg State University student Stefania Ivanitskaya, 20 said: “We mixed shooting in London with shooting in Luton as well.  It is fiction, we have a story about a citizen of Luton, who is quiet, but with the help of the Olympic Games he becomes more open and finds it easier to connect with people. 

“We are shooting with an unusual technique so the camera is his eyes. Every day he is seeing streets, everyday life and the film has a happy ending.”

David Green, a senior lecturer in Media Arts at the University of Bedfordshire, believes the exchange programme, now in its third year, is of huge benefit to students.

He said: “One of the films is a live-action fiction animation by the Russian students and the other one is an experimental documentary.

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“The Russian students are very ideas driven, and very technical. There is a lot of talent among both groups.”

Bedfordshire student Shahrukh Gillani, 20, went to the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium to record people’s experiences.

He said: “We met about 40 people and got some different reactions. Some people were really looking forward to it and others were complaining that the tickets cost too much - we got a mixed reaction. Our film shows both sides, but ends on a positive note.

“We met people from France, New Zealand and all over the world. We were outside the stadium with loads of fans and then we went to Greenwich Park to do some more filming - it was a great experience.”

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It has been an amazing opportunity for Shahrukh after winning the competition to fly out to Russia, where the theme for the film was ‘white nights’ as the sun doesn’t set in the summer in St Petersburg.

Shahrukh said: “It was great and I met some amazing people. It was a really lovely experience. I have never seen anything like it in my life, it is dark at 2am and then at 4am the sun rises. We made a documentary about the night life of St Petersburg.”

Matthew King, Robin Hoey and Carl Muircroft were among the University of Bedfordshire exchange students.

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