FULL MONTY movie star Hugo Speer joined film students from Wiltshire College & University Centre as they saw their work shown on a cinema’s big screen.

The Everyman in Salisbury played host for the screening of 12 student projects, including After Sally, which stars the actor as a farmer who believes his late wife has been reincarnated as a guinea pig.

The film was written and directed by Daisy Wallis, a student on the Film Production and Cinematography degree course at the Salisbury campus. The 21-year-old sent her script to the actor, whose wife is a family friend, and to her surprise he agreed to play the lead in her 12-minute comedy drama.

“I couldn’t believe it but he said he loved the script and spent three days with us,” said Daisy. “He was brilliant to work with and we learned a lot from him.”

She said although it was daunting being a novice director and having to instruct a film and TV veteran, he was encouraging and collaborative. “I was a bit nervous in the sense that he’s done it for years and he’s worked with great directors but he gave us his input and really let me get on with it.

“There were a few lines where he’d say ‘actually, I think I would say it like this’ but he was brilliant and really made the character come to life. It was amazing to see.”

He was at the Saturday afternoon screening among an audience of more than 100, including Daisy’s family and friends. “We shot the film for the big screen so it was really exciting to see it up there,” she said.

Fellow student Kat Lockwood’s convention busting gothic horror Dare To Speak was a silent film with a difference – it had sound. “It’s inspired by the 1922 film Nosferatu, as well as the more recent version,” said the 22-year-old director. “It’s about a servant of an evil scientist who discovers a monster, who can speak, in the dungeon below his castle. So they break the laws of the silent film by incorporating actual sound.

“I thought it would just be an interesting concept, because I quite like experimental films. I think breaking the rules of certain conventions of films can be quite interesting.”

Both students said the three year course has been invaluable in giving them hands-on filmmaking experience from every angle of the process. “It has been brilliant to be able to dip my toe into every aspect, even the ones I am less interested in pursuing,” said Kat.

“I co-produced my film and really enjoy production and organising shoots and I’ve had experience of camerawork, but I did a lot with the art department on my film. It’s a black and white silent film so I made all of the title cards and end credits by writing them on a chalkboard and I really enjoyed it. I can see myself pursuing producing and artwork to some extent and seeing where it takes me.”

Daisy added: “The lecturers and technicians who work with us have so much experience and we’ve learned a lot from them. I definitely want to go into camerawork but I am keeping my options open with directing, that’s the great thing about the course, you get so many different experiences.”

Programme leader Kieron Evans said it is the first time the end of year screening has been held in Wiltshire. “We’ve had to go as far afield as Bristol in the past so we are grateful to the Everyman for hosting this.

“The students have been here for three years now and this is the final thing they do. It is a lot of hard work and can be quite gruelling, especially when we are pushing them to raise their bar a bit.

“When they make their final film they’ve taken all that on board and this is their swansong before they go out into the wider world, so it does end up being a bit of an occasion.”

Tim Dodd, who works closely with the students, added: “We have students coming in with no practical knowledge at all just a love of film, but the course is very much driven towards preparing them for practical involvement in the film industry because it is real life skills that we’re teaching them.”

Pictured: Actor Hugo Speer with students Daisy Wallis, the director, and Hugo Theodorou, the cinematographer, at The Everyman in Salisbury for the end of year screening, including the film he starred in

Pictured: Hugo Speer on the set of After Sally with director Daisy Wallis and Marsha the guinea pig

Pictured: Hugo Speer with the crew on the set of After Sally

Pictured: The poster for After Sally