20April 2017

It’s been a great year so far for Transitions student Estelle Baronello. In the summer of 2016, after an unsuccessful application for the BA Digital Film & Television degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Estelle was advised by staff to applyto Transitions. Since then she has gone from strength to strength, gaining lots of experience, including weekly classes at Junior Conservatoire. The icing on the cake camea few months ago,when Estelle secured a place on the competitive BA DFTV degree. She kindly took some time out to answer our questions…

Transitions Route? Filmmaking

What made you apply for Transitions? I was recommendedto apply for Transitions in my rejection email for the BA Digital Film and Television course last year.

The best thing about Transitions is”¦? The extra things you can get involved in. I was given the chance to work with three RCS graduatesand also gain aqualification throughthe Crediting Attainment and Achievement in Transitions (CAAT) Module,in which I kept a reflective blog throughout the year.

The best thing about filmmaking is”¦? Being a part of a group of people with the same goal. It’s really motivational and builds your confidence. Through working on projects I have met so many people and thus made lots of new friends.

What have you been learning about recently? The process of casting for a film.

Greatest achievement so far? Getting to interview Dr. Sam Vaknin and his wife for a documentary. Dr. Vaknin isa world leading expert on narcissismand is also a self-aware narcissist. His wife, Lidija Rangelovska, is a victimof coercive abuse from her family.Both of them are inspirationalpeople with amazing stories and theories, so getting to interview them was a complete honour. The footage was used in a documentary I shot and edited called “Grandiose: The Making of Soulmate.” The documentary follows the making of the play “Soulmate” which confronts the theme of coercive abuse and how it can be connected to narcissism. The documentary was screened before each showing of the play and both are now being used to train police officers inrecognising coercive abuse.

In 10 yearstime I will be hopefully be”¦? Travellingthe world and making films. I would also love to get involved in funding for the arts and start a film festival in my home town.

My role model is”¦? Alice Guy-Blaché

If I had to eat only one thing for the rest of my life I would eat”¦? Hummus

If you could be an animal”¦? I would be a giraffebecause I’m really short andI would love to experience being super tall.

Favourite”¦

”¦book:Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre

”¦musician/band: The Kinks

”¦album or song: O by Iamamiwhoami

What advice would you give to someone thinking about studying filmmaking? Just like studying anything you need to know you are passionate about it. Filmmaking is demanding from both a mental and physical stand point. You need to be curious about all the different roles that make up a crew. Being the director in every project you’reinvolved in shouldn’t be your goal. Take advice from the people who have done it for years and then come up with your own conclusions. You need to be self motivating. A filmmaker issomeone who is willing to put themselves out there and make new contacts. There are lots of other things involved, but most importantly if your doing all of these things and not enjoyingyourself, thendon’t do it. If you are finding yourself exhaustedafter a long and demanding day on set, but still loving it, then you should study film.