SITTING at home watching telly took on a whole new meaning for a Glengormley media student recently, as the show unfolding before his eyes on UTV was one he had helped to make!
Neil Whiteside, aged 20, graduated recently from Belfast Metropolitan College with an HND in Media.
At the same time he also had his final project 'Opera on the Edge' accepted for transmission by UTV.
This acclaimed documentary followed the journey
of performers at the annual Opera Fringe Festival in Downpatrick, capturing the sights and sounds of the along the way.
The decision to make the film was inspired by one of Neil's college tutors', George Fleeton.
"George was involved with the Downpatrick Opera Fringe Festival and he suggested to our class that it could make a good subject for a short film. Five of us in the class decided that we would like to give it a go and that's just what we did," said Neill.
"We sent UTV a promotional video we'd done of the festival last year, and after seeing that Michael Wilson, the Managing Director, said he'd be interested in us covering this year's festival.
"We spent two weeks filming in all the festival's locations back in June and from June until October we worked on the material, editing it and putting it all together.
"The final product was 23 minutes long and the film was aired on November 5, as part of UTV's 50th anniversary celebrations. I sat and watched it with my family and they said they thought it was good, which was positive!"
Neil who worked as cameraman on the project, said he had thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
"It took a lot of hard work and time to do, but I really enjoyed it," said Neil, who added that he would love a job within the media industry doing just this type of work.
Meanwhile, for all those who didn't catch the documentary, it is still possible to view it on: www.u.tv/uPlayer
