William takes up role behind the camera on film academy visit

The Prince of Wales tried his hand at being a cameraman to help students film a project on a visit to a sixth-form academy.

William operated a camera while sitting on the dolly and track as he took shots for part of a film scene at the London Screen Academy (LSA) in Highbury, north London, on Wednesday.

The free-to-attend academy provides students skills and training with courses in film production, costume, editing and animation – and was created to address the skills shortage and lack of diversity in the UK screen and creative industries.

Among the academy’s co-founders are David Heyman, producer for all eight of the Harry Potter films, and Barbara Broccoli and Michael G Wilson who oversee the James Bond franchise.

William has been the president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) since 2010, when he succeeded the actor and director Richard Attenborough.

On arriving at academy, the prince first had a sit-down discussion with senior representatives from Bafta and the LSA board, where he was told by academy co-founder Tim Bevan that it was “very much part of the vision that education and industry should come together”.

Discussing industry opportunities for young people, William said the “film star essence… is so distant from reality”, adding: “It feels a lot of people don’t know that they can be in the film industry.”

The prince was then taken into the hair and make-up studio, where he chatted with an artist and one of the students working as a model – and applied prosthetics on to his hand to make an “instant fake scar”.

Year 13 students at the academy were currently working on a collaboration project which transforms the school into a working film set to shoot a short film.

This year’s film, Melomania, is a futuristic story about four teenage characters living in a world where music has been banned.

William asked the model: “How is it with the studs on? Is it comfortable?

“You can’t really move your eyebrows very much.”

The prince smiled and waved at students taking lessons in their classrooms as he walked around the college.

After being taken to the costume department, William spoke to a student displaying their “steampunk” outfit about the design process, which he praised as being “quite cool”.

Asked if he would wear the costume personally, the prince added: “I might do – Saturday night out, why not?”

William then spent time chatting to another student involved in post-production for the project, including adding water digitally into a scene.

After being shown the final result, William remarked: “That’s amazing what you can do.”

The prince was then shown to the building’s rooftop, where the set for the project was built and students were busy filming a scene.

He took up a position on the dolly for one take, keep a keen eye on the camera equipment as the scene played out.

The whole set gave a round of applause following the take before posing with William for a group photo.

Asked whether he would join the production by a student before he left, William replied: “I might need a bit of practice.”

Mr Bevan, who is also co-chair of Working Title Films, told the PA news agency: “I think to get the endorsement of a young royal is sort of fantastic, and it’s inspiring for these students.

“It shows the general public that the creative industries are a career that everyone should take seriously [and] that we’re good at it.”

Asked how important the college was for young people as a way into the film industry, Mr Bevan said: “I think you can only tell anecdotally and that we’re noticing on productions that more of our alumni are showing up.

“It just feels like it’s all beginning to creep out there into the world. We’re six years into the school, so we’re four years in on our alumni, so it’s beginning to work.”

He added: “To see these different voices, different backgrounds, different faces, different sorts of people coming into the industry, I think it’s really important. That way, we will tell better stories.”