Waikato film student to study in Paris

Twenty-year-old Chloe Murcott has always had a passion for film-making.

At school, Chloe was the person you went to to get something filmed, and much of her film-making experience comes from school events.

She's also a talented actress, but Chloe found she was more interested in the creative challenge of film production.

"Reproducing the picture in your head is the hardest part. Getting all the elements right, including the sound, lighting and acting is the challenge."

Once she had her own camera, Chloe began making short films and documentaries, particularly of her overseas trips.

As a social services prefect at Waikato Diocesan School she was called on to organise the school's 40 Hour Famine. On the basis of Waikato Diocesan's impressive fundraising efforts, Chloe was selected for the Sanitarium Senior Scholarship programme in her final year of school. The week-long scholarship gives student leaders the opportunity to develop their knowledge of poverty-related issues. From the programme, Chloe was then selected as one of three travelling scholars who went to Mongolia in 2005 to see World Vision projects.

"We visited the Lighthouse centre, which is a home and drop-in centre for street children in Ulaanbaatar. Many street children live in heating tunnels under the street, as this is the only place they can go that is warm. It was great to see the kids in the Lighthouse centre were safe and well looked after, because of World Vision's support."

Chloe filmed what she saw in Mongolia, and some of her footage was used in a report on Campbell Live.

"Film is such a powerful tool. By showing that piece on television we reached so many people. It helped people who've never been to Mongolia understand what life is like there," she says.

The experience strengthened her determination to combine her passion for film-making with humanitarian work.

"I really want to work for an organisation like World Vision in developing countries. I want to make a difference by telling those stories on film."

And she's already on her way to achieving that goal. Chloe has been accepted into a three-year course in film production at EICAR (Ecole Internationale de Creation Audiovisuelle et de Realisation), an international film school in Paris.

"I wanted to go to Paris because I love that style of film-making, it's a lot more real than the stuff that happens in Hollywood. But I really didn't think I would get in. I had to submit four different pieces that I'd created and a letter explaining why I love film and why I want to go to Paris. I was honest and said I hadn't had much experience and didn't think my films were great, but that I would get better."

Chloe is excited to be leaving for Paris at the end of this month - although she doesn't speak much French.

"I've just started learning the language this year. I can make a little conversation. I guess once I'm immersed in the culture I'll pick it up pretty fast."

ENDS

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