"My dream, since I was a young child, is to be famous one day. I'll do anything to make that dream come true." So said 15-year-old Hadi Ameen, a grade 9 student at Rashid Saleh School in Dubai, at the Shoof Troops award ceremony last week. Ameen wasn't alone in his dreams to reach for the stars one day. Many other students shared his ambitions and their participation in the Shoof TV competition was one step closer to that goal.
A number of high school and university students participated in the Shoof Troops film competition, which required them to make short movies based on various themes such as news, comedy and music. Students were divided into groups – troops – to represent their respective schools and put their movie-making skills to the test.
The challenges
No one said that making movies would be easy. And students recognised this as they struggled to balance film-making with schoolwork. While 15 troops entered the competition, only eight remained active at the time of the awards ceremony.
For most students, the number one challenge was meeting deadlines.
"I would have an exam the next day and would have to cope with studying, and at the same time a deadline would be approaching for a video," Ameen said. "And I'd have to be able to prepare for the exam while trying not to miss the deadline. It got very hectic at times."
For the Look Mommy I Can Act!!! group, coordination and proximity were among the challenges they faced on a daily basis.
"Working with unfamiliar software only made things more difficult," said media student Aakanksha Singh. "Coupled with deadlines and handling college work, things only became even more complicated."
Students said that trying to coordinate their time also posed another challenge, as they had varying class timings and schedules. For Melissa Khan, media student at Manipal University, Dubai, this proved particularly trying.
"I live in Abu Dhabi," Melissa said. "And time and space constraints made it fairly difficult to be able to meet with everyone. Most of the time I would have to do my work separately and then incorporate it into what everyone else had done, which is not an easy task."
The challenges, however, did not hinder the groups' efforts to strive for the best. Look Mommy I can Act!!! took the first prize, winning Dh30,000 in camera equipment. Their group leader, Karen Monteiro, was chosen the best team captain.
Work more to learn more
Students said that participating in the competition was a rewarding experience, not only in terms of prizes, but also in terms of knowledge.
"We learned how to use various software to edit our work and got a real taste of what it would be like to work in the media industry," said Uzma Atcha, media management student at Manipal University, Dubai.
And that's not all. Students also learnt a number of basic skills that could be applied to any field of work they may choose to pursue in the future. Among these were teamwork and communication.
"We learned how to work in a team and balance our talents to come up with the best results," said Aakanksha. "We recognised what was good in each one of us and used that to our advantage."
Dreaming big
For most students, this competition only marks the beginning to what they hope will be a voyage to success — whether it's on the big screen or anywhere else.
Ameen says that if he doesn't make it as a famous movie producer, he would like to be a plastic surgeon one day.
"Whatever I do, I want the world to know my name," he said.
Aakanksha said that she hopes to be an author, as her passion lies in writing. When asked how film-making fits in with her plans, she said: "If I ever had the chance to be in TV production, I certainly wouldn't say no. But I don't want to limit myself. People can always have parallel dreams."
Meanwhile, Ritesh Biswas, Ahmad Suwaidi and Ronak Shah, animation students at SAE Institute, Dubai and part of the SAE Elites group, plan to lead their own film production company. The fourth member of the group, Bikramjeet Singh, has hopes to become a professional filmmaker or film editor.
SAE Elites won the second runner up prize and the prize for the best video, receiving Dh15,000 in camera equipments
"Through this we were able to test our skills and see what we are capable of achieving," said Singh. "And we discovered we are capable of achieving great things."
60 seconds with the best team captain Karen Monteiro, media student, Manipal University, Dubai
How do you feel after winning this award?
I feel so happy. I didn't want to get my expectations high in the beginning so when I went into the ceremony I went with no expectations. But receiving this was a huge moment for me.
What do you think is the most important quality of being a successful leader?
Keeping a straight and cool head. You can't be hot tempered and you must keep all your thoughts organised. If you lose your focus for one moment, you can get lost for the rest of the week.
What are your dreams for the future?
Next year I will begin my concentration in advertising and I hope that my career will go in that direction. I'm just taking it one step at a time.
And the winners are:
1st Place: Look Mommy I Can Act!!!
Manipal University, Dubai
- Karen Monteiro
- Aakansha Singh
- Uzma Atcha
- Aisha Fahim
- Melissa Khan
2nd Place: SAE Elites
SAE Institute, Dubai
- Ronak Shah
- Bikramjeet Singh
- Ritesh Biswas
- Ahmad Suwaidi
- Best Video: SAE Elites
- Best Team Captain: Karen Monteiro
