IT is not often New College student Will Royal is lost for words but when he found out he was the winner of an international short film competition he was speechless.

Not only has the 17-year-old got one of the world’s biggest film competitions under his belt, he will also be jetting off to New York to mingle with some of the industry’s bigwigs at New York Film Academy.

And it means Will is one step closer to landing his dream career as a cinematographer.

“I didn’t know what to think,” said Will about finding out he had won.

“I didn’t expect it. It was unbelievable.”

Will, who lives near Oxford, was selected out of 1,400 entrants aged 13 to 17 from over 100 countries to bag the prestigious My Rode Reel Young Filmmaker 2016 award.

It took the HND film and TV production student three months to plan, film and edit the winning entry Serenity.

Four of those days were spent filming scenes in Oxford town centre and then one day at White Horse Hill in Faringdon. He spent April and May editing it.

The story follows a girl, played by Will’s girlfriend Emma Butcher, 17, as she plays the flute to escape the noise and hustle and bustle of her daily life.

It captures scenes such as busy market traders preparing dishes for customers and children doing football tricks in the street, contrasted with Emma playing her flute alone in the countryside.

“It’s about her escaping through music," Will added.

"It went better than I expected and I was really happy with it. I’ve learnt so much from it too."

  • See Will's winning entry below

As part of the prize he will attend a four-week workshop at the New York Film Academy, with his flights and accommodation paid for. He will also get thousands of pounds worth of film equipment and will be given the opportunity to independently write, shoot and edit three short films to industry standards.

“Going to New York is exciting enough in itself, but I can’t believe I’ll get the chance to work with some of the biggest names in film," he said.

“It’s another step in the right direction to fulfil my dream of being a cinematographer. From the age of nine I used to grab the family video camera to direct my siblings and film them in short sketches. From there my passion grew and I bought my first camera at the age of 14.”

He is hoping Shane Hurlbut will be among the cinematographers he will meet in America. Will would also love the opportunity to meet Christopher Nolan, who is behind Inception, Interstellar and The Dark Knight films, to name a few.

He added: “The experience I will be getting is great. I’m lost for words and I can’t wait to see what happens in the future.”