A TERM of hard work both in front and behind the camera lens has paid off for a group of students wearing aviators from St Lukes School with them seeing their work on the silver screen.

Pupils form the school on Cricklade Road have been working with Keith Phillips, the lead filmmaking tutor at Ideal Films, to produce their very own short comedy caper film entitled The Book Thieves.

During the comic film balaclava-clad burglars are pursued by aviator-wearing cops who even scale a gate to catch one of the thieves before a rather unexpected twist brings events to a close.

On Thursday morning they were treated to seeing the five-minute-long film on the big screen at Cineworld in Regent Circus along with their parents and teachers thanks to general manager Matt Bayliss who welcomed them in for the special screening.

“They really excelled themselves,” said Keith. “They worked incredibly hard on the project, doing everything themselves from writing the story to buying props, doing all the filming, acting, stunts and all the editing. They have been amazingly enthusiastic about the project, and are even now planning the sequel!

“Through the project they developed some exceptional team working skills, and exhibited a real level of focus, determination and maturity.”

The project was supported by the Lottery through the BFI’s Into Film initiative and after the screening the filmmakers were presented with certificates and a DVD copy of their film by Sophie Critchlow, programme co-ordinator for Into Film.

To watch the film visit: https://vimeo.com/172993031