Lights camera action

GETTING the right shot, Nick Connor

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

A YOUNG Oldham film-maker is aiming to capture Oldham in a different light - one which will soon be gone forever.

Nick Connor (17) believes "Northern Lights" will be the last film filmed under sodium orange street lights as the borough undergoes a drive to replace them with energy-efficient white LED.

Nick says the project is inspired by Mossley artist, Chris Cyprus, whose "Northern Lights" series of paintings was a personal challenge Chris set himself ten years ago to "capture on canvas our country's old style lighting system before it becomes extinct".

Nick, a former St Aidan and Oswald RC Primary who now attends Rishworth School, in Sowerby Bridge, will begin filming the drama next month. He's not only directing it, he's also written it.

One of the locations includes his home in Royton and actors signed up so far include Oldhamer, Rhys Cadman, a former school pal who has appeared in Coronation Street and Shameless, and Gemma Paige North, who recently appeared in BBC1's The A Word.

Described as a "coming of age drama" the storyline revolves around a young girl who suffers from anxiety disorder and her football obsessed best friend - played by Cadman - as they undertake their GCSEs.

"The aesthetic of the film is very much based on the style and colours of Chris' paintings," said Nick, who studied Chris' work for his GCSE art.

"I visited his studio during my studies and his work is incredible.

"A large part of the story is shown through the massive change in the lights of Oldham. The change from sodium orange street lights to the white LEDs is changing the way the north itself looks. We believe this will be one of the last films to be shot in the area using the original street lamps."

Chris says he's honoured to have motivated such as exciting project.

"Nick is a very talented young man," he said.

"He came to visit my studio last year as he was doing his exams and he chose to use my work as an inspiration. He came back last month with a surprise, and handed me a script to the film. I was taken aback, obviously, and I am flattered to have inspired him.

"When I was his age, I didn't have that guidance to put me in the right direction with my artistic talents. It's something that I had to learn the hard way, but it has finally paid off. I sell work for up to £6,000 worldwide now but nothing compares to when you get this kind of feedback.

"I have been working on the Northern Lights series now for just over a decade. It focuses on the everyday scene that is wonderfully transformed into something beautiful when the old sodium street lights come on at dusk in winter months.

"It is also fast becoming nostalgic as the lightbulbs are being replaced by white LED lights. I'm currently in the process of making a book to celebrate the 200 paintings in the series, hopefully to be published next year.

"I am really looking forward to seeing Nick's film, and will be proud to say I played a silent part in it!"

Nick is working with production company Cherwell Productions and is part of a creative team made up of fellow Rishworth students and young people from Oldham and Manchester he met at the BFI (British Film Institute) Academy at HOME MCR.

After developing a passion for films at an early age he's spent years indulging it, even saving up to buy equipment including a camera.

"It's only a small budget, just £4,000, so things are tight. We're hoping it will be finished for September before I go back to school to finish studying for my A-levels," Nick said. "Basically we'll be spending our summer holidays editing and putting it together.

"I'd love to have it screened in Oldham. It would all just fit together really."

The team's last film, "Think of Me", won an "INTO FILM" of the Month accolade - which celebrates exceptional young film-making talent from across the UK.