D'Oscars 2019 a big success!
On Friday 10 May, the Junior School once again threw itself into the wonderful world of film with its annual Awards Ceremony, D'Oscars 2019. This year's theme was X Marks the Spot, taking everyone into the world of mystery and adventure.
D’Oscars is one of the highlights of the Junior School calendar, providing a showcase for STEAM and 21st Century skills. Every student is involved in the process of making a film, with different year groups focusing on either stop motion animation, live animation, or live action moviemaking. The D’Oscars film competition gives a real purpose to the students work, bringing their imaginations and storytelling to stage and screen.
The night began with students, parents, and guests greeted by our wonderful Senior School Drama Ambassadors, dressed up in weird and wonderful costumes. They guided community members through a treasure map, a Jumanji gameboard, and rows of Dum Dum characters to arrive at the main entrance façade of the Temple of Petra, home to sandpits of treasure, creepy-crawlies, and a few puzzles to solve. Our Junior School Orchestra and Brass Ensemble provided wonderful entertainment, playing a wide section of film theme tunes. With everyone dressed up, talking, eating and drinking, there was a fantastic atmosphere in anticipation of the big event.
The D’Oscars ceremony began with some fantastic Junior School drummers and dancers, preparing us for Part 1 of the X Marks the Spot main feature film. There were some especially magnificent performances this year, in celebration of the 400th Anniversary of Dulwich College, from ‘The Master’ of Dulwich College, Dr Spence, and from the CEO and Vice Chairman of Dulwich College International, Mr Fraser White and Mr Christian Guertler. The students who also performed in the film provided some stellar moments.
As ever, the quality of the student films didn’t disappoint. The Year 3 animation films were so colourful and full of awe and wonder, with 3C’s The Secret Key winning the category. Year 4’s new exploration this year of live animation as an art form proved a huge success, with 4D winning with The Poisoned Girl. 5U came away winning the Year 5 category and the night’s Best Picture/BIG ONE D’Oscar for their scary film The Shadow Man and Year 6’s 6RG class won their category with fantastic performances in The Nightmare on Lan An Lu.
Further congratulations go to the Yang family for their classic burglary tale of Holiday Trap, winning the family and friends category, and Mia took home the Phil Stewart Best Performer prize for an amazing performance in 5J’s X Marks the Spot. Congratulations also to Dulwich College Suzhou for winning the Dulwich Group category with their film The Random Map.
The final shout out, though, goes to the amazing student presenters who led the night. Their stage presence and delivery were truly amazing! They are a testament to the wonderful work of the Junior School team.
The D’Oscars is something you really have to experience to fully grasp. Words and pictures just can’t do it justice! It was a night that certainly showed our community how much we greatly value teamwork, planning, storytelling, sharing, creating, and using technology to bring the curriculum alive.
