Pretzel Films’ Jake Dypka wins Best Film for Sammy at the IVCAs

The film, ‘Sammy’ was commissioned by Network Rail to highlight the importance of rail safety and the horrific consequences when teenagers fail to understand the dangers.

 

This powerful and emotive film was shown to  one teenage audience during their assembly... “There were approximately 400 13-17 year olds…and you could hear a pin drop, every person was fixated by the screen” one person present was quoted as noting.

 

Of the film, Jake said “Sammy originally started as a railway safety film but from hearing Leighton's (the main protagonist) story I thought there was great potential to make it something much more.

 

He went on to say "The film is based around two simple concepts... Firstly, that rather than trying to recreate realistic scenes like other reconstruction films, everything we see is how Leighton recalls the events, making things far more fractured and dream-like.That the images that we see over the interview are there to represent what Leighton recalls in his mind as he tells the story... Secondly, that  his interview  is not only about the event but also captures how he felt about Samantha. What he recalls about her and the feelings he associates with her memory. The reason we approached it in this way is because they wanted the film to impact on kids of a young age and felt that all young teens can identify with feelings of love. Once we can get them to recall their own feelings towards someone they love then imagining them dying in front of their very eyes has far more impact emotionally...."

 

"A big influence on the cinematic style and how I wanted to the images at night to look was the photography of Bill Henson. I thought they we're amazing and really conveyed the mood I wanted to achieve.”

 

Jake is a young director with a strong visual aesthetic.  Recent work includes video for single Chamber and the Valves by Dry The River and a film for UBS and Publicis.

 

To view the work, click here: http://bit.ly/IEUYAn