By Jake Morris, 6.1

I was delighted to be shortlisted for the Harvest Short Film Competition 2019 recently. I have been making films for about five years now, and my most recent film – A Puffin’s Tale – has been one of the most enjoyable.

Going to Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire, Wales, has always been on my mind as somewhere I wanted to film, as it is jam packed full of puffins. I was fortunate enough to borrow a really great telephoto lens and a good, sturdy tripod from Old Bedalian Andrew Graham Brown, who went to school with my father. This made filming at Skomer Island challenging but enjoyable; trying out professional gear is always really exciting.

Knowing that we only had five hours on the island, I had to prioritise what shots I needed to try and piece together a simple narrative. Luckily, all went to plan because there were thousands of puffins flying in and out of the island. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it’s something I would love to do as a career.

Afterwards, a family friend shared a link to a film competition based near where I used to live in Dorset. I filled in my details and sent off A Puffin’s Tale as my entry, not thinking I would get much further than that – but I was emailed on 3 November with the news that the film had been shortlisted for the competition.

On 9 November I attended the competition and unfortunately didn’t win, but I was mentioned by the judges as “a talented 16-year-old who captured the world brilliantly in A Puffin’s Tale“, while another said: “Jake Morris is an outstanding filmmaker with a very unique eye”.

Watch A Puffin’s Tale here.