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Joseph Morris, from Llanelli, has been awarded the Tudor Bevan Award for his contribution to the Creative Arts in Wales by the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

Joseph, who graduates from the BA in Adventure Filmmaking, will receive his award at the Graduation Ceremony to be held at the University’s Carmarthen campus on Tuesday, 9 July.

The Adventure Filmmaking course was a natural choice for Joseph as it allowed him to combine his love of the outdoors as well as being active.  He says:

“Being outdoors and physically active has always been very important, and adventure films were always a big interest and, seeing that this was the only Adventure Filmmaking course in the UK, I wanted the skills to create my own adventure films. Living in Llanelli I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be able to join a course that seemed perfect for my lifestyle, the only one in the UK and it was only 30 minutes away from my home I had to join.

“Before the course I had only ever used a GoPro to make short films and so getting the skills and knowledge to use a professional standard camera gear to a high standard was a big goal that I definitely feel confident in being able to do that now.”

A highlight of the course was when he and fellow students planned and hosted an end of year show to discuss and present their final projects to a large audience. 

Joseph’s work involved creating Welsh inspired Tarot Cards shot on location around Wales. Throughout the creative process he worked with models, costume makers and recent Adventure Filmmaking graduates, to make a series of photographs. In collaboration with other artists, such as Emily Scandone and Rachel Morris, he edited, designed, and printed the components to make the tarot cards.  Having completed 9 cards for his final project, he now hopes to finish the full set of 78 tarot cards.  He says of his final project:

“I buried myself in research for the final project using a big influence of art history, specifically the Pre-Raphaelite era of art to influence the models’ poses and visuals. Also, I met with several creatives and successful local artists, Kathryn Campbell-Dodd, Peter Finnemore and Seren Stacy to name a few, all of whom were excellent and gave brilliant insights into Wales, art, and guidance for my own project”. 

At the beginning of his university career, Joseph was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Dyslexia which, he says, explained his behaviour and the difficulty he experienced in studying at school and college.  The diagnosis allowed him to be realistic with his workload, as well as to be kinder and more patient when he experienced difficulty in focusing and writing.   He praises the support he received from the University’s Learning Support team.  He says:

“The biggest help to overcoming personal challenges - life, mental health, ADD, Dyslexia, workload - was my study support, Gabriel Fisher. He was a very positive part of my university experience, very enthusiastic, friendly and an excellent resource for art, photography, music, culture, and Welsh history. I would not have done as well in university if not for the support from Gabriel”. 

Joseph is also full of praise for his tutors Dr Matthew Jones and Dr Brett Aggersberg who, he says, were pivotal and of great help. 

He says: “Matthew supplied guidance and insight into creativity, Art history, the creative process, photography, and the importance of exploring Welsh culture and was exceptional at articulating creative ideas and concepts relating to the project. It allowed me to understand and orient towards the themes, feeling and overall context that I wanted to portray. Brett was excellent at the final outcome of the project how would it look and feel as well as keeping us all orientated on the planning and consistency of work needed to finish our projects to a high standard. 

“They are unbelievably student orientated, always accessible for 1 on 1 meetings and genuinely enthusiastic and interested in our ideas for projects. I think it is a great environment to learn and grow as a creative and allows for the students to explore and the proof is in all our final projects.  The standard of film/media were very high, and each project felt unique and stylish to the individual”. 

BA Adventure Filmmaking and BA Digital Media Production Programme Manager Dr Brett Aggersberg said this of Joseph’s project:

“The Welsh Mythology Tarot cards project may not sound like Adventure Filmmaking at first, but the skills involved were directly influenced by outdoor production methods. The BA Adventure Filmmaking degree has a lot of passion for the outdoors including adventurous pursuits, the environment and wildlife. Being based in West Wales our students celebrate the cultural heritage of the country, and language, through a range of creative activities. This project enabled Joseph to follow his passion of working with photographic imaging, the outdoors, creativity, and respecting the heritage of where he lives. We were extremely grateful for the time and expertise provided by staff and industry professionals that helped inform the project’s development. We are delighted for Joseph to be awarded the Tudor Bevan Award for his contribution to the Creative Arts in Wales”.

Joseph highly recommends the course: 

“It is a brilliant course that leaves you very well equipped as a filmmaker/photographer in the outdoors. It covers a broad range of subjects and information that leaves you quite a high competency in broad range of skills from -  outdoor first aid, drone law, camera operation, wildlife photography, outdoor risk assessment - it would be a long list if I were to list it all, but it covers a very broad range of skills that leave you very equipped to be an independent creative able to work in many different settings”.

“We had a client project in which we worked with a lighting company called Nanlite which was very useful to understand how to work and interact with a large business. Using their lights we all created short advertisements of adventurous settings with their Lights. It went very well and they proceeded to post our work on their UK Instagram which felt quite rewarding”. 

Further Information

Eleri Beynon

Head of Corporate Communications and PR  
Corporate Communications and PR  
Email:  e.beynon@uwtsd.ac.uk  
Phone: 07968 249335