Dionne South may look familiar to you if you’re a fan of The Gadget Show
She currently presents their online show and is also working as Assistant Producer on the Channel 5 programme. Dionne has also worked on a couple of high profile TV dramas as a Sound Assistant including This Life +10, Saddam’s Tribe, Mistresses (series 1) and Kiss of Death.

Dionne was involved with First Light a number of years ago when she worked with Suited and Booted. She assisted on the making of ‘Punk As’ and ‘The dark at the Top of the stairs’ both of which were nominated for First Light Awards.

Here’s Dionne’s story….

I took part in these projects during my first year of College where I was studying Media Production. At that time I was unsure of which area within the Media Industry to focus a career on. I had always been interested in Film/Television Production, but as the course covered such a wide context, I was unclear.

Taking part in these productions confirmed in my mind that I wanted to learn more about television and film and their processes and in 2002 I started a BA (Hons) Film & Video Production course at The Surrey Institute of Art & Design. The degree was highly practical and I was able to learn many aspects of filmmaking including Directing, Producing, Cinematography, Editing and Sound amongst other areas such as Production Design and Lighting etc. During the degree I chose to specialise in Sound Design, an area I find highly interesting. I was then able to act as Sound Designer on many of the course projects including both elements of recording and editing; a luxury not all roles allow. For example the camera person does not always get to edit their footage and therefore have less creative control later on in the production stages.

I graduated with a 2:1 and sought work experience/employment in the area of sound. I was particularly interested in designing audio for animations and/or video games. I am still in close contact with Suited & Booted and arranging helping them on future projects.

I would like to thank First Light for creating the initiative which allowed me to gain an insight into filmmaking. I think that it gives an excellent opportunity for young individuals to gain knowledge in an area they might not otherwise get a chance to try.