Pupils' Dracula on silver screen

V Positive took the cast and crew two-and-a-half-years to make

Scour the cinema listings or shelves in bookshops at the moment and you'll find them brimming with vampire fables.

North Walsham High pupils have proved they're bang on trend by linking with budding film makers from Romania and Germany to make a movie about Dracula.

The feature-length film is about to be released on DVD after students travelled to Dracula's fictional home of Transylvania to shoot it.

V Positive will be shown at the north Norfolk school on 20 November 2009.

It follows its red carpet premiere on the silver screen at the BBC's Curve studio at The Forum, Norwich, on 2 October 2009.

The event was attended by teachers and students from Romania and Germany as well as James Coulson, head of media studies and international co-ordinator at North Walsham High School, who came up with the ambitious idea and penned the script.

Aiming high

"Our students - we believed in them which I think is the key factor," said James.

"We believed in their abilities and it just shows if you aim high, who knows what you can achieve," he added.

The film took two-and-a-half years to make and was shot in locations across Transylvania and Norfolk and James believes it's the first time such a project has happened.

Some of the students worked their entire school holiday editing the feature, and their efforts are responsible for the name of the film's production company, Kidz Nowadayz.

James said: "The pupils' commitment has been humbling.

"I got tired and fed up of hearing adults talk about 'kids nowadays this' and 'kids nowadays that', so I thought, 'I'll show you what kids nowadays are capable of'.

"Kids have done the lion's share of the work, it wasn't about us doing it all."

Plotline

Dracula looms large over the town that the teachers go to visit

V Positive's plot centres on five young Norfolk teachers who visit Romania, only to find the locals roaming in packs wearing hooded capes.

They soon discover the place is populated by Dracula and vampires. Their trip takes a deadly turn when the teachers become infected by the V Positive virus - those who have escaped being infected have to find a way to get out.

Relationships

The international cast and crew, taken from North Walsham, Mayen in Germany and Zimnicea in Romania, found that making the horror film went beyond gaining practical skills.

Camera operator Andre, from Germany, said: "It was a great thing to come to England, and besides the filming, the idea was to make relationships - that was the important thing."

Although the film didn't have the multi-million pound budget of the current Twilight blockbusters, starring teen idol Robert Pattinson, the project's lynchpin can't quite believe what has been achieved across the miles with a team of 11 to 16-year-olds.

"It was impossible but we did it," said James. "It was a logistical nightmare, not only just getting everyone together in the same place at the same time, but Romania is so far away - it's not like popping over to France.

"Even when we got to Romania we still had a seven-hour journey to get to the place," he added.

The chance to travel to a country with a climate and culture far removed from Britain's has been an eye-opening event for the local pupils.

North Walsham student Hannah, who juggled her camera duties with an on-screen role, said: "Romania was amazing. It was beautiful, it was the middle of winter and absolutely freezing but worth every minute. It was great!"

New film

For some, the idea of doing a similar project again would be too daunting, but James is hoping to release another film, continuing the theme of building relationships between different countries and cultures.

He wants to make a feature about the Olympics with shoots at the emerging Stratford stadium and China, involving both his school's pupils and those from an East End school close to Britain's Olympic centrepiece.

For now though, the North Walsham V Positive premiere is at the top of the agenda, with everyone welcome to attend the screening at the school, raising money for a history trip to Auschwitz.

On the night, two versions of V Positive will be available to buy on DVD - a feature-length version and a double DVD special including extras and out-takes.

The North Walsham High School showing will take place on Friday, 20 November, 2009 at 7pm. Admission is £2.