MEDIA students from East Durham College enjoyed a unique location filming opportunity when they took their film-making skills to the only Trident 1C passenger plane left in the world.

The group of 14 students aged 16 to 18, who are all studying for the OCR Cambridge Technical Level 3 Diploma in Media qualification at the Peterlee-based college, were the guests of the North East Land, Sea and Air Museum in Sunderland for the shoot.

Head of department, Amanda Gregory, said: “They are each making a horror film, and working on a green screen was distracting from what was happening later in the film. Having explored different effects, they decided to do it in a real environment.

“This is the only plane of its kind still in existence and the footage was incredible.”

The Trident 1C is the last of its kind ever to fly. The former BA aircraft was moved from Heathrow Airport in to Durham Tees Valley in 1983 when the planes were withdrawn from service. It remained there until the Save the Trident team brought it to the museum by road in 2011, where it has been lovingly restored.

The trip to the museum for shooting is one of a number of location experiences the Peterlee-based students have enjoyed as part of the horror film project.

Course leader, Suzanne Martin, said: “Coming from a media background, we want to make our courses as real and immersive as possible. That involves lots of location shooting, and the opportunity to film on the Trident was amazing.

“It also gives the students the opportunity to network and to develop these skills they’ll need in their future careers.

“I would personally like to thank Tony Jarrett and Dave Matthews from Save the Trident for their kind permission to allow us to film on this wonderful plane.”

The final results will be seen when the horror films – covering every aspect of the genre from monster movies to zombies – are completed as part of the course.

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