Jean-Luc Goddard's famous dictum of: "Cinema is truth 24 times a second", should really be changed to meet this new age of digital film education to: "Cinema is Truth 25p a second".
First let me clarify what I mean by film education in this digital age. I'm not ignoring new media, TV, broadcast, video, media or traditional film, but using film as a catch-all umbrella to describe the industry that we aspire to be educated and trained about.
I could use the lesser term of media education, but I feel the slightly grandiose title of film encompasses the grandness of wanting to work in film and/or TV, whether as a practitioner or as an educated viewer (that's your media studies bit).
So let's look at ways in London and the south-east that you can get yourself a film education. So you've left school, you're looking for a career change, or you're still at school and you want to get into film, where do you start?
When Oscar-winning filmmaker Andrea Arnold wanted to go to film school she first consulted script guru Robert McKee, asking the same question: what should I do? "When I asked him, McKee just said 'No, just make a film'". So she did both and went to the American Film Institute (AFI): " It depends what you want; confidence, contacts, an environment that's practical and hands on where nothing is at stake."
I am concerned with the training available both formal and academically recognized against the myriad of courses propping up this ever-growing industry. Note that the media industries are one of the UK 's biggest cultural exports, which include not only film and TV but music as well - think music videos and commercials.
There are basically three routes you can take, give or take the odd diversion.
One, go to film school or do a film and TV/media/communications/time based media/fine art/photography degree, MA, or even FDA depending on what type of films you want to produce.
Two, get a job in the industry as runner/PA/tape op etc., or sell your first script.
Three, do it yourself. For fewer than £2,000 you can not only buy a broadcast quality mini DV camera but a PC/Mac with editing software to boot.
Last year 50,000 media students graduated in the UK chasing after less than 2,000 jobs, stiff competition at best. A problem recognised by screenwriter and director Zara Waldeback: " In formal institutions, these kind of courses grow in popularity though there are not really more jobs, so it becomes increasingly competitive with not a necessarily better chance of getting a job at the end of it."
There are many good schools in the South East region: Kent Institute of Art and Design in Maidstone, Surrey, Christchurch, Canterbury and Bournemouth, and let's not forget the only pure film school in the region the National Film and Television School based in Beacon's Field.
Here at the National, as its called, all you do is study and make films towards your chosen MA, be it producing, directing, camera, sound, editing, the list goes on. It even includes a one year advanced school for project work.
The National is also in the enviable position of having a short course unit catering to freelancers and professionals who want to top up their skills or acquire new ones. They run mini-courses in everything from directing actors to risk assessment and production management courses. If post production's your aim there's courses in that too, and if they don't do what you want, like all good training organisations they can tailor-make a course to exactly what you do need to learn. Accredited with Skillset, the national skills agency, not only can you build up industry recognized training and qualifications, but you are being taught by your contemporaries.
If you want to specialise in TV technology and new media then head to Ravensbourne in Kent .
It has been my experience in Higher Education that one of several things can happen, students graduate one year then come back the next as lecturers/technicians and begin teaching the new year, even the graduating year. Hardly what I would call a learned and experience practitioner, let alone a qualified teacher. Difficulty is also experienced by the graduating student who previously may have known the student who now has to be marked by them. In Higher Education at the moment, though, a teaching qualification like the rest of formal education is needed. However, under current government legislation it's only desirable and not a legal requirement of employment.
One ex-student graduated in editing only to find work at The Mill as tape operator, a job which was applauded by the staff on the floor as well done, and in asides to each other as the best that he can hope for. He came in one day bleary eyed and exhausted saying: "Of course I can edit but I have no idea about syncing up tapes and logging rushes" - he soon learned.
Or, the academic, as he or she likes to be known, that has been teaching so long that he or she are out of touch with current practice and trends and have no idea what's needed on the shop floor.
Competence of the teacher is important, if you commit three years of your life to a degree, you must want the best tutor available to you. Check, ask questions. Are they a member of NAHEMI (National Association for Higher Education in the Moving Image)? Membership to this body means at least 50% of the course is hands-on practical. There are about 27 members out of the 2,000 or so courses out there with media, film or communication in their title.
I was once party to a conversation where the cinematography tutor told a student to plug up a 13amp light into a 32amp cooker. We tried to suggest that this would be unwise, but were silenced with the cry of scaremongering. In the ensuing subsequent explosion, only the cooker met its untimely end. A scary situation given that you have not only entrusted your learning to these academics but also your safety. Let us not forget film sets are just as dangerous as any other work place. To give credit to the tutor, she had graduated from the National ten years previously, and had since taught lighting rather than lit.
For University College Chichester lecturer and Documentary Filmmaker Roy Hanney: "I would encourage young people to take the opportunity of getting a degree. I would however hope that degree programmes would address industry needs and produce realistic expectations in the students".
I have found that the best practitioners are practising filmmakers themselves, whatever their grade or position. They can bring an excitement, stimulation and up to the minute approach to current trends and shop floor practice and procedures.
"Just being passionate about the medium and having ideas and getting feedback from people on courses and workshops to see what works and what else they'd like - feedback is very important and even at college new modules are sometimes initiated by student feedback," says Zara Waldeback . However, this may make them unable to commit to long-term, day-to-day teaching because of the fact that they have a film to produce, direct, edit, star in etc.
When in doubt, remind yourself it's your future. As Director Andrea Arnold says: "Research the schools to find the one that's right for you". You have a right for it to be bright and be excellent. If they cant answer your questions honestly and openly then go somewhere that can.
A fact I have tried to remedy by undertaking a study in film school practice, by once again becoming a student on these so called short courses - or immersion courses - that entice you in with claims of "make a film in a week/ four weeks/six weeks, only £x", then in brackets: "taught by industry professionals". Tip: anybody working in film and TV is an industry professional.
Or do it yourself and go indie. One of the earliest providers and still one of the best is our own Raindance. Along with them is the New York Film Academy , whose ads grace magazine back pages from Sight and Sound to Total Film and the odd London Bus. Though based in NY they run courses all over America , Europe, and in the UK in London and Cambridge .
The NYFA shoots on both film and tape and does exactly what it says in its advertising, and has built up a formidable reputation. I have received mixed results from students; the intensive courses are best for the newcomer, while the year long courses are for those with an income and the desire to want to work in the industry.
Alternatively, a newcomer can also try the one-week boot camp at Universal Studios in LA, which costs less than £2,000. Think of it as a filming holiday. Though, given the chance, I wouldn't turn down an opportunity to attend the French or LA school for a semester.
Jacqui Wright from Bird's Eye View, a women's collective of filmmakers and creatives, spent a year at the London Film Academy and says, "It was the right thing to do, I needed to turn some film over. You crew your own and other's films, I got what I needed out of it."
This, like most courses available in the UK , is independent so costs money. For those of us on a budget, try looking for Local authority courses, Skillset subsided training, or evening or summer courses run by some film schools/colleges.
These are usually heavily subsided and come with some form of qualification or transferable LOCN (London Open College Network) credits at the end of it or an NVQ depending on the length and the awarding body.
In FE and HE some faculties or universities offer PDUs (Professional Development Units) which are modular courses that you do in your own time to build up towards a full qualification in that field, and accreditation can be by a body like the Business and Technology Education Council.
I went on a screenwriting PDU run by the excellent Alan Denman and in two weeks I had written a short script called Bare Bones. I came out of the course inspired to write, but also knowing how the structures of screenplays worked and for that I can see I am a better writer.
I spoke to Roy Hanney, Senior Lecturer at UCC who is involved in designing film and video PDUs that are about to come online as national standards. "I consulted with professionals working in the industry," says Roy , "some of whom went on to teach the pilot programmes. In fact it has always been my belief that professional practitioners should teach these awards. I also consulted with industry organisations, the New Producers' Alliance consulted on the design of the production award and the Guild of Screenwriters on the screenwriting award, and both of the consultants taught on the first runs of the awards. I also consulted with experienced industry trainers on the development of these modules, people like Harris Watts [author of On Camera and an ex-BBC trainer] who taught the multi-camera module for two years."
Roy believes in process not product, and not " to promote filmmaking or in some way take on the role of a production company for students", and that film students don't have to end up with a graduation film at the end of the day, says Roy: "If they can make films as well all the better but this isn't really a primary need of the industry". T o have practiced and been through the process so that you can produce commercially and/or creatively viable work to be employable in the industry is important.
But what's on offer regionally if you cant go to film school or get yourself up to London , or take six weeks off to learn how to make a film?
Southern Film Education based in Southampton have been up and running for five years and aim to " develop knowledge, understanding, enjoyment of and participation in film education, within both a formal and informal context, throughout the Hampshire region. SFE is committed to delivering high quality learning experiences to a wide range of participants, via a flexible and audience-centred approach, with equality of opportunity an underpinning principle". However, due to current lack of South funding, SFE has temporarily closed its doors.
There are also the local delivery partners who assist Screen South in their task of overseeing film in the south-east. These organisations not only offer a dedicated and experienced team of filmmakers and professionals, but can tell you about an abundance of courses. All run workshops and courses in everything from screenwriting, directing, editing and filmmaking as well as offering access to resources and facilities. To give you a quick recap, there's City Eye in Southampton, Kent Screen in Folkestone, Oxford Film and Video markers in Oxford (who are a case in point: they recently ran a make a short film course but had the foresight to actually have a course outline and employ awarding winning filmmaker Simon Hook to run it), and let's not forget Lighthouse in Brighton.
Speaking of Brighton, it too has it's own film school the aptly titled Brighton Film School based at the Brighton Business Centre. I spent six weeks a couple of summers ago attending the Director's Course. Cramped into a tiny room were a bunch of novices and fledgling filmmakers from around the world, as far away as Mumbai, with cinematographer Avinash Gowariker.
Over the weeks we watched films, talked about films and learned about film production techniques. We met industry professionals, went to Pinewood and had great guest speakers from FX technicians hot off Lord of the Rings to editors and art directors from Bond movies.
The course had its downsides. Too many people, not enough facilities and not enough time to shoot on film, only on video, but for under £800 a real bargain. Franz von Hasburg as senior lecturer did a good job, though I never saw a lesson plan or course outline, and Morris Stevens as resident directing coach was excellent in his encouragement and knowledge.
They have now moved to spacious new facilities and are trying their hand at running a one year directing course. Talking to students, the course as always is finding its feet. As a new film school outside London , it is exciting to see what the future holds for the Brighton Film School , we can only wait and see. For me, as total immersion goes it wasn't a bad experience and I'd do it again, maybe going for the next level up. The thing about these courses is they won't make you a filmmaker overnight. Rather, they give you the tools to become a better filmmaker.
Newcomer on the block is the London Metropolitan Film School in association with the National. The cost is £3,000 for a six week script to screen full-time and shoot on video tape. Wet London or sunny Brighton . Nuff said.
You can find total immersion courses in everything these days from documentary filming to low budget filmmaking, it's an alarming trend emerging that rather than study and learn your craft, two weeks will suffice. Plus with the money involved you could make your own film on some of the fees these companies charge, and still have change left over for a LA break. Just remember to take it for what it is: a movie making experience just like a holiday to Disneyland, Paris .
At the end of the day there are other things to do, and to work in film is a marathon not a 100-metre sprint. As Zara Waldeback explains: "It is energising to be with students who are fresh with good ideas and hear how they feel about the medium and what it means to them. It is fun to teach what you are really passionate about, and satisfying to pass along that which you really know about."
If you really want quality training you have to take it bit by bit, building up on your own skill base, which takes time and costs. One way to get the skills is to work on as many productions as you can. Always practice, practice, practice. Everyone thinks they'll go on a total immersion course to make a movie and come out a director, producer, cameraman, and screenwriter. The more experience you get, the more specialist you become in your field and the more you practice, the better filmmaker you will become, and your ideas will get you noticed. As Alexander Mackendrick, director of the original Ladykillers said: "process over product".
Zara Waldeback " loves going on courses, because it is dedicated time and also because you get to meet other people. I have done a lot of networking at courses and am still in touch with those people which has been very useful over the years". The good thing about these courses are the people you meet, the fantastic contacts that become available to those of you not afraid to ask, and the future collaborations, crew, friends and possible employers that may come from the experience. It's about who you know and the favours you do plus your own creativity, talent and confidence to get you there.
Producer Lucy Main from the NPA knows this only too well after doing a degree at Coventry that she had an inside edge: "I worked freelance on friends' shoots, so when I came out I had three years experience of the industry, which helped fast forward me above other film graduates".
"Passion, persistence and perseverance", are Andrea Arnold's words of advice when talking about filmmaking. "It's the hardest thing you'll do in your life, so really think about why do you want to make films".
Recently I spent four days immersing myself in an actors in collaboration with directors workshop. Run by directing guru Mark Travis and UK based Paradigm Films, it proved to be a wonderful learning experience, and not only that. I came out to make a short film Trippy Triptyline with actress Kerry Finlayson and have another in the pipeline. I'd recommend it to anyone.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there, go on a course and make your movie, and then do it again.
Just
|
