Julia is one of the participants on our fourth BFI Film Academy. Here she shares her experiences so far…
Before I came to HOME for the BFI Film Academy I didn’t know much about practical filmmaking or film history, I was a film fan with a passion for art, drama and music and wanted to connect all those crafts in some way. At the beginning, I was quite worried about my lack of experience but soon I found out that the staff and fellow aspiring filmmakers were very helpful, open-minded and not judgemental at all. I also didn’t expect to get to use high-end video and audio equipment and to be taught by such communicative and experienced filmmakers, so I was very positively surprised when I arrived at the first session.
For the last two months we have been working on our own short film during practical filmmaking sessions each Saturday. The film is now finished and it will be premiered at HOME. To achieve the final version of the film we had a lot of specialist sessions on scriptwriting, camerawork, lighting, sound, editing, colour grading and the history of film, which together resulted in a film that I am proud of!
I’ve gained much valuable experience which I will definitely benefit from in the future. During the shoot I had an opportunity to try all the roles that interested me, some of them I was doing for the first time and some I had done in the past. Because we were offered the opportunity to try different roles, we could see which one we liked most and hopefully will decide to pursue as a future career.
After the amazing two months the journey doesn’t end as HOME and the BFI has a lot of offers for the Film Academy alumni. I am going to apply for more workshops and events organised by HOME and the BFI which will let me make important connections within the film industry and allow me to work with other passionate young filmmakers from all across the country. I am very excited for the screening of our final film which is happening very soon and the future workshops – let the journey continue!