Nick is one of the participants on our fourth BFI Film Academy. Here he shares his experiences so far…
So far my experience on the HOME BFI Film Academy has been absolutely amazing. There are 16 of us in the group and we are getting along great. We’ve all contributed to the story for our fiction film and we’re now at the stage of casting and shooting the film. The skills that I’ve learned from the Academy so far have been invaluable and I just keep learning more and more each session. We are all coming up with great ideas and I hope this will be reflected in a really great short film.
On Wednesday nights we have film history sessions with author and lecturer Maggie Hoffgen, whilst on Saturdays we look at filmmaking using a practical approach with a larger group of freelance filmmakers.
In our film history sessions we have been looking at film from its birth (including filmmakers such as the Lumière Brothers and F. W. Murnau) through to the modern day. This includes looking at the conventions/manifestos that have made film what it is today such as the French New Wave, Dogme 95 and German Expressionism. This has coincided with the practical sessions in which we have looked at different aspects of film production such as composing a scene and working with the camera/sound equipment. We have looked at everything from aperture and ISO to on-set courtesy and working with actors.
I’m so glad that I applied for the course and I would really recommend it to anyone with a passion and love for film and cinema. Make sure that you apply for next year’s HOME BFI Film Academy!