Joe is one of the participants on our second BFI Film Academy. Here he shares his experiences of shooting the group’s short fiction film:
If you said to me earlier this year, “Joe you will be working on a film as part of the BFI Film Academy”, I would have thought you were not just crazy but also really optimistic. I am 17 years of age and I have always wanted to work in film; when I was younger I enjoyed creating stories and telling them. Later in my life I realised I wanted to do this again through the art of film. Initially before the production process I doubted my skills slightly due to other people having more experience, the furthest I got in constructing a film sequence was making a photographic storyboard. However with the vital help from the BFI Film Academy workshop leaders Mark, John and Arturo, I grew confident with using professional camera and sound equipment.
On the location shoot this week I was really excited to get rolling. This was because it was my first time filming a full short film properly and successfully. It has been something that I have always wanted to do and it’s a great story to tell for when I’m older! Working with everyone on set was great because we got the job at hand done whilst having a right laugh along the way. We each took turns in all the different roles on set like directing, camera, sound and using the using clapperboard. I also had the chance to be the shot logger where all the essential data is recorded. Directing an actual scene was enjoyable because I was the one responsible for making the sequence flow. However I most enjoyed using the clapperboard as I found it surprisingly fun to do.
I really admire Matt (our main actor) because he portrays the emotions of his character to perfection. Whilst filming on set, during the very deep emotional scenes, Matt made his performance very believable and I felt empathetic just being on set. I couldn’t have asked for better people to work with, we all worked together well and our passion will definitely shine through in our final product. Working on the BFI Film Academy short film has been brilliant, I have gained more confidence in areas that I didn’t think we possible. The crew were great to work with and I hope to make more films and have more experiences like this in the future.
Read Rob’s story here
Read Steph’s story here