London Film School, offer full-time MA Degree courses in both Film Making and Screewriting.

Unit 2 - Practice

Non-Fiction and Fiction

THIRD TERM EXERCISE:
A ten minute, 16mm, colour documentary film, with synch sound. Students work in units of five, with each student taking on at least one of the major roles - Producer, Director, Lighting Camera, Camera Operator, Sound Recordist and Editor. Re-recording/mixing of soundtracks is carried out at professional sound studios. Students shoot their own titles on the 16mm rostrum camera. Students are also offered the option of shooting on HD using the Sony EX1 camera. Editing is done on Avid Composer.

The remit of the term is wider than that of the 'classical' documentary, and students are encouraged to think of the expressive functions of images of the real world and their use in new forms.

Britain has a long and rich documentary tradition, going back to Grierson, and kept alive by television. Today this tradition informs feature film making as much as television reportage and current affairs.

The school recruits a 'resident Documentarist' each term who will show their work, consult units on their films and provide support. There is a wide range of classes supporting the non-fiction production: lectures on documentary history, showings of contemporary non-fiction, classes in research techniques, interviewing, music in documentary, recording synch systems, use of synch sound on location, synchronising rushes and editing synch material, practicals on Arriflex SRII 16mm cameras, practical demonstrations of location lighting, a practice shoot with synch sound, lecture/demonstrations and practicals on video camerawork, and practicals on the 16mm rostrum camera. Throughout the term script workshops are developing drama scripts for the later terms.

MATERIALS FOR EACH UNIT OF SIX STUDENTS

Film: Aaton XTR with Zeiss 10/100 or Cooke 9/50 zoom lens; 2,000 ft of 16mm Kodak colour negative; Location lighting kit. HD: Sony EX1 or similar with integral zoom lens; 2 Sony SxS Pro Memory cards (100 min. per card); Location lighting kit; Nagra V recorder; Edit on Avid Media Composer.

Resident Documentarists, Documentary lecturers and panelists include: Helena Appio, Don Boyd, Antonia Caccia, David Glover, Peter Gordon, Mike Grigsby, Ann Hawker, Kevin Hull, Marc Isaacs, John Krish, Patrick Keiller, Victoria Mapplebeck, Hugh Purcell, Witold Starecki, Joram ten Brink, Michael Whyte, Elizabeth Wood.

FOURTH TERM EXERCISE:
A ten-minute, 35mm, black and white sound film, shot in the studio and on location. Units consist of five students, each taking at least one major role. The films are shot with synchronised sound. Recording and laying post-synchronised tracks are also an important part of the exercise. Rerecording/ mixing of soundtracks is carried out at professional sound studios.

In Terms Four and Five the requirements and expectations from students are very high. The London Film School is one of the few schools in the world offering 35mm studio film making as an integral feature of the curriculum. Scripts have been developed, discussed and criticised during the previous term.

Students choose scripts and crews. Student producers are then required to develop a set of production forms detailing all the film’s requirements, and these, together with the scripts are presented to production conferences with all heads of department to initiate the process. Over this and the next term there are an important series of directing workshops, and working with actors is a major component of these.

Other classes include production design, art direction, set building, production management, continuity, studio lighting theory/practicals, studio sound recording, 35mm editing, practicals on Moviecam Superamerica cameras, laying multiple sound tracks, demonstration at external sound studios of ADR techniques, practicals on 35mm rostrum camera and demonstrations and workshops on non-linear editing. Students design, build and dress their own sets, and there are classes and consultation sessions taking them through this. Studio lighting is at the heart of the exercise, and for many students this is the major excitement of the term. By this stage students are expected to manage their lighting in a highly professional way.

MATERIALS FOR EACH UNIT:
35mm Moviecam Superamerica + prime lenses; 2800 feet of Kodak Double X; studio and location lighting equipment; Nagra V digital recorder; edit and tracklay on Avid Media composer.

Top