Make a film at Bell House (a 5-day course)

Overview

This is a highly ambitious course and schedule run by professionals, and the hope is that attendees will learn a lot in a week.

The key skills in which each student should gain some experience:

Acting: The differences between acting on stage and acting for camera. Learning to act on camera. The power of the close up.

Story creation: Planning a story in a group. Plotting. Turning points, and characters arcs.

Filming: Directing, planning, set discipline, continuity, camera operation, lighting, sound.

Please note this course requires a minimum of 8 participants to proceed. We will notify you if/when this quota is met the week before. The fee will be refunded should it not be met.

Aim

To provide participants with experience of:

• acting for camera
• writing a short script
• core aspects of film-making
• working in a film-making team

Duration

5 full days (plus a possible evening on the 5^th day, or the 6^th day), commencing Monday 24^th August through Friday 28^th. Students would need to be able to attend all of these days without exception.

There will also be some work required to prep for the next day.

Who it is for?

For anyone (year 10 to year 90!), who already has acted in several roles in school plays or are in a drama group.

Who is running it?

The course will be run by Sven Arnstein with a few guests: an actor, writer, camera assistant and an editor.

Sven has worked in the TV and film industry for most of his life, including directing a TV drama for 5 years. He has run lectures for the BBC and the National Film school, and has ran a similar course the previous summer.

Cost

£350 per head.

Schedule

Students who qualify for the course will have a few tasks to perform prior to the start date

The group will be split into two: A & B. Each will elect a lead-writer whose responsibility will be to collate the ideas of the group and write a short script. The idea is that the number of scenes in each film will be a multiple of the number in each group. So if a group has 5 members there will be 5,10 or (even 15) scenes, and each member will have a chance to direct 1 or 2 scenes.

Day 1, 9am-5pm | Getting to know each other. Acting on camera workshop. Compare and contrast acting on stage to acting on camera. Understanding the medium. Script discussion and plotting.

Day 2, 9am-5pm | Acting on camera workshop continued. Script discussion and plotting.

Day 3, 9am-5pm | Filming workshop. Acting out a few basic scenes and reviewing.

Learning basic film skills: Planning. Story-boarding. Rehearsal. Blocking. Cinematography. Continuity. Filming protocols. Learning key filming roles. Practical exercises in acting and filming.

Story discussion, and finessing.

Day 4, 8am-6pm | Filming Story 1. Group A will film group B. We would switch roles (camera operator, director, etc.) so students enjoy as broad a range of experience as possible.

Key crew roles: Director, 1^st assistant, Continuity, Camera operator, Sound mixer.

Day 5, 8am-6pm | Filming Story 2. Group B will film group A (same parameters as Day 4).

Day 5 evening | We will review our films and discuss what we have learnt. (possibility of Saturday if everyone can make it)

Refunds

Please note, we are unfortunately unable to offer refunds for this event.

Please also note that timings are different according to the day and are as follows:

Mon to Wed 09.00 – 17.00

Thu & Fri 08.00 – 18.00