BFI Film Academy
I heard about the BFI Film Academy from my Film teacher. The Academy is run over the course of several months. Teenagers and young adults learn about film-making and eventually make a five minute film as a group. The Academy is national but the one in Cambridge is run by the Cambridge Film Consortium.
I emailed my application to the Academy, and was invited to an interview. I received the email below telling me I was successful and was officially part of the BFI Film Academy.
I emailed my application to the Academy, and was invited to an interview. I received the email below telling me I was successful and was officially part of the BFI Film Academy.
Below is a documented we received with all the dates, times, locations, mentors, and activities.
Below is a gallery of me over the course of the Film Academy.
Here is the final film we made. My name can be seen in the credits at the end.
I also did this Academy as part of my Silver Arts Award. The Arts Award is a qualification that helps you develop as an artist in any area. Below is my certificate.
Making this film was such a huge lesson for me; I'd never made a film before so this was a very new challenge. At times, I felt very disheartened because everyone else was more experienced in filmmaking, and it felt like I was very out of place, but I persevered and tried hard to contribute, and in the end I felt that I had learned a lot from others.
I learned all about film-making, such as a the pre-production aspects (script writing, location finding, etc.) which I hadn't thought about before. Before, if you'd asked me what film-making constitutes, I'd have said "shooting the film" and not much more. However, the BFI Film Academy has broadened my horizons and helped me to realise how there are so many other roles!
Even though I worked in a group with 8 other people, most of which were more experienced than me, I still managed to put forward my own ideas. For example, when we were tweaking the script, we realised that our original idea has some logistical issues, which I came up with a solution for, and suggested a slightly different story.
I felt that the Academy genuinely helped me work better as a team. Beforehand, I'd never undertook such a large project as making a film, and I would have thought that I'd be fine at making a short film by myself. However, joining the Academy has made me realise how much I need others to help me in my weaker areas (such as using a camera!) and I should accept others' help.
I learned all about film-making, such as a the pre-production aspects (script writing, location finding, etc.) which I hadn't thought about before. Before, if you'd asked me what film-making constitutes, I'd have said "shooting the film" and not much more. However, the BFI Film Academy has broadened my horizons and helped me to realise how there are so many other roles!
Even though I worked in a group with 8 other people, most of which were more experienced than me, I still managed to put forward my own ideas. For example, when we were tweaking the script, we realised that our original idea has some logistical issues, which I came up with a solution for, and suggested a slightly different story.
I felt that the Academy genuinely helped me work better as a team. Beforehand, I'd never undertook such a large project as making a film, and I would have thought that I'd be fine at making a short film by myself. However, joining the Academy has made me realise how much I need others to help me in my weaker areas (such as using a camera!) and I should accept others' help.