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For the first period of my gap year I was lucky enough to participate in a short course at the London Film Academy. These courses are designed for beginners or amateur film makers who may not be studying filmmaking as a degree at university. I am studying Geography at The University of Edinburgh and I have always wanted to keep up my creative side whilst attending to my passion for geography.
The course had greater depth and breadth than I had expected. My teacher on our first day explained to us how we would be learning on both a digital and a film camera. I was lucky enough to be able to work with much older and rarer cameras only used in a small handful of films we see today, one of which was a Super 16mm Film Camera. However, the majority of the course was based around learning how to use an Arri Alexa HD Camera. We worked with broadcast quality digital cameras and I learnt to develop my skills in cinematography and sound. I gained practical and paper-based skills that I will hopefully be able to apply to my own future films. As well as filmmaking, we had in-depth training enabling us to serve as a DOP, camera operator, focus puller and clapper, amongst other things, to help build up our experience.
For me, the opportunity to take part in this course allowed me to have the chance to try directing, cinematography and even film writing. It’s opened up many doors and I was very grateful to have had the chance to take part in such a great course.
Arabella Fane
