6 September 2024
Writing: The DCGS Year 12 Film Crew & Staff
The National Film and Television School inspires Dr Challoner’s Grammar School Students
A group of 12 students from Dr Challoner’s Grammar School had an amazing opportunity to work with The National Film and Television School, to develop a unique insight into the world behind the scenes, and start to understand all the different aspects and roles involved in film-making. The project started at NFTS with an inspiring tour, which opened the student’s eyes to everything that goes on at NFTS. “Seeing the professional workspaces was fascinating … [full of] … things you would expect to see in Hollywood!
Led by the very talented Solveig (a recent NFTS graduate), she shared her passion for documentary filmmaking and guided the students through the principles and planning stages of their first project. The students loved “... the creative freedom …” they were given, and “... the chance to try things out - no idea is a bad idea!” They then reluctantly left NFTS, feeling inspired and looking forward to the filming at DCGS
Filming was enlightening. Everyone loved the opportunity to work with our expert directors Solveig and Niamh, and to take on different roles throughout the day. They really enjoyed the balance of “... teamwork and leadership skills that filmmaking requires.” The variety of equipment and techniques used was fascinating: from setting up different types of shots, with different lights, cameras, and microphones; to the creative freedom afforded the director in terms of angles, image framing, and story-telling. The students “... gained a whole new understanding of film …”, surprised that “... it takes so long to set up even the shortest shots ...” - time itself is clearly a construct of the imagination in film-making!
A matter of days later, the team were then back at NFTS for editing. Here Solveig enlightened the students on the huge differences in the quality of footage from the different cameras we used for filming, and illustrated the immense power of the editing software - rescuing some shots before their very eyes - “... it’s amazing what editing can do!”
Some hilarity ensued as footage was fine-combed for key moments - there is definitely an option for a blooper reel. After focussed work on the all important “paper edit” the students then moved up to the editing suite in groups to claim their much sought after seat on the “director’s couch” and be wowed by the skills of our magician of an editor, Bettina. A few raw cuts later, the construct of time once more became all too apparent as we reluctantly had to leave NFTS again.
All the students really appreciated this unique opportunity to learn about the whole process of documentary filmmaking, which “... opened the curtain on an industry that is a mystery to most people.” They particularly noted how “... everyone is so passionate [about their roles]” and that it was “... even more fun than I thought it would be.” They have, “... developed a great set of skills that we can take home and build on.” As a result, they will be tweaking their UCAS applications in light of this experience, and we would be very surprised if we didn’t see some of our students working in film in the future!
