2.1 Explain the working culture of the film industry

Working in the film industry can be difficult and there are a lot of things to take into consideration. Working hours are often long and you can spend a day filming five minuets of footage, or worse find out that everything filmed from that day has been cut. In many productions travel may be required and the shoot may last for a very long period of time. Budget restrictions and deadlines will affect the film being made and often creative decisions will have to be made in order too achieve what you want. There is a lot of pressure, especially in bigger productions, to perform your role to the best of your ability as all the teams on set are responsible for the finished film in one way or another. Despite all of this working in the film industry can be amazing. Some aspects that are great are the ability to work in a team, meeting people who all bring different skills and personalities too the table. Another is simply the ability to bring a story to life and see all the hard work from a team culminate with a finished project.

There are certain qualities you need to work in the film industry. A couple of examples are professionalism, Communication skills and especially time management skills. Other important qualities are creativity, problem solving skills and dedication to whatever project you are tackling.

From the various masterclasses we have had and from first hand experience I have learnt some very valuable things about working in the Film industry. One of these is that being a freelancer can be difficult and that the amount of work you might get is unknown. I also learnt that it is competitive and you have to have initiative in order to get anywhere in the industry. Finally I learnt of the importance of specialisations and that it is important to distinguish yourself from others who want the same job as you in the industry.

2.2 Describe a range of key job roles and responsibilities in the film industry

This is a diagram that outlines the main sections of a film crew and the roles that comprise them. The roles are primarily split into two sections, those being production and post production roles. Production roles are involved in the on set shooting of the film whereas post production takes place after the film has been shot. Many roles such as the director are involved in both production and post production. Not included in this diagram is pre production job roles which are done before the film is shot.

Director: The Director is responsible for helping coordinate all elements of the crew in order to realise there vision of a scene, and eventually the entire film. Directors have to have a knowledge of all aspects of the crew and communicate with them all in order to realise there vision of the film. They work closely with the writers in adapting the script into a film and deciding how to film each scene. They are a central force in production of the film however they are not free to do what they want and often producers limit there scope in aid of a budget.

Assistant Directors: Assistant directors are a very important role as they are the link between the director and the rest of the crew. There are a number of assistant directors refereed to as AD’s (1st AD, 2nd AD etc) .  A couple of the responsibilities that assistant directors take are determining shoot schedules, breaking down thee script and coordinating the other parts of the crew.

Cinematographer/DOP: Cinematographers, often referred to as directors of photography, are responsible for a large part of the look and visuals of the film. They are in charge of the camera and lighting department and work closely with the director in coordinating these department and bring the look of the film to life. During production the DOP is responsible for setting up the lighting and camera for each scene and often operates the camera themselves too. During the post production the cinematographer will aid in the digital grading and touching up of the footage in order to maintain the quality of the visuals and the vision they have for the look of the film.

Editor: Editors are responsible for cutting together the film. Editors work closely with the directors, piecing together the various takes and ensuring the film has the correct flow. During production Editors will work to create a rough outline of the shot order based on directors notes and best takes from that day. Then in post production, working closely with the director and producer, they will further refine the edit until it is considered complete.

Production Designer: Production designers also play a large part in the visuals of a film. They work with all aspects of the crew concerning the visual side of the film; From sets, to costumes and makeup, prop design, cinematography, visual motifs and themes, production designers have there hands in all the artistic elements of the production.

2.3 Potential progression routes into the film industry and wider sector

This video briefly outlines the potential progression routes into the film and television industry.

Personal progression routes.

In the future i would like to work in the creative industry, Currently I hope to be a concept artist/Illustrator in the films and Video games industry, however I would also like to be a writer and possibly director for Film or television and possibly try my hand at cinematography. I would definitely like to further study Film / creative media but I haven’t decided specifically what I would like to study.

Out of the courses we have been told about I am most interested by the NFTS residential course as it is similar to the BFI Film academy in the sense that you are able to specialise and then work as a team to create a finished film, something that very much appeals to me.

My main options for making content specific to what I want to do in the future are creating an art portfolio and making short independent films.

After this course is finished I plan to join some of the social media networks, specifically The BFI alumni group and the Creative Skills Hub – West group. I hope that in the future these will allow me to find more opportunities to develop my skills and work on projects as well as meet like minded people and develop a personal network of people to go to if I ever need help bringing a project to life.

In terms of other opportunities I am interested in, volunteering as well as being Involved in Film festivals such as Encounters Film Festival in Bristol is something I would be keen to try.

My next steps are deciding what route in the creative media industry I would like to take and then seeking more opportunities to learn more about my chosen field, something I am sure this course will aid in.

Learning from Masterclasses

Varun Raman

Varun is a writer director based in Bristol. Along with his co writer, he writes and directs short films. At university he studied physics and this is where he met his co writer. In there spare time they set up a uni radio show which eventually led them to writing short scripts and then making films on no budget. After that they wrote a script for a short film called “Transitions” which they directed and that ended up featuring in film festivals.

From his masterclass I learnt a lot about script writing in the Film industry. One thing I learnt from him was to remember that Film is and art and a business and that often you will have to hold down multiple jobs as he does. I also learnt the important of distinguishing your writing form others; Being different but familiar with your ideas and making your first five scripts similar in order to distinguish your identity as a writer and what your interest and skills are. Finally I learnt the importance of not being afraid to show people your work, having a thick skin and not to be afraid to just make a film with your friends because you learn a lot from doing it.

The main progression route I learnt from Varuns masterclass was simply that of getting your work out there and defining yourself as a creative.

Louie Blystad.

Louis Blystad is a  Bristol based Cinematographer / Director of photography(DOP). He is responsible for the camera and lighting on whatever project he is working on. He went to film school where he studied a general film and media course however chose to specialise in Cinematography as it was his primary interest and he was into photography when he was younger.

He has worked on a wide range of genres of media from corporate advertisement, commercials, and documentaries too Music videos, TV and feature film.

From his masterclass I learnt the importance of specialising and having something that distinguishes yourself in the industry. More specifically I learnt about the importance of lighting and that it is something I should learn about. Finally I learnt that a good way of learning about cinematography is via you tube and online tutorials and that it is a very good way of starting to learn the basics.

Matt Perry.

Matt Perry is the supervising art director at Ardman studios in Bristol. His job involves lots of different things that make up the art design of the stop motion films made by Ardman. He does technical drawings of sets and props as well as creating mock ups that are then used by the model makers to create the finished models seen in the films. Matt Perry initially studied to be an architect and worked in the industry for a while but he eventually quit and decided to make models for a friends small animation studio. They where eventually hired by Ardman to work on “Chicken run”- 2000 and has worked on the majority of Ardmans films since then.

From his masterclass I learnt some of the difficulties of working in the film industry, specifically in animation and how you need to have perseverance and a thick skin. Animation is a time consuming processes and so is making the models used in it and often weeks are spent making something only for it to be cut out or rejected. I also learnt that you can get into the industry in lots of different ways as there are lots of skills required to create a film.