Wednesday 21 August 2013

The Benefit Of Short Student Films

By Essie Craft


For people learning the craft of filmmaking short student films are ideal. This is their chance to learn how to put something together, how to develop their skills and how to transfer those skills. Even if they do not go on to become superstar Hollywood directors there are a lot of benefits to this kind of project.

First of all there are the students themselves. While some may simply study media or film because they love it a lot of them are likely to wish to be involved in the media industry at a future point in their lives. This can be very competitive so any experience they can show to a potential employer can be very handy!

One of the positives with the emergence of video upload sites is that students have more access to videos from classic cinema as well as modern sources. This means that increasingly they are becoming more cineliterate and more open to a variety of influences on their work.

As well as the students making the films other students from other disciplines can also benefit. For example creative writers can show off their ability to create a structured script for a filmmaker to follow. Costume designers, musicians, actors and many more can all benefit from being involved in this kind of project.

In many respects the end result is not hugely important. While it would be great to produce an engaging work that can be exhibited it is more about the process and how they adapt to it. It is also about learning how long the process can take and the importance of checking all the details and ensuring each aspect of the film has been properly thought out.

However if the work is good enough then it is worth showing off. For the students this gives them the chance to show people what they have been working on. For the community it is the chance to give young people the opportunity to show them something positive to do and to show that they can be supported and their skills can be recognised and encouraged.

The benefit of the film does not necessarily have to end with what is captured on camera! Ideally there ought to be some kind of screening either at the college or at a public exhibition. This does not necessarily need to be expensive and with modern projectors it can be quite simple to link up a camera or a computer to a projector and show the finished film to an audience.

As stated before short student films do not necessarily need to be restricted to their course and may want to do their own. This ought to be encouraged as it gives them the chance to independently develop. In conclusion even if you do not find the next Christopher Nolan you could get them on the path to a career in the media.




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