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Making sound make music

Composer Nathan Johnson bridges sound recording and composing in his approach to film scores. In Brick (2005), directed by his cousin Rian, Nathan used a variety of household implements including …

Meet John Keane

John Keane talks about the process a composer goes through. Music is a very important component of a film, in that it can provide what Mike Figgis calls ‘the essential …

Origins of Echo

In Week 2, we looked at the different origins of film stories. As you have heard, Echo came from the writer, James Walker, observing a particular event and then seeing …

Meet Justine Wright

Justine Wright began editing in commercials, having originally trained as a journalist. Her first documentary was One Day in September (1999), directed by Kevin MacDonald, who she also worked with …

Starting an edit

Justine’s account of how she gets started with an edit demonstrates the importance of the editor to the storytelling process. Editing is often mistakenly seen as a purely technical task, …

Introduction to Butterfly

Corin introduces his epic first film. Butterfly (2003) is our case study short film this week and our first animation. The film took Corin five years to make and was …

Brian Tufano on Trainspotting

Brain Tufano explains one of the most memorable scenes in cinema from Trainspotting (1996). He mentions the art technique trompe l’oeil in which, according to wikipedia: “realistic imagery is used …

Lights

Mike Figgis is well known for his innovations with equipment, particularly on a budget. Here he demonstrates how to make a simple but effective light very cheaply. Sometimes aspiring filmmakers …

Mike Figgis on budgets

Mike Figgis talks through some of the key features of a film’s budget. He discusses: choice of equipment and stock: camera, film, processing number of locations In addition, a filmmaker …

Adapting to budget limitations

Gabriel discusses the impact of budget on production and how working within limitations can often make the film better. He considers how a filmmaker may have to adjust expectations and …

Meet Mike Figgis

Mike Figgis is a filmmaker, photographer and musician. He began directing for the cinema in the 1980s, having worked as a musician and in the theatre. As a filmmaker he …

From stage to screen

Gone Too Far was originally a successful stage play at the Royal Court theatre in London. The writer, Bola Agbaje, adapted her work for a screenplay, before Destiny was offered …

Something to say

For Destiny, as a writer and as a director, the pleasures of making stories on film go hand in hand with a desire to get a message across, particularly in …

Technical challenges of Skyborn

Skyborn uses a lot of what is known as ‘in camera’ effects, in this case- sand animation, fog and miniatures. Viewers often assume that all effects these days are done …