MDA 3300 - FILM RESEARCH AND CONTEXT

Week 1 -

Given that I usually prefer the practical workshops and seminars, (i.e. Directing, Camera movements, screenwriting) Film Research and Context captivated me quite a bit - I was actually quite content with this first seminar.

We began this seminar doing nothing for the first 15 mins. Why? the whole class was in a different seminar room than where we were meant to be. After Ruben made an effort to find out what was happening, we found out we were in a totally different room, on the above floor. When there, we found several other students and our new lecturer (whose name I've still to remember. :S). Then it really began. We started off by going around the class introducing ourselves to our new lecturer who has only just began working at Middlesex University. Once we were all done, it was her turn to introduce herself to the class. We found out her field of work and if I may say so myself... THIS WOMAN IS A BOSS! 

We learnt that she is a very active lady, from her work as a lecturer, to her organisation of film festival that highlight women in cinema, to her work in the industry as a documentary producer. She explained how she worked mainly in the middle east making quite politically driven documentaries. I was quite impressed. We saw some trailers for some of her films as well as a Channel 4 interview with Sean McAllister(her recent collaborator) who had been detained in Syria. That was quite a surprise to us all, and later heard how she dealt with it all as producer.

She then went on to gives a greater look at what it is like to work in the industry, supported by a presentation. In this presentation she covered several fields, from producing, to networking and marketing ourselves. 

Evidently I was pleased with this session! I was rather pleased to have met our new lecturer, I found that her work in the industry is quite prominent, informative, interesting and thought provoking. As an aspiring fiction film-maker, I am rather fond of war/war-zone documentation, and photography. Were I to do more documentaries, it would definitely be in this field. Not only is it incredibly real but also challenging. 

Definitely a positive! I saw our new lecturer not only as a teacher but as a good link in the industry which is always great thing in film. I'm quite intrigued to see how the rest of this module goes. :D

Week 2

So far I seem to be really enjoying this module, as I have said before I am more interested in the creative side of film but I seem to be valuing other aspects a lot more than I did before. 

This week in our 3300 seminar we learn extensively about film resources and funds. In all honesty I have never really been a person who valued money too much and a lot of the time I have disliked it.

We learn about the different types of, where they may come frond and what the money itself may cost you as a producer/director. 

Different types of money:

• Grants - Money for free (The best thing!)
• Commitions -
• Equity - An investment where the investor gets their money back.
• Tax Credits - 
• Pre sales - Selling film rights before the film is complete. This may be done through sales agents (i.e. distributions)
• In kind - Not necessarily part of the budget but may consist of product placement. Companies may give their products for free to use in the film or by the film-makers. In which case the budget may be lowered by not having to spend money on certain things.

In order to acquire sufficient money needed for the budget, we will need some form of external funding (unless we can afford it all ourselves). It may take a lengthy wait for confirmations and negotiations and a lot of the times the budget will be made up of a combination of several if not all of these types of funding.

Making a film isn't so straight forward as we all know and budget is just another crucial part of the process. Without one there will be no film. In this session we were also advised about how getting money for the budget may affect the film or how it is run. 

What may the money cost you?

• Cutting rights?
• Profit share?
• Time/Paperwork?
• Timeframes?

 Later in the session we got to find out more about funding and how to get is. We were given examples of young film makers we may be able to relate to, learnt how they got money for their projects and how the outcome of that helped them have a a good developing career. 

As I have a said before I'm not too keen on how much much humans love money. However, I am aware of it's importance and how it may be a crucial factor in the production of a film. In all essence its a make or break situation. A good budget could be make the difference of a good production and a bad one.

By understanding how important external funds are, as someone who intends to make "good films", this has really got me thinking about how I present my work and myself as a film-maker. So far on this course I guess I have always taken it seriously but a lot of it has been me trying to find myself creatively - not once thinking about how I were to get funds and supporters of my work. Im not sure why, maybe because I am quite uncomfortable during public speaking and presentations. I don't like all eyes on me so much. Maybe I have just put the scary part aside. Anyway... this has seriously got me thinking about how I can progress in the business and a prominent film-maker. First I must be true to the type of artist I am and secondly I must make people believe in me as an artist but also believe that the work I produce is worth their money.