Film School In A Box
Film School in a Box (FSIB) was set up by The Independent Film Trust and the Raindance organisation in order to support disadvantaged, homeless or refugee kids to communicate through filmmaking. Both organisations have been involved with a number of charitable projects, working with community centres and schools.
The course is developed as an ' easy to understand' outline of different areas involved in film production, so the children can conceptualise their stories and ideas, work in small teams and be guided through by mentors to learn key skills, communicate ideas and create a short film.
The advantages of the FSIB are that the courses are delivered by industry professionals, and most importantly have a platform, through the Raindance Film Festival and the Raindance.tv IPTV service, to support the films and ensure that they are seen both by a large public and over time.
FSIB in Practice
One course which worked particularly well was a two-day screenwriting, filmmaking and editing intensive, in conjunction with Royal Holloway, one of the four largest multi-faculty colleges of the University of London, in December 2008.
This involved running a pilot version of the Raindance Film School in a Box programme to provide children with training of various aspects of filmmaking.
The three-day pilot, which involved the college's Outreach Office and Department of Media Arts, was set up with the aim of attracting sustainable funding to establish projects on a permanent basis. In the long term, the organisers plan to deliver FSIB across the country.
The pilot involved three groups of five children, aged 14-16, drawn from the local Magna Carta School and Sandhurst School. Each group was introduced to the concepts of screenwriting, directing and editing and produced a short film. They also learnt about how to market films through the creation of PR material, posters and press releases. Each group was supported by student helpers hired by the Outreach Office.
On the evening of 11 December, the college hosted a reception where the pupils' films were screened and judged by Professor Susanna Capon, Head of Media Arts, and by Elliot Grove, the founder of Raindance Film Festival and the British Independent Film Awards. The reception was also attended by parents and teachers.
The school provided attendees with a unique insight into the world of film, supported by world class facilities, and tuition from award-winning industry professionals, including Elliot Grove and the BAFTA-winning John Roberts, Media Arts Fellow and director of Paulie.
Tanya Popeau, the college's Outreach Officer for the Arts, History and Social Sciences, and Xavier Rashid, a Royal Holloway alumnus working at Raindance and IFT, each spent more than six months organising the event as well as sourcing funding to support the project. It received finance from a number of sources, including the Runnymede Borough Council's Arts Steering Group and entrepreneur Bruno Wang.
"The students thoroughly enjoyed participating in the project," said Tanya. "It was a great opportunity for them to work alongside experts from the industry and gain a valuable university experience". Polled after the event, all the participants expressed a strong interest in the filming sessions and most felt more drawn to going on to study Media Arts at university.
"The pilot was a great success," added IFT chairman Neil McCartney. "Everyone was delighted - the kids, the parents, the teachers and ourselves. We now want to set up similar initiatives on a permanent basis."
