L FS

PROSPECTUS 2011-2012
For me, being at the London Film
School in the ‘sixties was a very
special experience, and the
infectious spirit of freedom and
creativity continues today.
Collaboration and individuality
have always been encouraged,
and LFS has maintained an
extraordinary international
reputation by insisting on 35mm,
on location shooting and built sets,
and on down-to-earth, practical
filmmaking. The school continues
to stay abreast of new technology,
and is now entering a period of
consolidation, whilst exciting new
connections are being made.
Our constructive hands-on
approach is there to be developed,
nurtured and celebrated.
Ambitious filmmakers everywhere:
come and take part!

MIKE LEIGH, Chairman LFS

THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

CONTENTS
PROSPECTUS 2011-2012

THE SCHOOL
1 A Tradition of Innovation
3 The LFS in Twelve Words
5 History
6 Studying in London
CURRICULUM
33 MA Filmmaking Curriculum
7 Facilities
38 MA Screenwriting Curriculum

PROGRAMMES 40 LFS Graduates

9 MA Filmmaking
42 Enrolment
11 MA Screenwriting
13 MA Film Curating
14 Professional Development/International

DEPARTMENTS & STUDIES

17 Cinematography
19 Sound
21 Editing
23 Production Design
25 Directing
27 Screenwriting
29 Production
31 Screen Studies

Prospectus design by Mike Leedham, 2D Design

LFS ‘Somersault’ logo design by Chris Allies (after Marey)

The London Film School reserves the right to make changes

in whole or in part to the curriculum at any time without
formal notice.
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

A TRADITION
OF INNOVATION
Since 1956 LFS has been a working studio, in which every student on
the two year Filmmaking programme works on a minimum of six films.
We’re accustomed to delivering in excess of 170 films a year. Around
this work and its associated teaching we maintain an insistence on
creative freedom, a drive toward innovation and a commitment to
craft excellence. Since 2003 we have added two new MA
Programmes: MA Screenwriting and MA Film Curating.
LFS has been selected by Skillset, the UK
government agency for audio-visual
industrial filmmaking will allow graduates the freedom to innovate,
find employment and help invent the cinema and television of the
future. Many graduates are directors, and the majority of students
come to the school expecting that they will direct. What is important is
that they will have other skills. We frequently use the term “filmmaker”,
meaning a person for whom a proper command of this collaborative
craft is of vital importance. In the MA Screenwriting at LFS, we want
students to see writing in the context of real filmmaking, rather than as
an abstract end in itself. In the MA Film
Curating, we want Curators to grasp

‘
training, as one of three ‘Film Academies’.
This recognises the school as an industry-
level graduate school in Britain offering
professional film training, and the only one
Knowing how a process works liberates filmmaking as a complete process rather
the imagination. Progress in than position themselves as service
filmmaking is inconceivable to me providers at one end.
without a formal education in cinema -

’
in that scheme with an all-department for me it was two years at LFS. We’re not called a ‘film and television’
Filmmaking programme. The support has Michael Mann school because we believe that the craft
made it possible for LFS to offer two-year LFS graduate 1967 skills and modes of expression
bursaries for some UK qualifying students, Dir: Miami Vice, Heat, The Insider encompassed by ‘film’ provide the base
and to develop our teaching and our links from which to take on the special creative
to the film industry, supporting graduates demands of other media from television
as they make their first steps in building a network. and advertising to streaming web video. Rather than second-guess the
audio-visual business and its markets, we want to instil the creative
LFS offers courses for students with certain aims: reaching genuinely flexibility to contribute in every area.
A PORTRAIT OF YOU, Term 2 exercise, directed by Pierre-Alain Giraud

professional standards; learning to collaborate creatively – from fellow

students as much as from lecturers – and to think about cinema
practically; getting the habit of interrogating their assumptions
rigorously and then taking their instincts seriously. The students we
want are resilient, collaborative, imaginative people who learn
through doing (and sometimes failing), people who will have the
courage and energy to develop their ideas to the limit. The MA
Filmmaking is staffed by people who believe that pre-specialization
(deciding before you study film to be a director, or a cinematographer,
or a sound recordist – now very common in film schools) can deprive
talented students of a full education in the craft of filmmaking. We
encourage them to explore and develop their special strengths while
they’re here. We also believe that understanding the structures of
THE SCHOOL
There’s a fine balance between technical training, the ‘boot camp’ in
which students gain key skills through making films, or writing
exercises, and the area of creative development, the ‘hothouse’ in
which they try and make them extraordinary. The starting-points at LFS
are to learn through the work, and to remain sceptical about whether
filmmaking’s creative challenges can be taught in conventional ways.
We aim to provide a fertile environment for hard work, exploration
and creative dialogue. In this prospectus you’ll find course work
referred to as ‘the exercises’. Turning them into ‘films’, ‘scripts’ and
‘events’ is our challenge to you.
BEN GIBSON, Director
1
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 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL
LFS IN TWELVE WORDS
GLOBAL
The world’s international graduate film conservatoire. Seventy percent
of students are from outside the UK, from more than sixty countries. A
diverse range of cultures and film traditions makes for a creative
hothouse. This global network, once built, lasts a professional lifetime.
INCLUSIVE
On the MA Filmmaking, five film exercises paid for including stock and
equipment, plus £3500 cash returned for the graduation film –
incorporated into your fees. Most schools quote only tuition costs, with
filmmaking budgets a vague extra. Plus no high and low budget film
exercises – at LFS you work within the budget you’re given.
VALUE
LFS is a not-for-profit educational trust committed to spending its
money only on your education. UK qualifying students can apply for
Skillset bursaries. A unique constitution – you become a voting
member of the Association.
PRACTICAL
There are five exercise films and a graduation work in the MA
Filmmaking programme, with at least three on 16mm and two on
35mm, plus 24P digital workshops. One film is prepared, shot,
delivered and screened in every 12 weeks of your work. There’s the
opportunity to offer scripts for production and to work on scripts in
pre-production for MA Screenwriters.
COMPREHENSIVE
The MA Filmmaking includes two years of training in Directing, Lighting,
Operating, Editing, Sound, Production Design, Screenwriting and
Production. Choose your specialisation at the end of the course, and for
writer-directors, earn a living by crewing while developing projects.
NO STAR, Graduation film, directed by Christian Neuman
ATTENTIVE
140 students, 22 full time faculty, scores of visiting lecturers – more
student-lecturer ‘face time’ than any other graduate film school.
PROVEN
Thousands of high profile alumni over 50 years of operation include
Michael Mann, Mike Leigh, Tak Fujimoto, Franc Roddam, Don Boyd,
Mark Goldblatt, Bill Douglas, Les Blair, Ho Yim, Anne Hui, Joao Cesar
Monteiro, Arnold Wesker, Duncan Jones and Danny Huston.
THE SCHOOL
VISIBLE
Our library gets your work around the world. In 2009 LFS films played
at 125 festivals and took 22 prizes, 5 of them ‘firsts’. Three LFS
graduates have been taken on the Cannes Residence programme since
2007. In 2010, 25 known features by recent graduates in global
distribution winning festival prizes including Michael Powel Award,
Edinburgh and top 3 prizes at Durban.
CONNECTED
LFS is two minutes walk from Soho, centre of the European entertainment
industry. A rare opportunity to study in central London. Key figures of the
UK and European industries pass through very often. The school provides
mentors and career development support after graduation.
RECOGNISED
One of three recognised UK graduate schools in the UK Skillset Film
Academy Network. MA degrees recognised throughout the world, and
validated by the London Metropolitan University and Birkbeck University
of London. Graduates become ALFS, or Associates of the London Film
School.
PROFESSIONAL
Students are taught by working UK filmmakers. Exercise films are made
on built sets, shot with 16mm Aaton or 35mm SuperAmerica or Panaflex
Gold cameras, recorded on Nagra V, edited on Avid Composer and
given a professional dub in Soho.
INNOVATIVE
A school that works with the film industry, understands the market and
employability – and also takes your ambitions and your originality very
seriously. We want you to reinvent film form rather than copy what
already exists. Programmes include 120 half day Film History/Film Style
screening and analysis sessions. A Screenwriting degree in which every
student has a mentor in the business. The world’s first MA qualification
in Film Curating.
3
4
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

HISTORY
In 1956 the Principal of the Heatherley School of Fine Art, Gilmore
Roberts, set up a short course in filmmaking, but before the applicants
could enrol, found that his school had been sold from under him. He
decided to continue the course independently, but could hardly have
imagined that fifty years later a thriving, multinational school, descended
from his embryonic idea, would be working in a converted warehouse in
Covent Garden, London.
After precarious early days, the School
settled in Brixton as the ‘London School of
school has been since the mid 1960s, maintains a similarly dramatic and
individual character.
In 1974 the school was re-named as LIFS, the London International Film
School. The LIFS constitution, which remains in force, is very unusual. The
School is a registered charity, a non-profitmaking company, limited by
guarantee. All students become members of the Association, and,
together with the other members, elect a Board of Governors on which
they have representation. The Board of
Governors has the overall responsibility for

‘
Film Technique’. It was set up around the My own personal progression as a film the management of the School. The current
belief that the future health of filmmaking in maker has developed at an amazing Chairman is the internationally renowned
Britain could be promoted by properly pace- due largely to intense tutorials director and LFS graduate Mike Leigh. The
designed formal training for people school has always been completely
with staff- who have challenged and
entering the industry, then run on a independent, and remains so following the
provoked me and given me confidence
traditional apprenticeship basis. Since there validation of its courses by London
was little sign of any official action to carry
and advice. I am proud to have been Metropolitan University.
out these plans, a group of enthusiasts part of a very strong, visionary and

’
decided to take the classic British way and passionately energetic institution. 50th anniversary celebrations included a major
constitute such a school. Verity Healey retrospective at the National Film Theatre,
MA Filmmaking graduate 2008 debate events, international presentations,
The approach to the old school, through a alumni masterclasses and a charity
gaunt passage and up winding brick stairs premiere of Michael Mann‘s’Miami Vice‘.
to a handful of rooms over shops in Electric Avenue, Brixton, was likened
by an intrepid visitor to a set from “The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari”. In A web “time tunnel” has been created with photographs, documents and
the early 1960s the school moved to premises in Charlotte Street in the video clips at www.lfs.org.uk/50th/
West End. The 18th century warehouse in Covent Garden, in which the
With thanks to Phil Mottram, former
Administrator, lecturer and unofficial
B-MOVIE STATUS, 1995, dir. G. Siougas Prod. Dejan Savic

LIFS historian.
Michael Mann (r) with Gavin MacFadyan
Camera Lecture at LSFT circa 1959

in LSFT Coffee Bar, 1962

THE SCHOOL 5
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

STUDYING IN LONDON
In any given week through the year there are probably more films
showing for London’s seven million inhabitants than in any other capital
city. The school is situated in the centre, in Covent Garden, within walking
distance of West End cinemas and theatres, the Royal Opera House, the
National Gallery, the British Museum, the British Film Institute Library, the
BFI Southbank, the Tate Modern and, even closer, Wardour Street in
Soho, nerve centre of the British Film Industry.

Both the MA Filmmaking and MA Screenwriting courses are validated by

the London Metropolitan University. Students are issued with an LMU
Student ID Card, which enables you to use some of their facilities,
including Sports and Leisure, IT and Computer studio, libraries and their
‘Walk in’ counselling service.

Central London offers LFS students access to many informal film and
media groups, events and opportunities, and the school often hosts
events in collaboration with like-minded film organisations. All LFS
students are members of International Students House (ISH) and can take
advantage of the facilities and events they offer. Facilities include a
Fitness Centre, Welfare and Advice Service, Internet Café, Bars and
Restaurant. Social events run throughout each term and include cultural
evenings, lectures and debates, parties and subsidised travel trips in the
UK and overseas.

Sixth Term students participate in a mentoring scheme with ‘honorary

executive producers’ drawn from the London independent film
community, and there are many other occasions earlier in the course to
benefit from the richness of the local film culture. Of course London also
offers the thousands of locations, people and stories that feature in
screenplays and documentary treatments for the school’s film exercises.
URBAN REBELS UNITE Graduation film,
Dir. David De La Garza

6 THE SCHOOL
THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

FACILITIES
The London Film School building was previously a warehouse, and has
a rough workshop atmosphere which can be exciting, but is not
academic and certainly not luxurious. We offer guided tours around the
school on Thursday afternoons throughout the term, including a chance
to look at some student films. Facilities at the LFS include:
Sound
Production sound is recorded on Nagra V digital hard drive recorders.
There is a full range of modern microphones, including Micron radio
mics and stereo mics. Also Protools 24 work stations for preparation of
sound tracks for Dolby SR mixes. Commentary and foley recording area.

Studios Production Office

Two studios equipped with lighting rigs are available for the 35mm exercises,
as well as a rehearsal studio, used also for drama and script workshops.
Cinemas
Projection facilities are available in two cinemas. 35 mm projection
includes magnetic sound and Dolby Stereo
SR analogue sound. 2K digital video
There is a production office with computers, fax, telephone and internet access.
Extranet
Using the Extranet students are able to view, download and print technical
manuals, syllabuses, course descriptions, forms, legal agreements, school
regulations and other documents. The school
is WiFi enabled.

projection accepts most formats.
Camera Department
Equipment includes 8 Aatons with prime or
zoom lenses for the 1st year 16mm exercises
and 35mm cameras for the 2nd year,
including Panavision Gold and 2 MovieCam
Super America, geared heads and Fisher
dollies. There are also Super 16 cameras
available for graduation films. Digital
formats range from DVCam
‘
Given the prestige of the film school you
expect great staff, a support network of
professionals and guest lecturers – and
you get that - but the unexpected bonus
is the range and diversity and quality of
the students themselves. You just plunge
in and find your creative edge. I can’t
imagine there is anywhere better to
for
Library
The School Library keeps and documents LFS
productions, producing DVD copies and
digital masters. LFS shows work at over 150
film festivals around the world each year, and
supports sales of films to broadcasters and
distributors. The library also holds an
extensive collection of films for loan, plus a
small collection of core books. By
arrangement with the British Film Institute,

’
documentary exercises and research, HD discover yourself creatively. students have access to the BFI Reference
cameras hired in as required for the 3rd Guy Lodge Library, which is within ten minutes walk.
term, and training on RED1 and 24P in the MA Screenwriting 2006 graduate
6th term. Lighting Equipment ranges from Coffee Bar
the standard tungsten Openface, Fresnel The school has a privately-run coffee bar on
and HMI lamps to Kinoflo’s, dedo kits and the ground floor.
lite pads. Incident and spot light meters are available.
Long Acre Building
Photography Our annexe building offers additional facilities for the MA Programmes and
A stills wet photography darkroom and the Kodak Look Manager system Workshops. AV facilities include an Electric drop-down screen (203cm x
are equipped for student use. Personal 35mm and digital still cameras 152.4cm), an Epson EB-W8 projector with WXGA (1280 x 800 resolution),
are highly recommended. Blu-ray DVD player, and Yamaha Amplifier and JBL Speakers (Stereo).

Design Studio Clubs and Societies

There is a fully equipped design studio with drawing boards, model
making facilities, visual reference library and materials library and
design computer suite.
Editing
The School has 24 non-linear editing systems. There are 8 MacPro Avid
Media Composer suites, 14 iMac intel systems, running Avid Media
Composer and Final Cut Pro, and on-line Avid Symphony. There is also one
fully equipped 35mm analogue editing room and one16mm Steenbeck.
The Students Union is affiliated with the NUS and LFS students are
entitled to NUS Extra cards, offering a range of benefits. Our clubs and
societies include the LFS Film Society and an LFS football team, which
arranges matches against other film schools. LFS Students are admitted
free to many of the film programmes at the BFI Southbank. LFS is a full
member of CILECT, (Centre International de Liaison des Ecoles de
Cinéma et de Télévision), the international confederation of film schools
and NAHEMI (National Association for Higher Education in the Moving
Image), the national association for British film schools.

THE SCHOOL 7
8
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL
MA FILMMAKING
An Introduction to the MA Filmmaking course.
The LFS MA Filmmaking Course is an intense two year programme in
which the full range of film-making skills are taught at appropriate
professional levels.
Learning is based around short films. Each term these film exercises
become more technically sophisticated, more considered and more
complex in their ambitions. The School specifies the skill base for each
exercise, provides the equipment and trains the students up to the new
levels in each of the various craft skills. Students take all the aesthetic
decisions, solving problems similar to those faced by professional units,
Assistant on BLUE COLLARS AND BUTTERCUPS, Graduation Film Production Dir: Janis Pugh Producer: James Youngs
on a steeply increasing slope of difficulty. Their work is constantly
assessed and criticised. Students themselves are required to reflect on
and assess their own learning in Work and Research Journals.
This is the centre of the LFS method. Students learn best by applying
themselves to aesthetic and practical problems generated by the actual
process of filmmaking. This way new skills become meaningful and
integrated into an increasing repertoire. Against a background of
practice, lectures and classes become vivid and full of recognisable
content.
This is why we push through so many productions, and why students have
more opportunities to work on films than they can realistically take up.
All students learn all the important film-making skills, and must practise
them in a working unit. There is no film career which is not greatly
enriched by an active practical knowledge of the other specialisations.
This makes an LFS graduate stand out from colleagues with a single
specialisation, at any level. On the one hand, students with a primarily
technical bent find insights into their work through an understanding of
the more interpretive practices, and very often find an unexpected
potential and self-confidence as writers or directors. On the other hand,
producers’, writers’ and directors’ range and sense of the possibilities of
their art is immeasurably increased by a serious technical competence.
term production
Students’ creative abilities are mobilised and developed by multiple
- Camera
approaches:
set of a first
Aboulafia
They are taught to look at film history, and a great range of
contemporary and classic work, in varying critical contexts, but most
On the
importantly as the outcome of practical strategies that they can use for
Romi
PROGRAMMES
framing, criticising and developing their own take on screen storytelling.
MA FILMMAKING
They develop their own work, and then get the opportunity to test it out
freely with colleagues, teachers and professional practitioners in
workshops designed to connect ideas and outcomes and in which their
work is criticised without applying any further restriction than their own
growing judgement and consciousness of effect and context.
In the film exercises students shoot their own scripts, directed in their own
way. The content of all films is fully discussed and criticised, but ultimately
the students have complete freedom of expression. This is an opportunity
to exercise their creative abilities, for them to see their ideas brought to
life, with professional actors, on film, and under production conditions
appropriate to the developing skills of the crew, culminating in the 35mm
studio film of the standard industry production.
The film exercises are programmed by the School, and are tightly
scheduled, requiring the students to learn to work under time discipline.
Crews are compact, and consequently there is always need for assistants
from the lower terms. Up to sixty films are made each term, which means
that whenever students are not busy with their own projects, their services
are in demand on many others. This creates a constant sense of
excitement, a constant presence of film-making, which becomes the
atmosphere and life of the School, a tremendous motivating force.
Students are continually learning from each other and from the immense
range of practical and aesthetic problems the different films offer. This
process continues all day, often through the evening, and flows between
the sets and locations, the viewing theatres, editing suites, the coffee bar
and back again, all term.
ALAN BERNSTEIN, Head of Studies
For curriculum see page 33
For enrolment see page 42
9
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 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

MA SCREENWRITING

An Introduction to our MA Screenwriting course
“The screenplay is not the last stage of a literary journey. It is the first can define their interests and particular talent. This is a course that is
stage of a film and the only way to become a professional screenwriter is
to get in contact with a group of people who make films.”
Jean-Claude Carriere (Belle du Jour; Danton)
The LFS MA Screenwriting course is an
intense one-year programme with the
MA SCREENWRITING
The MA Screenwriting programme provides a year of critical and creative
development, a network of future contacts and a space where a writer
more interested in content over structure, individual development over
the imposition of a universal model or set of rules. At LFS we believe that
the study and practice of screenwriting requires an understanding of the
technical aspects of filmmaking and of different approaches to narrative
as well as the working methods and practice
of professional screenwriters as members of

‘
emphasis on developing the writer’s
original voice through small group and
one-to-one mentoring from industry
professionals. LFS aims to encourage
LFS is a vibrant, hands-on film-making a creative team.
environment, producing 160 films a
We are looking for writers who are excited
year. Where better to learn about the about writing for the screen, who have a

writing as a continuous practice, to
stimulate reflective and critical approaches
and to provide a specific historical
background to film narrative, genres, and
dramaturgy.
’
practical craft of screenwriting? background in writing for other mediums,
Mike Leigh directors who are seeking to write their own
LFS Chairman and 1963 graduate feature script and writers who wish to
Dir: Happy-Go-Lucky, Vera Drake, establish long-term mentoring relationships
Secrets and Lies with development professionals.

The course is aimed at developing Course Philosophy

screenwriting skills in the context of a
filmmaking community where writing is an everyday practice and a
collaborative process, involving actors, directors, musicians, editors and
producers. At LFS we explore the boundaries between writing and
directing and stimulate debate through classes in film history, cross-
cultural approaches to dramaturgy and script readings with professional
actors. Regular screenings of classic and contemporary films in our own
SHIRLEY ADAMS Graduation feature. Dir. Oliver Hermanus (MA Filmmaking),
•To encourage writing as a state of mind and everyday practice
•To stimulate a reflective and critical approach to practice
•To provide an historical background to film narrative
•To place the screenplay in the context of a collaborative
filmmaking process
•To explore the boundaries between writing, directing and

film theatre and visits by contemporary filmmakers complement the core
practical work of developing a feature screenplay.
written by MA Screenwriting graduate Stavros Pamballis
producing
•To stimulate alternative approaches to screenwriting through
awareness of different dramaturgical traditions
•To take on writers who wish to develop a long-term mentoring
relationship with working professionals

•To focus on the writers individual development above issues of

structure and dramaturgy
•To create a context where the writer works with others involved
in the filmmaking community - directors, actors, musicians,
producers.
PAWEL PAWLIKOWSKI lecturing to
MA Screenwriting studentss

BRIAN DUNNIGAN, Head of Screenwriting

For curriculum see page 38

For enrolment see page 42

PROGRAMMES 11
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

HEADING
HEADING
Subheading
The School offers

Subheading
The School offers one course only – the two year, full-time Diploma
Course in the Art and technique of Film Making. There are no short
courses, summer schools or part-time studies. The curriculum is not
organised on a modular basis, so it is not possible to take only part of
the course. There is no credit system for previous qualifications.

12
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL
MA FILM CURATING
The MA in Film Curating was offered for the first time in 2010-2011 as
a collaboration between the London Consortium (University of London)
and the London Film School. It offers both an academic course with a
strong element of cultural theory and film history, and a practical
introduction to the skills, processes and problems of film curating.
The course brings together recent thinking about curating contemporary
art with the constantly evolving world of film, film festivals and the movie
business, and aims to provide an understanding of the role of film
curating in an age in which digital distribution technologies are
transforming both the traditional notion of curating and the commercial
film distribution sector. Students gain practical experience in curating,
within the context of existing film festivals such as Cannes and
Rotterdam, both of which are visited, and through the practical curation
of a film or film-related event.
The institutional partnerships of the London Consortium (in particular the
involvement of the Tate, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and the
Science Museum) make it an ideal context for students who already
occupy curatorial positions, or who wish to have careers in this area. This
new collaboration with the London Consortium addresses the need for a
specific training in film curating.
It also recognises that, as traditional methods of film distribution are
replaced by those mandated by digital technology, film programming is
likely to become a far more sophisticated and intellectually challenging
activity than it has been in the past.
The MA Film Curating seeks to make students aware of such changes
and to develop skills backed up by a fund of knowledge that will enable
ALAMAR Feature of MA Filmmaking graduate Pedro González-Rubio
them to operate effectively in either sector. Students follow two core
courses provided by the London Film School (Film History, Director
PROGRAMMES
Strategies) and two from London Consortium (Research Skills and
MA CURATING
Methods and Curating Theory and Practice). In addition, they are
introduced to the development of industrial models of film distribution
and modern festival programming through a two-term core course on
Production/Distribution/Exhibition.
The climax of the course is an actual event which each student prepares,
markets, mounts and reports back on – in a word, curates – in an
appropriate London venue: an initiative which aims to take the LFS’s
contribution to the capital’s film culture into new and exciting areas.
Visiting lecturers and experts have included Thierry Frémaux, Délégué
Général of the Festival de Cannes; Rutger Wolfson and Gerwin Tamsma,
director and programmer at the Rotterdam Film Festival; Christoph
Terhechte of the Berlin Forum; Sandra Hebron, director, BFI London Film
Festival; Louisa Dent, managing director of Artificial Eye Film Company;
Nigel Algar, Senior Curator, Fiction, BFI National Archive; publicist
Charles McDonald, producer Christopher Sheppard of Adventure
Pictures; and, film directors Sir Alan Parker and Robin Hessman
The course is run by veteran film journalist Nick Roddick, former editor
of Screen International and regular contributor to Sight & Sound (under
the ‘Mr Busy’ byline). Roddick has chaired panels on festival
programming philosophies at the Cannes Film Festival and South by
SouthWest in Austin, Texas and will continue to explore the changing face
of film festivals and film distribution at upcoming events.
13
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT/
INTERNATIONAL
The daily life of the LFS revolves around the intensity of the MA teaching Margaret Glover, Mark Solomon, Mia Bays, Nina Kellgern, Paul Cronin,
and the making of over 150 films (and 12 to 20 feature scripts) every Richard Kwietniowski, Roger Hyams, Ron McCullagh, Sean McCann,
year. Increasingly that work is enriched by new strands aimed at Simon Lambros, Steve Haynes, Stephen Deutsch, Teresa Grimsditch and
students and many others: UK-based film professionals, international Thomas Mai.
partners, practitioners of other forms, passionate enthusiasts for
independent film. We are continuously developing workshops and announcing new dates for
existing courses. A list of the courses that are currently available can be
found at www.lfs.org.uk/courses/workshops.
LFS WORKSHOPS
LFS now delivers many evening, weekend

‘
and short CPD (“continuing professional It was a brilliant week. I started out with HOTHOUSE
development”) courses, both intensive hands- trepidation, but felt supported enough to Hothouse is a new way of developing
on craft workshops and detailed and let go of my self-consciousness and signature UK films for world-wide audiences.
inspirational seminar teaching. LFS The initiative, aimed at the whole creative
Workshops are inspired, painstakingly
really play with the ideas the workshop
community, is built on The London Film
developed and delivered by current tutor was offering. It was a safe School ethos and organisational context.
practitioners, based on professional environment in which we were allowed Although one of its key methods is to build a
experience and standards to stretch ourselves into unknown creative community of filmmakers for peer-
territories; take risks, fail, succeed, to-peer support, Hothouse isn’t a course, a
Previous workshop tutors have included: development scheme or a writing workshop,
Adam Megiddo, Adrian Smith, Aly Yeganeh,
whatever in the pursuit of gathering up
but a professional atelier. Working from idea
Annabelle Pangborn, Ben Gibson, Beth these tools to push our own work into through structuring and revising, scheduling
Multer, Brian Dunnigan, Colin Pons, David new and exciting directions. and budgeting, to packaging options,
McHenry, Ellis Freeman, Emma Dobinson, Lou Hamilton, participants emerge with workable projects
Erin Cramer, Gustavo Costantini, Harvey ‘Improvisation for Directors’ tied to realistic finance plans.
Frost, Hope Dickson-Leach, Ian Neil, Jan For more information contact
workshop participant, July 2009.
Spoczynski, Joel Cahen, Josh Appignanesi, hothouse.info@lfs.org.uk.
Larry Sider, Laurence Coriat, Lesley Oakley,
Improvisation for Directors and Screenwriters

Drawing Board to Screen: Production Design

Drawing Board to Screen: Production Design

and Technical Drawing

and Technical Drawing

14
 HOTHOUSE

Q&A@LFS filmmaking, focusing on low-budget feature development. The European

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Q&A@LFS is a termly season of screenings and conversations with leading Film Schools Network is another MEDIA-funded partnership between LFS
and emerging filmmakers. These nights help feed contemporary debates and La Fémis and will go online with www.cineuropa.org, creating a kind
and new work into full time teaching. Perhaps even more importantly, the of one-stop-shop for European Film Schools. An ongoing relationship with
series’ over-subscribed mailing list brings the industry, short course people, the European Commission Representation in the UK has produced annual
independent filmmakers, London-based film films (Voyages 2008, Fall of the Wall 2009,
and other students and academics into the Exotic Europe 2010) and, in an ambitious

school’s space and into the culture every
week. Recent speakers have included BARRY
ACKROYD, CATHERINE BREILLAT, JOHN DE
BORMAN, BRUNO DUMONT, MIKE FIGGIS,
PAUL GREENGRASS, TONY GRISONI, ASIF
KAPADIA, HANIF KUREISHI, SEAMUS
MCGARVEY, ROGER MICHELL, SAMANTHA
MORTON, NICOLAS ROEG, TESSA ROSS,
IMELDA STAUNTON and PETER
SUSCHITSKY.
INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
LFS has numerous international partnerships
including the annual EU MEDIA funded
‘LOW BUDGET FILM FORUM’ (London
2008, Budapest 2009, Les Arcs European
Film Festival 2010, Copenhagen 2011) in
partnership with La Femis, the Budapest
‘
The course was informative,
contemporary and exposed me to much
more of the food chain than I have
access to in my current role
‘Sales, Marketing
and Distribution’ workshop
participant.
The teaching was dynamic and tailored
to the needs and progress of the group.
It was great to be taught by an
experienced professional working
in the industry
‘Production Design and Technical
Drawing’ workshop participant.
partnership with the Georgian National Film
Centre, LFS is creating SILK ROAD, a 3-week
long workshop series in Tbilisi through the
MEDIA MUNDUS programme.
SPEAKEASY
Speakeasy is an invitation-only screening,
dinner and discussion forum hosted monthly
at LFS. Its overall purpose is to renew and
inspire critical, ambitious film thought,
discussion and practice. Speakeasy brings
together luminaries and troublemakers from

Academy of Film and Drama and the Danish National Film School, The
Forum is designed to create a multi-national conversation about
’ the British and international film worlds,
including directors, producers, distributors,
and teachers, as well as selected writers,
artists and thinkers, LFS students and recent
graduates.
A Practical Introduction to Location Sound:
Demystifying the HD Camera

Recording and Mixing

PROGRAMMES 15
THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cinematography is the process of capturing a vision on film. As both an cinematographers and a new residency scheme, bringing working

MA FILMMAKING
art and a craft, it is a dynamic process that involves the composition of professionals into even closer engagement with the day–to-day teaching
light, shadow, time and movement. at the school.

For the cinematographer this requires a synthesis of technical skills and
creative sensibility. In terms of craft, at LFS we teach photographic theory,
concepts and techniques in lighting relevant to each term of the MA
Filmmaking programme. We teach the practical use of our film cameras;
these include Arri SRs, Aaton XTRs and Moviecam Super Americas. We
are also privileged to have on permanent
loan a Gold Panaflex from Panavision. We
LFS has an extraordinary record of camera teaching since 1956 and its
Cinematography graduates include Roger Pratt, Tak Fujimoto, Howard
Atherton, Terry Bedford, Curtis Clark, Bahram Manocheri, David Scott,
Ivan Strasburg, Gale Tattersall and Ian Wilson.
The Head of Camera is Harriet Cox.
Harriet joined the film industry in 1982 and

‘
run 2 inhouse studios for the 35mm shoots
and lighting classes. These are equipped
with lighting rigs, studio dollies and fresnals
and HMI lamps.
We combine these skills with the working
ethos of a professional crew, and from this
platform we encourage cinematography as
a creative means of visual story telling.
During their time at the school, those
students interested in becoming
cinematographers will find many
opportunities to explore, experiment and
develop their own cinematographic
The programme at LFS works for people worked on a wide range of features,
from all over the world because it can be commercials, promos and documentaries.
adapted to all conditions; professional Her feature credits include operating on the
Terence D a v i e s f e a t u r e s D i s t a n t
actors or non actors, different sized
V o i c e s , S t i l l L i v e s and T h e L o n g D a y
crews, 35mm or miniDV. What I loved C l o s e s. She completed an MA in Film
about LFS is the way we were taught to Studies and taught cinematography skills at
think about films; without pretense, with AFECT before joining LFS in May 2001.
discipline, and centered around process
T e r r y H o p k i n s - Deputy Head of
and finding things out for ourselves. It’s
Cinematography Dept /Senior Lecturer
an extraordinary thing to teach film without A n d r e w S p e l l e r - Senior Lecturer/Industry
reducing it to techniques and rules, and Liaison
yet teach the rigour and effort that is C a r l o M u z i - Camera Technician

’
sensibilities. R o n a l d o F a g a r a z z i - Stage
necessary to improve your work.
Supervisor/Gaffer
We believe that LFS students gain Paz Fabrega
enormously from the discipline of working MA Filmmaking graduate 2006 Recent visiting lecturers, speakers
with, and being educated on film. Currently, Selected as Skillset Trailblazer. First Prize and “DoPs in residence” include:
terms 1, 2, 4 and 5 originate exclusively on Buenos Aires Film Lab Barry Ackroyd, Howard Atherton, John de
film. During the documentary 3rd term, units Borman, Oliver Curtis, Nina Kelgrin,
can choose a digital or film format and Seamus McGarvey, Nic
during the 6th term, camera and lighting classes are offered on, and for Knowland, Tony Pierce-
digital formats. Each student can choose the origination format for their Roberts, Dick Pope,
own graduation film. David Scott, Chris
Seager, Oliver Stapleton
Lisa Muzzulni using Aaton XTR

In parallel students are offered in-depth master classes on , Ueli Steiger, Ivan
cinematographic concepts, theory and history. Each term is assigned a Strasburg, Peter
tutor who will cover the technical and skills instruction on the relevant Suchitzky and Haris
camera and lenses, and analysis of rushes. Zambarloukis.

There are regular Q&A and masterclass events with leading

DEPARTMENTS AND STUDIES 17

18
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

SOUND
A large part of a film‘s meaning is carried in its soundtrack. Most related matters, including spotting, stylistic choices, finding a suitable

directors know this but few of them know how that soundtrack is created
– unless they are graduates of the London Film School, where every
student, whatever their preferred field, is taught the theory and practice
of recording and manipulating sound.
It starts with the study of how we hear sound, and indeed what sound is.
Next comes practical experience with Nagra V digital recorders, together
with the electrical theory needed to understand how they work.
MA FILMMAKING
composer, working with composers and mixing, can be raised in these
sessions.
Head of Sound is Howard Thompson
After graduation (BA Oxon. English Lang. and Lit.) Howard worked in TV,
then in cutting rooms and subsequently as a writer and sound recordist
on many documentaries. He has also written three childrens’ features
and ran the sound department at the legendary Royal Court Theatre.

Then comes shooting sound in WOJCIECH WRZESNIEWSKI - Senior Sound

‘
synchronisation with picture, also the The beauty of a good film school is that Lecturer
principles behind a full range of modern it invites you to make mistakes, but never KAREN WARNOCK - Sound Assistant
microphones, mono and stereo, that are dampens your enthusiasm. At LFS I

’
then used on location and in the studios. Vasco Hexel is the current music consultant at
made plenty, and ignited a passion.
the LFS. Vasco is a composer and arranger for
From the second term onwards, all films
Duncan Jones, MA Filmmaking graduate film, TV, advertising, and pop music
2001. Duncan Jones won the BAFTA
have stereo soundtracks. In the Fifth Term, productions. He runs the Masters Programme
Outstanding Debut Award for his feature
shot on 35mm colour, tracks are in Composition for Screen at the Royal
debut ‘Moon’, plus Best Film awards
prepared on Protools 24 work stations so College of Music, which continues to provide a
at Athens, Sitges and
they can be mixed in Dolby SR. pool of screen composers to LFS filmmakers.
Edinburgh Film Festivals.
At last, it might be thought, after all that
acquiring of technical knowledge ‘Sound Design’ begins. Well, without
technical knowledge there is nothing to design with. But imagination –
hard to teach conventionally but essential to filmmaking – is always
STONE ISLAND GRADUATION FILM. DIR. ADRIANA PARAMO PEREZ

required of a student, right from the moment in their second term when
they start to think how their pictures and sounds might work together to
stir an audience. That audience most likely will never understand how
they have been affected, but a filmmaker graduating from the school will
know, since they have learnt how to work with sound and make it work
for them.

The school employs a music consultant who holds group seminars for
2nd term students and is available to all students for music consultations
on a 1-to-1 basis. Students are welcome to discuss their projects at script LFS PROTOOLS SUITE

stage, seek guidance during production and post-production. All music-

DEPARTMENTS AND STUDIES 19

20
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

EDITING
We aim to give every student on the MA Filmmaking programme an sound, providing new challenges in structuring picture and sound.

understanding of the value of the editing craft and the importance of
communicating with other departments and technicians involved during
the production process, in order to provide the best material for the edit
suite. The focus is on the practical aspects of film editing, with instruction
in the use of both digital and analogue equipment, to enable London
Film School students to become familiar with current professional
industry standards. Film Editing lectures are structured around classic
and contemporary films, highlighting the contribution of editing to the
development of a rich and coherent film language.
MA FILMMAKING
The Term Four editing exercise is an introduction to drama. Shot on B&W
35mm. with sync sound, the films are edited on a non-linear system, and
film prints are then conformed: the analogue film is cut with a splicer and
put together to match the digital cut. The sound is dubbed to Stereo.
Term Five is an extension of the previous exercise, working on 35mm.
colour negative. colour negative. After fine cut, the sound is edited on
Pro-tools in preparation for a Dolby SR sound mix.

For those individuals wishing to develop film Terms Four and Five finished film prints are

‘
and video editing as their intended field of LFS opened avenues for me that may screened with a separate magnetic sound
work, the Editing Department offers more not have been possible if I’d trawled up at the end of each term.
advanced supervised instruction and experience
through the industry/runner route. Being
in cutting various formats and genres. During Term Six, students have the
given the chance to direct the LFS trailer opportunity to choose subjects and formats
First term students edit 16mm monochrome on a professional level, using equipment for their graduation films and lectures
rushes without sound, as an exercise in purely for free that would be reserved for the during this period are focused on helping
visual narrative. most expensive ad campaigns, and each student to integrate all their acquired
knowledge.
dealing with a client, helped me gain
Second term students shoot and edit non-
sync pictures. Sound is then added during my current employment as a Head of Editing is JAIME ESTRADA-TORRES.

’
post-production. Through the combination of commercials director. Jaime started as an assistant film editor
ADR (additional dialogue recording), Foley Azhur Saleem with David Naden Associates in London’s
(sound effects) and music scoring sessions, MA Filmmaking graduate 2006 Soho, gaining his 16mm experience on a
each editor will discover the creative use of Young Director Award at the Cannes number of documentaries for the BBC, ITV
sound on film. and the then emerging Channel 4. He
Advertising Awards 2007
worked as 2nd Assistant Editor on Tim
Term Three introduces students to synchronised Burton’s Batman, Assembly Editor on Mike
Figgis’s Hotel, On-Line Editor for Werner Herzog’s Pilgrimage; Picture
and Sound editor on Biggie & Tupac directed by Nick Broomfield, winner
of the 2004 Grierson Best Feature Documentary Award. Jaime was Avid
consultant for Stanley Kubrick on Eyes Wide Shut, George Lucas on the
Shira Pinson and Haim Litani in Avid Suite.

Star Wars Trilogy, James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and The HBO
series Band of Brothers produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.

Editing department lecturers:

STEFANIA MARANGONI - Senior Editing Lecturer
LFS Final Cut Pro Suite

ADAM SHARMAN - Instructor/Technician

DEPARTMENTS AND STUDIES 21

22
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

PRODUCTION DESIGN
“The true mystery of the world is the visible not the invisible.” Students learn how to develop a visual concept and how to transform it into a

Oscar Wilde
Production Design is the creation of mood, atmosphere and context through the
expressive use of objects, forms and colour, in the realisation of a script. In
professional filmmaking a Production Designer interprets the written word for the
screen, inventing a visual world and language through objects, interiors, and
architecture. He or she adapts and dresses locations or builds settings on a sound Diana’s feature film credits for Production Design and Art Direction include High
stage employing all aspects of art direction and
design to dramatise and enhance the narrative
MA FILMMAKING
cinematic reality. We use traditional drawing techniques alongside Photoshop,
Sketch Up and Vector Works. The close proximity of London exhibitions and
permanent collections of national galleries are used as teaching resources by the
department.
Head of Production Design - DIANA CHARNLEY
Hopes, Defence of the Realm, Clockwise and
The Dawning. She was previously head of

‘
visually.
The design component of the MA Filmmaking
programme aims to develop the student’s
knowledge of the subject area as it directly relates
to film exercises and to each student filmmakers
practice. In terms 4 and 5 this involves the design
and build of a set on one of the School’s sound
stages. All units develop and execute Production
The great thing about LFS is you plot
your own way within it. You try your
hand at every discipline, which makes
you a better director - to know what
everybody does on a set, the difficulties
and the technical issues. I can now sit
down with any filmmaker and discuss
any aspect of film and not be lost in a
Production Design and Art Direction at the NFTS
and has lectured widely including Cambridge
University and the University of Strathclyde. Diana’s
writing on Production Design has been published
by the BFI. She gained an MA from Goldsmiths
College in History of Modern Art and is a painter.
Senior Lecturer - HAYDEN GRIFFIN
Hayden is an international theatre and film

’
Design concepts for each script in production. The maze of terms!! production designer and has designed for theatre,
INFANT, 2002, dir. Steve Earls, prod. Harry Lagoussis Tomomi Maruyama and Aya Fujii set building

department teaches all aspects of Production Kemal Akhtar ballet and opera. Film credits include Intimacy
Design for both 35mm colour and black and white MA Filmmaking graduate 2007 directed by Patrice Chereau, Painted Angels
film. These include classes in model making, Winner Race in the Media Awards 2006 for directed by Jon Sanders and Wetherby by David
composition and colour, set dressing and drawing. 5th term film Zohra. Hare

All visiting lecturers and consultants in the

department are professionals in feature film production working as art directors,
The set of APPOINTMENT production designers or set decorators.

Visiting Design Lecturers: Eve Stewart, Alan MacDonald, Tom Conroy, David
McHenry, Adrian Smith
Production Design and Costume Consultants: Jim Clay, Annie Symons
Construction: Jeff Woodbridge, Ian Hammond
Titles and credits: Chris Allies

DEPARTMENTS AND STUDIES 23

 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

DIRECTING
Directing is principally taught by making films. Every term students make in class: films are presented in terms of strategic decisions, made in a

MA FILMMAKING
a film. In the second term every student directs. context of historic, technical and aesthetic limitations and possibilities.
This means that students are encouraged to
In the graduation term every student has the look at film history and their film

‘
opportunity to direct if they wish. In other The London Film School offers a huge environments in terms of developing a
terms students alternate roles within their creative challenge to any artist. It forces complex meaning-based repertoire on
small units. you to be self-critical, hard working and which to found their own directing practice.

This pattern of exercises through the course

offers an opportunity to students to develop
their personal orientation to this most
complex of all arts: their syntactic narrative
skills, their understanding of the pattern of
possibilities presented by a script, their
capacity to find their results in, and with
their collaborators, the ability to construct
expressive mise-en-scène.
Classes supporting this area discuss and
rehearse: preparation, shot lists and
ambitious in a wide range of roles and
on many different projects. Most
importantly, it is run by people with
integrity who have a genuine and
infectious belief in film as an art form.
The lessons I have learned from it have
been invaluable, not only to film making
but to every creative discipline I have
worked in since. If only real life
permitted it, I would gladly go through
Contributors to workshops, panellists and
lecturers have included: Tony Bicat, Les Blair,
Don Boyd, Terence Davies, Alnoor Dewshi,
Bille Eltringham, Stephen Frears, Jack Gold,
Enrique Goldman, Khaled al Hagar, Kevin
Hull, Kim Hopkins, Martin Jones, Richard
Kwietniowski, Rajan Khosa, Mike Leigh,
Carol Morley, Lech Majewski, Pawel
Pawlikowski, Udayan Prasad.

’
storyboards, blocking, protocols of dealing the whole thing again!
with professional actors, reading scripts, the Jack Mcnamara
construction of film sequence. In the second MA Filmaking graduate 2005
year the main teaching of directing is
through workshops: the attitude of the
school is that the range should vary as widely as possible to give students
their own space to build their own repertoire of formal approaches.
Workshops deal with script interpretation, directing actors, improvisation,
mise-en-scène, use of camera, location shooting.
FRENCH EXCHANGE, Term 4 exercise, directed by Sasha Collington

LFS has evolved a uniquely practical approach to discussions of directing

MIKE graduation film. Dir. Giacamo La Monaco

Dir:Jean-Phillipe Tremblay Prod: Basil El-Titi 2004
HOUSE OF CARDS

DEPARTMENTS AND STUDIES 25

26
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

SCREENWRITING
The dual focus of screenwriting education on the MA Filmmaking develop working relationships with the writers through joint classes,

MA FILMMAKING
programme is to instil the habit of writing as a valuable skill in all aspects evening screenings and social events. MA screenwriters are also appointed
of filmmaking and to develop scripts for the fiction film exercises in Terms to selected 4th and 5th term projects as script editors and are available to
4 and 5, as well as the graduation project/ work with filmmaking students on their graduate projects.

The school does not impose an institutional regime on screenwriting but all See page 11 for details of the MA Screenwriting programme.
scripts explored and revised through an
ongoing process of discussion and criticism. Head of Screenwriting - BRIAN

‘
We involve visiting lecturers and the whole
school in an ongoing debate about scripts
being conceived and developed. We treat the
script as a blueprint for the story’s realisation
as film rather than as a literary artefact.
From the second term every student is part of
a writing workshop, developing and refining
working relationships along with the scripts.
At LFS I’ve been exposed to ideas and
influences that are many times wider
and more catholic than the industry
standard McKee orthodoxy and I’ve
enjoyed feedback, camaraderie and
encouragement that will continue to
inform my development for many years
DUNNIGAN
Recent contributors to script workshops,
panels and assessments include: Petra
Cooper, Erin Cramer, Roger Hyams, Kolton
Lee, Amanda Schiff, Karen Street, Archie
Tait, Edward Windus.

’
Every script that goes into production in Terms
to come.
Three, Four and Five goes through rigorous
Jimmy Ruzicka
discussion at a guest Script Panel. The panel’s
2007 MA Screenwriting Graduate
advice can be fed into further development
and into the script choices of the term. Before
BLUE COLLARS AND BUTTERCUPS, Graduation Film Production Dir: Janis Pugh Producer: James Youngs

going into production there are further script editing sessions with all the
selected projects. It is also possible to see a range of tutors on a one-to-
one basis throughout the term.

Since September 2005 LFS has also been running a separate MA degree
course in Screenwriting. The short and feature scripts written on the course
are a valuable resource for MA filmmakers who are encouraged to
PEACE TIME graduation film. Dir. Corin Taylor

MAX – 2nd term exercise. Dir Karim Higazy

DEPARTMENTS AND STUDIES 27

 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

PRODUCTION
The Producer’s job stretches from the widely undervalued discovery Filmmaking is a collaborative art built on real dialogue between

stage, where they find strong material and corral together those who
will bring it all to life, through production to sales and delivery. Through
each stage the producer has a mission: the effective, creative and
collaborative management of priorities. Every film is a prototype, and
every complex decision in film production, however familiar-seeming, is
strangely individual. Producers have the duty and privilege of
managing filmmaking decisions from conception to presentation. We
know that they are the producers partly because they arrive in this
process first and quit last.
MA FILMMAKING
creative partners, and for this reason we emphasise the role of the
Producer. For instance, we don’t like taking script meetings without the
Producer present. In a small unit fiction producing can be effectively
combined with just about any job - other than Director.
Most LFS Production teaching is about project development, script and
resource issues. The school teaches the essential detail of production
management: preparation, script breakdown, budgeting, scheduling,
unit management and the tasks that will be
undertaken in the Production Department,

‘
Film school units, with their overwhelming
flavour of creative ferment and their
limited resources, tend to call people
Producers who in fact have the limited
creative power of Production Managers.
Film schools should not be factories
which produce filmmakers on an
assembly line. A good film school should
be a laboratory where students look for
their own language. The London Film
from First Assistant Director to Continuity.
We offer production forms and agreements
through the student intranet to back up this
work. Producers are also Script Editors,
feedback monitors in the cutting room, and

Production Management is a key part of
the whole production role, which takes its
place alongside Script Editing, Crewing
and Casting, Contracts and Distribution
WHAT IS HE BUILDING IN THERE, Term 4 film exercise Dir: Patrick Graham Producer: Salil Fernandez
’
School gives you this space.
Remi Borgeaud
MA filmmaking graduate 2007
First prizes at Corto In Bra and Mexico for
lobbyists to the school and outside
supporters.
Production is taught in the school by Ben

and other key areas. What’s important is graduation film Un Riff Para Lazaro. Gibson, the Director, Margaret Glover,
to create a genuine creative understanding Senior Lecturer, and by visiting tutors.
from which to collaborate, and avoid the vital role of Producer getting
caught up in the all enveloping powerbase of the Director. Recent visiting lecturers, Honorary Executive Producers and panelists
include: Mia Bays, Don Boyd, Chris Collins, Natasha Dack, Emma
Dobinson, Mike Downey, Mike Elliott, Peter Ettedgui, Bertrand Faivre,
Robin Gutch, Laura Hastings-Smith, Sally Llewelyn, Janine Marmot,
Eliza Mellor, Keith Northrop, Rebecca O’Brien, Kate Ogborn, Nikki
Parrott, Sarah Radcliffe, Lisa-Marie Russo, Iain Smith, Sylvia Stevens,
Jeremy Thomas, Stephen Woolley.
ONE LAST FIGHT - Term 2 Film Exercise
Dir: Ben Enebi Producer: Dana Verde

DEPARTMENTS AND STUDIES 29

30
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

SCREEN STUDIES
Film History. Director Strategies. Politics and Culture. and sound eras, and new cinema of the “third world”. Screen studies is

MA FILMMAKING/MA SCREENWRITING
taught by Alan Bernstein, Head of Studies and First Term Tutor, Dr. Barry
Film History: This is a survey course. The emphasis is on the Salt, Fourth and Fifth Term Tutor, and Visiting Lecturer Simon Louvish.
development of the technology and the
stylistic use of new possibilities created by There are many other classes given as

these advances.
The primary series is aimed at the First Term,
but the course is repeated and varied on a
six term cycle, so that over two years
students have access to more than eighty
film history sessions.
Director Strategies: Each term a director or
group of films is selected: a film is shown
each week, usually in 35mm, and analysed
from the point of view of the complex
‘
The amount of growth that I experienced
as a filmmaker in two years at LFS is
really…unquantifiable. Not only did we
learn how to watch, shoot and discuss
film intelligently, but also we learned
how to work from the inside out.. The
staff are absolutely committed to
cultivating their students to flourish to
become the best filmmakers they are
capable of being. Simply the training
both practically and emotionally, is
individual sessions, by staff or visiting
lecturers, individually or as short series.
Some of these are regular presentations and
some take advantage of a particular
specialist’s availability.
During the first four weeks of term the
School’s Film Society plays host to a number
of evening masterclass presentations of new
work, classic films reconsidered and
programmes of short films.

’
pattern of directing strategies it reveals, set second to none. All students on the MA Filmmaking, MA
in the contexts of technical possibilities, the Barney Elliot Screenwriting and MA Curating
director’s other work, and the possible and MA Filmmaking graduate 2003 programmes are welcome to attend Screen
impossible options presented by film, Cannes Residence Du Festival participant Studies classes.
cultural and social history. Across the two 2007.
years there are nearly seventy different
classes.

Politics and culture: Film as the voice of a society and its ideas, ranging
from the early days of Hollywood, through global cinema in the silent
BRAIDS ON A BALD HEAD Graduation film, Dir. Ishaya Bako

Dir: Thorsten Wien Producer: Samuele Romano

A PIANO IN WARSAW, Term 4 film exercise

Students attending a rushes viewing

DEPARTMENTS AND STUDIES 31

32
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL
MA FILMMAKING CURRICULUM
Unit 1 - Image, Meaning, Style
FIRST TERM EXERCISE:
A three and a half minute, 16mm, black and white, mute film made on
location. All students are expected to produce a script. From these a
selection is made and the final script filmed by students working in units
of three.
The first term gives students a thorough grounding in the basics of
filmmaking. The centre of the term is the film exercise, which provides the
platform for basic teaching in camera skills, exposure control, and
editing. The assumption is that students all start from a similar
background and all need a full, fast introduction to professional
Romi Aboulafia - Camera Assistant on BLUE COLLARS AND BUTTERCUPS, Graduation Film Production Dir: Janis Pugh Producer: James Youngs
procedures.
The term is dedicated to the principle of learning how to tell a story in
pictures. Scripts are subject to detailed scrutiny and discussion. Students
have to practise basic production management skills: organising location
permissions, securing props and costumes. They have to cast and work
with professional actors. In parallel, all through the term, courses run in
film history and in the close analysis of directors’ strategies, showing and
discussing work from Hitchcock to Lang via, say, Spike Lee and
Kiarostami.
There are classes on photo theory, directing syntax, producing,
production management, production design, practicals on the Aaton
XTR, use of light meters, and editing.
THE ROAD HOME Graduation film. Dir. Rahul Gandotra
CURRICULUM
MATERIALS FOR EACH UNIT:
MA FILMMAKING
16mm Aaton XTR + prime lenses, 400 feet of Kodak 7217film for
delivery as monochrome TK; edit on Avid Media Composer.
SECOND TERM EXERCISE:
Each student scripts and directs their own film: 1-3 minutes long, 16mm
colour shot on location, with post-synchronised sound. They edit and
design sound tracks for their film. Re-recording/mixing of soundtracks is
carried out in outside professional studios.
The Second Term is intense and exciting. This term introduces students to
lighting skills and to sound recording and digital editing. Students work
in units of five or six , directing their own films and camera operating,
lighting and fulfilling other supporting roles on the films of their
colleagues, so that they are intimately involved in all their unit’s projects.
MATERIALS FOR EACH STUDENT:
16mm Aaton XTR + prime lenses, 200 feet of 16mm Kodak colour film;
lighting kit; Nagra V recorder; edit on Avid Media Composer; outside
dubbing theatre.
This Second Term project involves students producing films inspired by
paintings in an art gallery. Students are taken on a conducted tour of
selections of paintings which are discussed in terms of composition,
colour, narrative and patronage. They then choose a painting from the
gallery’s collection as an inspiration for their film.
An exciting element of this exercise is that the students may respond to
any aspect of the painting thus following in a tradition embraced by
many directors, cinematographers and set designers who have been
influenced by artists from Rembrandt, Vermeer and Caravaggio to Turner
and Renoir.
Previous work can be viewed at www.nationalgallery.org.uk/education.
33
34
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL
MA FILMMAKING CURRICULUM
Unit 2 - Non-Fiction and Fiction
THIRD TERM EXERCISE:
A ten minute, 16mm, colour documentary film, with synch sound. Students
work in units of five, with each student taking on at least one of the major
roles - Producer, Director, Lighting Camera, Camera Operator, Sound
Recordist and Editor. Re-recording/mixing of soundtracks is carried out at
professional sound studios. Students shoot their own titles on the 16mm
rostrum camera. Students are also offered the option of shooting on HD
using the Sony EX1 camera. Editing is done on Avid Composer.
The remit of the term is wider than that of the ‘classical’ documentary, and
students are encouraged to think of the expressive functions of images of
the real world and their use in new forms.
Britain has a long and rich documentary tradition, going back to
Grierson, and kept alive by television. Today this tradition informs feature
film making as much as television reportage and current affairs.
The school recruits a ‘Resident Documentarist’ each term who will show
their work, consult units on their films and provide support. There is a wide
range of classes supporting the non-fiction production: lectures on
documentary history, showings of contemporary non-fiction, classes in
research techniques, interviewing, music in documentary, recording synch
systems, use of synch sound on location, synchronising rushes and editing
synch material, practical demonstrations of location lighting, a practice
shoot with synch sound, lecture/demonstrations and practicals on video
camerawork, and practicals on the 16mm rostrum camera. Throughout
RAVI GOES TO SCHOOL, Graduation Film Dir/Producer: Anu Menon
the term script workshops are developing drama scripts for the later terms.
MATERIALS FOR EACH UNIT OF SIX STUDENTS:
Film: Aaton XTR with Zeiss 10/100 or Cooke 9/50 zoom lens; 2,000 ft of
16mm Kodak colour negative; Location lighting kit. HD: Sony EX1 or similar
with integral zoom lens; 2 Sony SxS Pro Memory cards (100 min. per card);
Location lighting kit; Nagra V recorder; Edit on Avid Media Composer.
Resident Documentarists, Documentary lecturers and panelists include:
Helena Appio, Don Boyd, Antonia Caccia, David Glover, Peter Gordon,
Mike Grigsby, Ann Hawker, Kevin Hull, Marc Isaacs, John Krish, Patrick
Keiller, Victoria Mapplebeck, Hugh Purcell, Witold Starecki, Joram ten
Brink, Michael Whyte, Elizabeth Wood.
CURRICULUM
MA FILMMAKING
FOURTH TERM EXERCISE:
A ten-minute, 35mm, black and white sound film, shot in the studio and
on location. Units consist of five students, each taking at least one major
role. The films are shot with synchronised sound. Recording and laying
post-synchronised tracks are also an important part of the exercise.
Rerecording/ mixing of soundtracks is carried out at professional sound
studios.
In Terms Four and Five the requirements and expectations from students
are very high. The London Film School is one of the few schools in the
world offering 35mm studio film making as an integral feature of the
curriculum. Scripts have been developed, discussed and criticised during
the previous term.
Students choose scripts and crews. Student producers are then required
to develop a set of production forms detailing all the film’s requirements,
and these, together with the scripts are presented to production
conferences with all heads of department to initiate the process. Over this
and the next term there are an important series of directing workshops,
and working with actors is a major component of these.
Other classes include production design, art direction, set building,
production management, continuity, studio lighting theory/practicals,
studio sound recording, 35mm editing, practicals on Moviecam
Superamerica cameras, laying multiple sound tracks, demonstration at
external sound studios of ADR techniques, practicals on 35mm rostrum
camera and demonstrations and workshops on non-linear editing.
Students design, build and dress their own sets, and there are classes
and consultation sessions taking them through this. Studio lighting is at
the heart of the exercise, and for many students this is the major
excitement of the term. By this stage students are expected to manage
their lighting in a highly professional way.
MATERIALS FOR EACH UNIT: 35mm Moviecam Superamerica + prime
lenses; 2800 feet of Kodak Double X; studio and location lighting
equipment; Nagra V digital recorder; edit and tracklay on Avid Media
composer.
35
36
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL
MA FILMMAKING CURRICULUM
Unit 3 - Industry and Independents
FIFTH TERM EXERCISE:
In the fifth term students make a drama up to fifteen minutes long, in
colour and 35mm, on location and in the studio. This continues the
form of the fourth term, but at a higher level. Scripts written and
developed over the previous year are chosen by the students. Crews
are built around the scripts. Scripts are broken down by producers and
presented to production conferences with heads of the various
departments. Sets are designed; models built and discussed.
The excitement - and successes - of lighting are at an even higher level
than the previous term. The programme of directing workshops
continues. As in the fourth term, the number of films scheduled is high
given the number of students. This means that students work on more
than one film, and that students from the lower terms are drawn in as
assistants in all departments. The integral learning process of each film
is shared widely. Classes and workshops include directing actors, stereo
sound and preparation for the Sixth Term graduation project.
MATERIALS FOR EACH UNIT:
35 mm Panavision Gold for studio, 35mm Moviecam Superamerica for
location; 3600 feet of Kodak Colour; studio and location lighting
equipment; Nagra V digital recorder; edit on Avid Media Composer;
Tracklay on ProTools HD Digital Audio Work Station. Final mix in Dolby SR.
PART OF ME Graduation film. Dir. Mihaal Danziger
THE BORSELINO EXPERIMENT, Term 5 film exercise
Dir: Samuele Romano Producer: Miri Shapiro
SIXTH TERM EXERCISE:
THE GRADUATION FILM:
CURRICULUM
THE GRADUATION FILM:
MA FILMMAKING
Students are assigned a budget by the school to build a project. They
can work individually or pool their budgets and efforts. They can shoot
on any format and at any length they can budget and schedule.
Students are strongly encouraged to raise funds and build coproduction
deals, with production companies and/or other graduate film schools,
either here in the UK or abroad.
Each project’s script, schedule and budget will be examined and
discussed with the Term Tutors. The Development Process is supported
through specialist workshops in directing, camera & lighting, and post-
production led by LFS faculty in collaboration with industry specialists.
Pre-production is monitored by the Term Tutor and relevant Heads of
Department. Before a project is given the green light all necessary
paperwork must be in place and approved. Delivery requirements
match those of the major international festivals.
In addition to advising on the festival strategy for each graduation film,
the school supports the transition from student to professional in a
variety of ways. To begin, the school’s Director takes each graduating
filmmaker through a week-long workshop on international industry
practice, thus providing the context for their entry into the profession.
This is followed by job club, for specific strategies for opening doors
and gaining experience, as well as work. In addition to this core
curriculum, industry guests meet with graduating filmmakers to discuss
presentation techniques, preparing CVs and showreels, and
networking. Finally, there is the mentoring programme. Students are
invited to select a mentor and put together a mentoring plan in
consultation with the Term Tutors. This programme is currently
supported by Skillset.
LFS is committed to supporting its graduates in developing a strategy
for their entry into the expanding and fast-changing media industries.
Through the growing network of associates LFS maintains and develops
contacts throughout the world to support this work.
37
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL
MA SCREENWRITING
CURRICULUM
The programme is non-modular. It is composed of three units to be taken
sequentially. The course is full-time only and lasts one year. Some of the
component classes are term specific and others run continuously across
the whole programme.
Each unit will carry 60 credits at MA level. The result for the first two units
shall be pass or fail. The result for the third unit shall be pass with
distinction, pass or fail. The corresponding awards will be MA
Screenwriting (Units 1-3 passed), Post-graduate Diploma (Units 1-2
passed) and Post-graduate Certificate (Unit 1 passed).
Unit 1: The Screenwriters Craft
This unit provides an introductory and theoretical framework for the
practical work with an emphasis on the writer’s personal development. It
includes an overview of dramatic principles as applied to a distinctively
cinematic approach to storytelling. It also encourages a critical
evaluation of those principles in relation to the creative process and the
development of original work for the screen.
Workshops on storytelling and film language, characterisation, scene
writing and step outlines, the development of original ideas for the screen
and adapting material from another medium are based around practical
writing exercises. Visiting professional screenwriters discuss their methods
of working with practical examples of past and present work.
Classes on film style and history, including a programme of evening
screenings in the film theatre, provide a context for the written work. In
addition students have the option to work on film exercises produced by
students on the Filmmaking MA - while their short and feature
screenplays are a valuable resource for the filmmakers. Collaboration
between writers and filmmakers is continually encouraged through joint
sessions, social events and the posting of projects on the screenwriters’
blog site.
Students’ reflections on the relationship between theory and practice,
screenwriting and filmmaking as well as establishing a partnership with
38
a professional writing mentor, profoundly influence the outcome of their
work and the preparation for their major project. This includes the writing
of a Work and Research Journal which tracks their personal and project
development through the inclusion of visual references and self-reflective
notes on course and project work.
The main practical focus of this unit is the writing of a Short Film
Screenplay and the production of a Feature Film Portfolio through small
group and one-to-one feedback sessions with actors, directors and
development professionals.
Unit 2: The Screenwriter’s Practice
Students will normally have passed Unit One before starting Unit Two.
The main focus of this unit is the development of a First Draft Feature
Screenplay through small group feedback and one-to-one Mentoring.
This unit continues to place screenwriting within the context of craft skills,
film style and the filmmaking process. It also introduces the economic
and industrial context for film production, distribution and exhibition and
the role of the writer and the screenplay within that context.
Class work and exercises including the Writers Gym and a National
Gallery day - focus on visualisation and cinema specific aspects of
screenwriting - while workshops with actors, directors and editors
demonstrate how a knowledge of the filmmaking process is essential to
the developing screenwriter. Alternative models of screenwriting are
explored through case studies of screenplays, screenwriters and
filmmakers.
The Work and Research Journal continues to provide a transparent
account of the writers’ creative development and engagement with the
course while the Feature Film screenplay remains the practical,
assessable outcome of that process.
Unit 3: Writing the Feature Film
Students will normally have passed Unit Two before starting Unit Three.
This unit continues the series of lectures on the history of cinema with
CURRICULUM
THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

evening screenings built around debate and contact with contemporary
filmmakers. Visiting writers, producers and agents with specialist
workshops on television writing and adaptation provides the industrial
context.
The principle focus of this unit is on the key
practical work of the Masters programme -
MA SCREENWRITING
Amanda Schiff, Hope Dickson Leach, Jonathan Hourigan, Philip Palmer,
Nadine Marsh-Edwards, Roxy Spencer, Ed Windus, and Hugh Stoddart.
Visiting lecturers and mentors have included:
Tony Grisoni - Writer: Tideland, In This World, Red Riding Trilogy
Mike Leigh - Director/Writer: Vera Drake,
Secrets and Lies, Another Year

‘
the writing and development of a Feature
Film project through two further drafts -
supported by a professional writing Mentor.
The final screenplay along with an outline of
An LFS education is not limited to Laurence Coriat - Writer: Me without You,
the technical skills that produce new Wonderland, Genova
filmmakers. It’s an education that Ronald Harwood - Writer: The Pianist,
Diving Bell and the Butterfly

’
challenges you to find your voice
project development and the Work and William Nicholson - Writer: Shadowlands,
and make it heard.
Research Journal complete the assessable Gladiator
Oliver Hermanus 2009 MA Filmmaking
work for the MA programme. Olivia Hetreed - Writer: Girl with a Pearl
graduate. Oliver’s graduation feature
Earring, Wuthering Heights
‘Shirley Adams’, co-written by 2008
Selected scenes from the graduate screenplays Tony Marchant - Writer: Crime and
Screenwriting graduate Stavros Pamballis,
are presented at a Showcase event for industry Punishment, The Mark of Cain
won Best Film, Best Director and Best
professionals later in the year. Guy Hibbert - Writer: Five Minutes of
Actress at the South African Film
Heaven, Blood and Oil
and TV awards and first prizes at Dubai,
BRIAN DUNNIGAN - Head of Richard Kwietniowski - Writer/Director: Love
Amiens and Durban.
Screenwriting and Death on Long Island
Pawel Pawlikowski - Director: My Summer
Course tutors: Ellis Freeman, Roger Hyams, of Love, Last Resort
Udayan Prasad - Director: My Son the Fanatic, Gabriel and Me
Sandy Lieberson - Producer: Performance, Stars and Bars
BY NICOLE VOLAVKA (MA FILMMAKING GRADUATE 2009)

Andy Paterson - Producer: Hilary and Jackie, Girl with a Pearl Earring
Aishling Walsh - Writer/Director: Song for A Raggy Boy
SCREENWRITING GRADUATE 2007), DIRECTED
SURVIVOR, WRITTEN BY GABRIEL VALLEJO (MA

Rebecca O’Brien - Producer: The Wind That Shakes the Barley,

A Fond Kiss
Mark Solomon - Editor: Chicken Run, Frankeweenie, The Tale of
Desperaux
Roger Smith - Script Editor: Land and Freedom, Route Irish

CURRICULUM 39
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

LFS GRADUATES
The film industries of almost every country in the world are liberally sprinkled with graduates of the School, who are entitled to call
themselves ALFS (Associates of the London Film School). A very short list might include:

Brad Anderson Director, Writer, Editor, Cinematographer Transsiberian, The Wire (TV), The Machinist
Howard Atherton Director of Photography Fatal Attraction, Bad Boys, Lolita
Terry Bedford Director / Director of Photography Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Jabberwacky, Slayground
Les Blair Director / Writer, Producer, Editor H3, Bad Behaviour, Jump the Gun
Philipp Blaubach Director of Photography The Disappearance of Alice Creed, The Escapist
Don Boyd Director / Writer / Producer Andrew and Jeremy Get Married, My Kingdom, Twenty-One
Ole Bratt Birkeland Director of Photography The Arbor, Helen
Curtis Clark Director of Photography The Draughtsman’s Contract, Extremities, Nicky and Gino
Harley Cokeliss Director / Director of Photography An Angel for May, Black Moon Rising, Dream Demon
George P. Cosmatos Director Tombstone, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Cobra
Boaz Davidson Director / Writer / Producer The Expendables, Bad Lieutenant, Brooklyn’s Finest
Ross Devenish Director Bleak House (TV), Dalziel and Pascoe (TV), Between The Lines (TV)
Bill Douglas Director / Writer My Childhood, Comrades, My Way Home
Julian Doyle Editor / Director Brazil, Life of Brian, The Wind In The Willows
Steve Dubin Visual Effects Producer / Director / DoP The Lord of The Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, I Robot
Sara Duvall Producer Fried Green Tomatoes At The Whistle Stop Cafe
Mark Forstater Producer Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Tak Fujimoto Director of Photography The Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, Signs
Nic Gaster Editor Moon, Venus, Enduring Love
Mark Goldblatt Editor Terminator, X-Men, Armageddon
Pedro González-Rubio Director / Cinematographer Alamar, Toro Negro
Eduardo Guedes Director Rocinante, Bearskin, An Urban Fairytale, Facas e Anjos
Anne Hui Director The Postman Life of My Aunt, Ordinary Heroes, July Rhapsody
Danny Huston Director / Actor Children of Men, The Constant Gardener, 21 Grams
John Irvin Director Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (TV), The Dogs of War, Hamburger Hill
Ahmed A. Jamal Director The Journalist and the Jihadi: The Murder of Daniel Pearl, Mad Dogs, Majdhar

40
THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL

LFS GRADUATES
Knut Erik Jensen Director / Writer Cool and Crazy, Passing Darkness, Burnt By Frost
Duncan Jones Director Moon, Source Code
Faris Kermani Director The Sabri Brothers, Karachi Kops (TV)
Mike Leigh Director / Writer Another Year, Happy-Go-Lucky, Vera Drake
Robert Leighton Editor The Bucket List, For Your Consideration, Stand By Me
Luis Manoki Director When a Man Loves a Woman, Message in a Bottle, Amazing Grace
Michael Mann Director / Writer / Producer Public Enemies, Collateral, Heat
Bahram Manocheri Director of Photography Bleak Moments, Boxed, Johnny West
Joáo César Montieiro Director Recollections of the Yellow House, God’s Wedding, Come and Go
Horace Ove Director Pressure, Playing Away, Reggae
Kant Pan Editor The Crying Game, Solomon and Gaenor, Kicks
Ron Peck Director / Writer Empire State, Nighthawks, Fighters
Migual Pereira Director / Writer The Man Who Came to a Village, Che Ernesto, Veronica Cruz
Roger Pratt Director of Photography The Karate Kid, Dorian Gray, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Alessandro Di Robilant Director Il Nodo Alla Cravatta, Ill Giudice, Raazzino, Forever
Franc Roddam Director / Producer Quadrophenia, K2, Auf Wiedersehen
Shimako Sato Director / Writer Tales of a Vampire, k20: Legend of the Mask, Yasha
David Scott Director of Photography Il Giudice Ragazzino, Il Nodo Alla Cravatta
Geoffrey Simpson Director of Photography Shine, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, Little Women
Iain Smith Producer Cold Mountain, Alexander, Children Of Men
Ueli Steiger Director of Photography The Day After Tomorrow, Godzilla, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Ivan Strasburg Director of Photography Shooting Dogs, Bloody Sunday, Endurance
Gale Tattersall Director of Photography The Commitments, House, Ghost Ship
David Thompson Film Historian
Herschel Weingrod
Arnold Wesker
Writer
Playwright
Twins, Trading Places, Kindergarten Cop
Chicken Soup with Barley
HONORARY
Ian Wilson
Ho Yim
Director of Photography
Director
The Crying Game, A Way of Life, Emma
Wo ai chu fang, Tian guo ni zi
ASSOCIATES
Amma Asante Writer / Director
Jim Broadbent Actor
Stephen Frears Director
Cedric James Focus Puller
Abbas Kiarostami Writer / Director
Samantha Morton Actress / Director
Pawel Pawlikoski Writer / Director
Roy Pointer Cinematographer
Tessa Ross Channel 4 Film and
Drama Controller
Lynne Ramsay Writer / Director
Jeremy Thomas Producer
Colin Tucker Producer / Script Editor
41
 THE LONDON FILM SCHOOL
ENROLMENT
All applicants must complete the relevant Application Form, Reference
Forms, and Special Needs monitoring Form. EU students must complete
the Ethnicity form.
The need to follow and understand the intensive course of lectures, and
the high pressure of group work make it imperative that all students must
have a satisfactory knowledge of the English language.
Evidence of such knowledge would be:
•Minimum TOEFL at grade 550.
•Minimum IELTS with a score of 6 and no element below 5.5.
•Minimum Cambridge Proficiency Grade C.
•Other evidence of spoken or written fluency.
Acceptances are conditional on a suitable knowledge of English. Students
may be refused entry on presenting themselves if their command of
English is considered to be insufficient. Students so refused entry will be
invited to attend a language school and, after three months, will be
entitled to enrol, provided that by then they have reached the required
standard.
Candidates resident in the United Kingdom may be required to attend for
an interview. Candidates resident abroad should make themselves
available for interview in the event that they visit the United Kingdom and
intend to submit, or have already submitted, an application. They may be
interviewed by telephone.
MA Filmaking
A new MA Filmmaking Course starts each term, so it is possible to enrol
for entry in September, January or May. With the application they must
submit a script for a short film about three minutes in length, consisting
of approximately twenty to thirty shots. Each shot must be illustrated by a
sketch or photograph of not less than 6cm by 8cm in size. All work on
such scripts must be the original work of the candidates. Please enclose
a personal statement of not more than 750 words. This should include
an account of why you think you are suitable for the course and how it
might support your future plans.
42
Any experience in photography, music, theatre, AV, journalism, painting,
graphics etc. is also valuable and should be detailed. You may support
your application by submitting a portfolio of examples film, photography,
art or literary work. If you prefer to bring material to an interview, please
note this on the application.
Minimum qualification for an application to be considered are a three
year university degree or equivalent professional experience in a
relevant area.
The average age of students is in their middle or late twenties, but the
range is great and we welcome applications from older students.
MA Screenwriting
Entry is in September each year. With their application the candidate
must supply the following:
•A script for a short 10-15 minute film.
•1 - 2 page synopsis for an original feature film plus an
opening sequence with dialogue.
•Three half page pitches for original features.
•A description of your life up to the point of applying for the
course (max 1000 words).
For applications forms and for information on fees and funding
please see our website www.lfs.org.uk
Enrolment details for MA Curating and for LFS workshops are also
available on the website.
Disabled Access
The School welcomes applications from disabled people, including those
with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. While we cannot claim
to have all the facilities and services that will meet each need for students
undertaking our MA Filmmaking or MA Screenwriting programme, we
will endeavour to remove barriers to access and to success in post
graduate film education for disabled people.
 THANKS TO OUR FRIENDS IN THE INDUSTRY
WITHOUT WHOM OUR WORK WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE

SPONSORS
 The London Film
School
24 Shelton Street
London
WC2H 9UB
U.K.

Registered in England
No. 1197026
Registered Charity
No. 270302

Telephone:
+44 (0)20 7836 9642
Fax:
+44 (0)20 7497 3718
Email:
info@lfs.org.uk
Web: www.lfs.org.uk

lfs.org.uk