Darren and Lisa from Braw Talent chat about their journeys into filmmaking, their career highlights, and what makes a good story.

“Networking isn’t scary… if you want to be a filmmaker, when you meet people tell them that’s what you are” – Darren

“No time being creative is wasted… if you’re doing something creative and doing the stuff you believe in,  eventually, it will work” – Lisa

Ira Glass on the gap between your taste and the work you’re making when you’re a beginner.

“It’s gonna take a while. It’s normal to take a while. You’ve just gotta fight your way through”

We completed a “taste audit” thinking about what we like, don’t like, or wish we’d made – knowing what you like and don’t like can help steer the projects your start to make yourself. We then went through a series of creative writing exercises which can be found in the links below – along with more inspiration and prompts.

Douglas – Writer/Director and Lecturer at UWS – talks to Darren about the Disney classic that kicked off his filmmaking journey, turning his hobby into a career, and opportunities and funding for people starting out.

“Watch out for being too self deprecating… you’re the only one that’s going out to bat for your film… if anything go the other way and be a bit too bullish with it”

Doug’s practical session looked at the fundamentals of shot construction – here are the slides he used. 

Doug set the group a task to create a film that all took place in one shot. Sometimes constraints can enhance the creativity – as demonstrated by the short film you created.

Ana – stop-motion director and animator – and Andrew – DOP and cinematographer – chat animation, picking up a camera for the first time, and their collaboration.

“If you do something one time and it’s not a success it doesn’t mean you’re not good at that thing” – Andrew

“You should be doing things because you’re passionate about them, not because someone tells you that’s what you should be doing” – Ana

Ana and Andrew set the challenge of creating a short stop motion based on the word "play" using paper, pens, and stop motion studio. The results will be uploaded soon.

Dubbing Mixer Leslie talks all things sound, how if you don’t notice it, you’re doing a good job, and how one of the most important elements of sound is simply listening.

“I wish someone had told me what it was really like in the industry, the time pressure, the pressure from the director… it’s about working out what to include, knowing not to overdo it.”

We created sound based stories – telling the tale of someone writing a letter, posting it, and the recipient getting it, using little to no dialogue.