Upcoming: BIFF Film Academy Summer Camp

Bermuda International Film Festival [BIFF] today announces the details of its Film Academy Summer Camp 2011, which will run in August at Warwick Camp on South Road, Warwick.

The BIFF Film Academy offers opportunities for students in Bermuda to learn more about the world outside Bermuda and develop the basic filmmaking skills necessary to tell our stories too.

This year BIFF will offer four camps: an animation, a film production and an acting for film camp for 10-13 year olds, along with an acting camp for 7-9 year olds.

Aideen Ratteray Pryse, BIFF Director, says: “The BIFF Film Academy has been run successfully since 1998, with summer camps added in 2005, and has many success stories of students that have gone on to fulfil their filmmaking and acting aspirations.”

“Christopher Frith, who attended an early camp and later instructed, is completing his film degree at the University of North Carolina. Christopher’s film, Impulse, screened at BIFF 2011.”

“This year we are particularly excited to be able to bring the film production and acting camps together in their second weeks to offer budding filmmakers and actors the chance to work together for a more authentic film production experience.”

Animation Camp (1-5 August)

• This week-long seminar is designed to introduce students to the techniques and methods used in the making of animated movies. Students will learn the difference between each of the techniques by inventing their own unique stories. From Storyboarding, to creating the sets and characters, they will be animating and having a very fulfilling and fun learning experience. The instructor for this camp is Erik Goulet. Erik studied stop motion animation at Concordia University in Montreal and since 2001 he has been teaching animation workshops in schools, at film festivals and at Concordia.

Film Production Camp (8-19 August)

• Production Camp is for those budding young storytellers interested in practicing the various hands-on roles of the filmmaker. This in-depth two-week camp begins by familiarising students with the tools of the trade and the key creative positions that make up a film production team. Emphasis is placed on collaboration, communication and identifying the strengths and interests of each student, in order to work towards a common goal. During the first week, students will complete exercises in various disciplines, from writing and storyboarding to cinematography and directing. All instruction will serve to work towards week two, when production camp students will combine forces with the acting camp to shoot their own short films. This camp will be instructed by Bayard Outerbridge. Bayard obtained his BFA in Film Production at Concordia University. He has worked on over 50 productions, including Gillian Armstrong’s “Death Defying Acts” in London and episodes of “So You Think You Can Dance Canada?” in Montreal.

Acting for Film (8-19 August)

• This intensive two week camp, instructed by Lana Young, teaches life skills through acting for film. Lana is a Bermudian born actress with 18 years of professional acting experience on the stage and in front of the camera. Lana trained in London at the Arts Educational Schools of London, where she received her M.A. in Acting. Lana will use fun acting games to teach children how to focus, listen, solve problems and empathise with their given situation, in order to ultimately build self-esteem and confidence. They will spend the first week working on a script, being taught acting techniques to help them learn lines, build their character and explore their relationships within the script. Knowing how to behave on set is also very important and young people will learn what happens behind the scenes and how they fit in. A skill they will put to the test in the second week of camp when we merge with the production camp to shoot a short film.

Acting Camp (22-26 August)

• In this introductory one-week camp, children will explore and shape their imagination in a safe and positive environment. Each morning will begin with warm ups, theatre games and acting technique followed by rehearsals and blocking for the end of week filming of their scenes. We purposely keep the camps small so students will receive individual attention and all get a chance to truly shine. Their scenes will be taped and a movie montage will be edited and emailed to all the parents at the end of the camp. This acting camp will also be instructed by Lana Young.

All camps are priced $315 per week for BIFF non-members and $295 per week for BIFF members (the two week camps are $630 and $590, respectively). All camps will run from 9.00am to 3.00pm, Monday through Friday. After-camp care is available until 5.00pm for $15 per child each day.

To register your child for the BIFF Film Academy, application forms are available from the BIFF website www.biff.bm and should be completed and mailed with a cheque covering the full cost of the camp to BIFF, P.O. Box HM 2963, Hamilton, HM MX or sent by fax to 293 7769, or scanned and emailed to info@biff.bm with your credit card information. Alternatively sign-up online at: www.tickets.biff.bm. Camps are strictly limited to 16 students to ensure all participants a high-quality learning experience.

#BermudianChildren #Education

Category: All, Entertainment, Films/Movies