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Sam

MA Filmmaking

Sam is from the North East of England and studied his undergraduate degree in Film and TV Production at Teesside University.

After completing his Master's he hopes to work as a freelance filmmaker in Manchester.

Interested in MA Filmmaking?

A future in filmmaking

"I did my undergraduate degree at Teesside, in Film and TV Production.

"After finished and doing a couple of nine-to-five jobs, I decided that I actually wanted to have a career in filmmaking.

"Before starting the course I went on the University of Bradford website to look at the modules. There were a couple of other universities that I was considering, and the Independent Filmmaking and Post-production modules at Bradford stood out the most.

"After finishing this course I'll have to work for a company in the industry, make contacts and build my way up."

I figured coming here would be the best opportunity to further my skills and get a foothold in the industry, and maybe work for myself.

Sam Kane

Independent filmmaking

"The course has been pretty solid so far. The stand-out for me has been the Independent Filmmaking module.

"We had to make a film every week that could range from 30 seconds to five minutes.

"Each week we were given one word that was the idea for the film. We could interpret it however we wanted, and occasionally the lecturer would give us a challenge to make a documentary or to do stop-frame animation.

"It was a good way to broaden our skills and challenge ourselves with stuff that we weren't particularly comfortable with, within a really small time frame."

Overall, I came out with five good films. There were a few hit and misses but the ones that didn't work - they were a learning opportunity.

Sam Kane

Choice

"My favourite was a really simple idea.

"The word we were given was 'choice'.

"I had a character walking in a park in the city, and he comes to a fork in the road.

"He goes a certain way once, and it cuts back to him coming back to the same point and the music gets more surreal, the sound gets weird and echoey and he comes back again.

"It gets more surreal, then at the end he takes the right fork and it cuts to black - so you don't know what happens at the end.

"It's like an open interpretation sort of thing."

Feature film experience

"The University connection to David Wilson and the City of Film has helped me.

"Through him I got the opportunity to work on a feature film a couple of weeks ago.

"It was a Helen Mirren film. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it was The Duke - I think I'm allowed to talk about it!

"I worked four days - three days at City Hall and one day in Little Germany."

"It was a decent experience to see different roles. It was pretty much a runner job but it was a mixture of tasks rather than one set thing.

"You get to see the set and how a feature film would run differently compared to a student film, where everybody's doing four different jobs.

"Everyone's got one set job - you can see how it's run professionally."

Building a reputation and show reel

"In future I'd like to get a professional media job, maybe working as a freelancer on films that are made at Media City in Manchester.

"I'm from the North East, and I'm working my way towards Manchester.

"From my undergraduate course, I had one really good film and maybe one that was alright. From the MA I've got five or six.

"This semester we're doing post-production, and we're making five more films.

"By the end, I could have 10 films to show, rather than just two."

 

MA Filmmaking student Sam Kane standing in front of some plants

A Master's degree gives you more of a reputation, and you have a more in-depth showreel. Combined with the City of Film work experience, I've got more decent examples to send over.

Sam Kane

Sharing knowledge and skills

"We work solo and in groups.

"In the Independent Filmmaking module we can work on our own and ask people to help.

"We don't have professional actors, we just have flatmates and people on the course who'd be willing to do it.

"In post-production, I'm not very good at visual effects, but there are people on the course who really know what they're doing. I can give them a ring and ask them to help me.

"They can then show you how to do it, and you can become more independent, and also help other students with their own films."

The equipment at Bradford offers a lot of variation. There are different types of cameras and different rigs you can use. You can just walk in and book them out.

Sam Kane

Bradford life

"My first visit to Bradford was when I came to see the Media Museum on my undergraduate course.

"I also came here for the Open Day, and looking around sold it to me. Just having a wander around and seeing the whole place, it seemed pretty nice.

"Also, from looking at the City of Film combined with the Media Museum, it all sort of came together as one package that sold it to me.

"I spend most of my time near The Green and the Broadway - it's a decent place to hang out, with lots of shops and stuff.

Also, the Waterstones in town, it's got nice architecture, there's a lot of choice and the staff all seem pretty nice."  

A colourful image of the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford, lit up at night

Research the course

"If you're interested in filmmaking, I'd say research the course online.

"If it piques your interest, go to the Open Day.

"If you have any more questions, just talk to the staff because they're all friendly and give you the advice that you need." 

If you do this degree, there's a massive opportunity to make a good showreel and get work experience while you're here.

Sam Kane

Interested in MA Filmmaking?