Film school does workshops at film festival

AFDA students from the Durban campus had the good fortune of helping volunteers discover the love and beauty of filmmaking recently.

AFDA students were asked to come on board at the Durban International Film Festival to help make two short films.

These short films were outcomes from the ‘Ignition – An introduction to film production’ course designed by AFDA Durban as an initiative to present a workshop in association with DIFF.

The films carried the same criteria it does for us as full time students. A three-minute short film set in one area with a full narrative. We shot outside the Blue Waters Hotel and on the promenade in the North Beach Area.

The crew came from all walks of life and ages. We had a motley team of lawyers in their fifties down to young people straight out of school. None of the volunteers had ever made a film before, and as the AFDA students are all first years, we managed to make the day into an all round learning experience.

For the students it was the first time we had shot on location and the experience from that alone had us quickly adapt to our new environment and deal with the unexpected, something that will stand us in good stead for future films.

AFDA’s screenwriting lecturer, Janet van Eeden, devised an outline of a script for the volunteers and after two workshops, they managed to turn it into their own work.

Although there were many glitches and hiccups on the actual shoot, we managed to wrangle the crew into making a decent film. Everyone was eventually on the same page and it gave us, the students, the chance to see just how much we have actually learned this year.

The sets were buzzing with excitement and emotion and we were able to pull focus on to the task at hand, with people that had no knowledge of set etiquette or protocol.

After wrapping the sets and finishing up in post huge roars of applause and laughter came from the two crews as they watched their work up on the silver screen. There were smiles all around and pats on backs. The inevitable ending to any shoot. It made me realise, once again, the strength and beauty of cinema.