Kampala University Film School Courses Offered

Kampala University Film School Courses Offered

Kampala University Film School Courses Offered – see the list of programs offered at the school:

Screenwriting/Dramaturgy

The dual focus of screenwriting education in the KFS Filmmaking Program is to instill the habit of writing as an essential skill in all aspects of filmmaking, and to develop scripts for the film exercises and graduation projects.

The school does not impose an institutional regime on screenwriting, but all scripts are explored and revised through an ongoing process of discussion and criticism. We involve visiting lecturers and the whole school in an ongoing debate about scripts from conception to shooting script. We treat the script as a blueprint for the story’s realization as film, rather than as a literary artifact.

Every student is part of a writing workshop, developing and refining working relationships along with the scripts. Every script which goes into production goes through rigorous discussion and rewrites. Before 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.

Check Out: Kampala University Film School Fees Structure

Directing

In the graduation term, every student has the opportunity to direct if they wish. In other terms students alternate roles within their small units.

This pattern of exercises through the course offers an opportunity to develop students’ 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, and the ability to construct expressive mise-en-scène.

Classes supporting this area discuss and rehearse a number of areas including: preparation, shot lists and storyboards, blocking, protocols of dealing with professional actors, reading scripts, the construction of film sequence. 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.

 

Production

The Producer’s job stretches from the undervalued discovery and creative stage (where they find strong material, and create and lead the teams who will bring it all to life), through production itself, and on to sales, delivery and marketing.

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, is simultaneously individual and unique. Producers have the duty and privilege of managing filmmaking decisions from conception to presentation. Producers come in first, and leave last on every project.

In this, KFS intends to expand on the more common but limited understanding of Producers as Production Managers. Production Management is a key part of the whole production role, which takes its place alongside Script Editing, Crewing and Casting, Contracts and Distribution and other key areas. KFS aims to instill a rigor to this process.

Most KFS 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, 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 lobbyists to the school and outside supporters. Kampala University Film School Courses Offered

But at KFS the focus is on creating a genuine creative understanding of the Producers role from which to collaborate across all elements of film production. In so doing this prevents the vital role of Producer becoming consumed in the all-enveloping powerbase of the Director.

 

Cinematography

At KFS, we enable all students to take on the role of Director of Photography or Camera Operator for their film. We start by teaching the relevant theory, but most of the classes involve practical, hands-on learning of camera skills, lighting and composition: both practice and technique. These skills are combined with the working ethos of a professional crew, and from this platform we encourage cinematography as a visual means of story telling. A key element in the learning process is the critical analysis of all rushes. During their time at the school, those students interested in becoming cinematographers will find many opportunities to explore and experiment further with their own cinematographic sensibilities.

See Also: Kampala University Film School Application Form

 

Editing

The basic foundation of Editing is taught to all KFS filmmaking students through practical exercises, which reflect the current professional industry video standards and are founded on the principle of filmmaking as an art and a profession. Great emphasis is given to visual storytelling and in the use of all elements of story, performance, cinematography, frame composition, sound, and design to serve the narrative and the director’s vision.

The professional relationship with the director is an essential part of their work and it is developed from the beginning, through the Editor’s participation to the project at the development stage.

As part of their film making education students develop initiative, discipline and communication as the core values in order to successfully collaborate with other departments and technicians involved in the making of a film.

 

Animation

Animation has an unlimited potential to visually represent events, scenarios and forms that have little or no relation to our experience of the ‘real’ world. Implemented in many ways, in many disciplines, it is increasingly influencing our perception and experience of the world we live in.

Students will discover and articulate their unique artistic personality and master an incredibly adaptable art form. This rigorous, versatile program will give them a solid foundation in the art of frame-by-frame filmmaking. Our approach to animation emphasizes cross-pollination and experimentation. Students will graduate with the knowledge and discipline to think critically about their work, and their experience working independently on all aspects of film . Animation production will set them up for successful collaboration with others in the industry.

 

Sound/Sound Design

A large part of a film’s meaning is carried in its soundtrack. Most directors know this but few of them know how that soundtrack is created. For this reason, all students at the Kampala Film School, whatever their preferred field, are 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 digital recorders, together with the electrical theory needed to understand how they work. Then comes shooting sound in synchronization with picture and the principles behind a full range of modern microphones which are then used on location and in the studio.

With this technical foundation, the course then covers Sound Design. Imagination – hard to teach conventionally but essential to filmmaking – is always required of a student, right from the moment when they start to think how their pictures and sounds might work together to stir an audience. Audiences may not realize or understand how they have been affected, but a filmmaker graduating from the school will have learnt how to work with sound and make it work for them.

 

Film History/Analysis

This course will give students an introduction to the academic study of film, focusing on two key areas: film analysis, film and film history. In addition to developing a set of critical tools for analysis of film texts, contextual studies will also offer students a wide range of critical, institutional and historical frameworks for the study of film.

Students will critically analyze film as an art form as well as a reflector and instigator of cultural values. Questions considered will include: How does the visual language of film affect our perception? What innovative techniques are used to convey meaning? How does film fit into the twentieth century?