{"id":10,"date":"2015-01-16T13:00:48","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T13:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filmschoolteacher.wordpress.com\/?p=6"},"modified":"2015-01-16T13:00:48","modified_gmt":"2015-01-16T13:00:48","slug":"film-school-pedagogics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmschoolteacher.info\/fredsnotes\/2015\/01\/16\/film-school-pedagogics\/","title":{"rendered":"Film school pedagogics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some initial thoughts about developing a training programme for instructors in film training at the BFA and MFA level<\/em><\/p>\n

(originally published Nov. 19, 2012)<\/em><\/p>\n

In Norway today all universities and h\u00f8gskoler<\/em> (University Colleges) provide pedagogic instruction for newly-hired teaching and research staff. Typically these courses will run part-time over the course of a year and yield 15 ECTS points. An example is the course in h\u00f8gskolepedagogikk<\/em> provided in collaboration between the Lillehammer, Gj\u00f8vik and Hedmark University Colleges which can be found here<\/a> (Norwegian only).
\nThese types of courses are designed to introduce the newly-hired (and anyone who wants a refreshment) staff to some of the issues and challenges facing teaching staff in modern higher education. They cover topics like \u00abdannelse\u00bb (derived loosely from European classical education in the Humboldtian tradition<\/a>), digital tools in education, ethics and so on.<\/p>\n

Central to this type of course is a solid foundation in academia and the academic relationship to knowledge<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A question that has arisen for the Norwegian Film School recently is whether this kind of pedagogic training is appropriate for higher arts education in general \u2013 and film school education in particular. The reason the question comes up is that the kind of fine arts training offered by the Norwegian Film School does not have a relationship to knowledge in the academic sense. This form of fine arts training is wholly concerned with developing an artistic talent, and while the emerging artists need to develop certain skills within their chosen discipline, their academic knowledge about that discipline is irrelevant in the context of the training they receive<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What does this fine arts training look like?<\/h3>\n

The current programme at the Norwegian Film School is an intensive three-year training for artists within seven disciplines in filmmaking: screenwriting, directing, producing, cinematography, production design, editing, and sound. Six students are accepted into each discipline every second year, following a rigorous admissions process. the students are selected based on only two criteria:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Does the applicant have talent in the chosen discipline? and<\/li>\n
  2. Can that talent benefit from the education offered at the Norwegian Film School?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Once accepted, the students enter an intensive programme where they receive training within their chosen discipline \u2013 where there is, among other things, an emphasis on teaching them to become storytellers and artists within their discipline. They also work on production exercises with members of all the other disciplines (in teams chosen by the school), and attend classes in subjects common to all the disciplines, including dramaturgy & storytelling, artistic awareness, and visual storytelling (called \u00abcinematurgy\u00bb). There are no elective courses; all workshops, projects, lectures, etc., are obligatory.<\/p>\n

    All of the education the students receive has one purpose and one purpose only: to guide them towards realising their talent as filmmakers. Any knowledge they might gain from, for example, film history is only interesting if it makes them more aware of the context in which their own artistic production occurs. As a result, there are no tests along the way, only evaluations, and \u2013 at the end of the third year \u2013 a final examination based on the presentation of both group and individual work.<\/p>\n

    The school is built around some basic pedagogical principles, including \u00abthe right to make mistakes\u00bb and \u00abrestrictions (or constraints) breed creativity\u00bb and filmmaking is a collaborative art. The application of these principles is most visible in the frequent production exercises.<\/p>\n

    Another tool used in these production exercises is the declaration of intent<\/em>; a document each student in a film team must write before beginning their main contribution to the film. At the final screenings, the finished productions are measured, not against any subjective standard of quality, but purely as to what extent each individual member of the team was able to carry out his or her intentions.<\/p>\n

    What effect does this have on teaching?<\/h3>\n

    All the teaching staff at the Norwegian Film School are filmmaking professionals, and none come from an exclusively academic background. Most have never taught before coming to teach at the Film School, but are highly regarded artists within their fields. Some have a background from academia but more do not.<\/p>\n

    Teaching staff in this form of intensive arts training must ensure that the students are closely followed up constantly; the role is much more like mentoring than traditional teaching. Often specific skills will be taught by external specialists, while the teaching staff guide the students to help them apply these skills in the production of their art.<\/p>\n

    Another challenge comes from the fact that as many of the teachers are working professionals, and continue to work while teaching, they share the responsibility for the students in their discipline with other part-time teachers. This makes it necessary for them to communicate closely with each other in order to ensure each individual student\u2019s progress is monitored and appropriate feedback is given.<\/p>\n

    The primary duties of the Norwegian Film School teachers can then be summed up as follows:<\/p>\n