The Digital Film School has successfully been running filmmaking courses for teenagers and adults for over 10 years in Dublin. The hands on practical course has seen many past graduates secure a place studying filmmaking at third level education. Films made by students on the course have gone on to win prizes both Nationally and Internationally, including two students being flown all expenses paid to South Korea to represent their film overseas.
The Digital Film School courses are exceptionally practical and can be enjoyed as a summer course or as a TY workshop. They have always prioritise having teachers that are active filmmakers themselves. The Digital Film School was established by Julianne Forde and Ruth Tracey of Tailored Films. Tailored Films have frequently collaborated with students of The Digital Films School courses in making films and TV series for wider audiences.
CinÉireann caught up with founder Julianne Forde to talk about the school.
CinÉ: Where did the idea to set the Digital Film School up come from?
Julianne Forde: The Digital Film School is something that we have been running since 2005. It is something that myself and Ruth Treacy setup after we left college in IADT. At first it was only filmmaking courses aimed at teenagers. We wanted to set that up as there wasn't much like it at the time in Dublin. Due to popular demand a lot of adults asked if they could do the courses as well, so we started running a specially designed practical filmmaking course for adults that takes place in an intensive 5-day period.
When did you start seeing demand from adults to do your courses?
Pretty early on. It started in 2005 and it was about 2008 that we started running the course for adults. Its very hands-on. There's a workshop and they come up with an idea for a film, refine it into a script, due practical courses in lighting, sound, camerawork, and then they all use the equipment to make a film and edit it. So by the end of the course they have a finished product, they have a film that they have made. But more importantly what they have are skills that they can use in future filmmaking projects. Some of the films that have been made on the course have turned out really well and in particular some of the teenagers' films have gone onto compete in international competitions. They've gone as far afield as South Korea, representing Ireland with their films. But the main purpose of the course is that you take away filmmaking skills that you can apply to future projects. We've had different adults with different backgrounds. Some people are interested in doing it for personal reasons or creative reasons, but other times we have people who work in communications departments in businesses and who want to use the skills to create videos for business purposes. We've had people who run their own business and we have also
Talking the Digital Film School
with Julianne Forde
22 CinÉireann / June 2018
Words: Niall Murphy