Thursday, 31.07.2008
Movies

Ireland is Hollywood - with a small "h". This misty land cannot replicate the dusty hills and the heat of Los Angeles, California, but it's had its fair share of movie triumph in the past decade. We've had a few Oscars and some very decent plots. A slight lull has followed the heights of My Left Foot, The Crying Game and Michael Collins. But, great films need great writers, directors, actors and camera-men. They need finance and they need luck at the box office. Whatever about the latter, the former can be nourished and trained.

There's a goodly deal of recommendable training programmes for prospective film-makers or actors. For example, one that caught this writer's eye was a series of two-day weekend courses with award winning film-maker Laurence Henson. As an example of all-rounder programmes out there, this one seems to be the ideal. Described by novelist Rose Doyle as the "best course there is", the course deals with "positioning the audience, Hollywood and Europe, the writing process, screenplay structure and how it works and the difference between cinema and TV."

You'll also get the drill on "making a scene, forming characters, the secrets of dialogue, narrative and layout." When art is over, money will inevitably rear its ugly corporate head. To get you prepared, you'll be advised on your legal options as well as how you go about selling your screenplay.

As a handy bonus of the course, when it's over, you can stay in touch afterwards via a free ongoing help line. The fee for the course comes cheap and no previous experience in the film business is needed. You can contact the course providers, Tango Films, at 01 2697689

Outside of the full-time courses in colleges and universities across the land, there's a bulk of film activity sprouting in local areas. The Film Society, Galway Town Hall and the Film Club at the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castlebar, County Mayo are both terrific examples of film buffs getting together to show films and share their knowledge of a mutual passion. Visiting film-makers, writers and experts often come along to gatherings of the clubs to talk about movie making as an art and as a business. Once-off seminars and courses are also organised by both the Galway and the Castlebar clubs.

Wouldn't the ambitious among you like to be chosen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be recognised for achievement in the film industry? You know the award, a gold-plated statuette, that's bestowed upon twenty four winners around this time of year...? Best picture… best actor… best actress… directing… original screenplay… documentary short? Yes, poor old Oscar. Nobody's quite sure of the true origin of his name. Actress Bette Davis said it came from her observation that his backside looked like that of her husband Harmon Oscar Nelson. Columnist Sidney Skolsky maintained that he gave the award its nickname to cut out all the long-winded pretension of the official title.

Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences may nominate and vote for candidates for the Oscars. The academy is divided into various branches of film production, and the nominees in each award category are chosen by the members of the corresponding branch; thus, writers nominate writers, directors nominate directors, and so forth. The entire academy membership nominates the candidates for best picture, and votes to determine the winners in most of the categories. So, which categories will you be entering when you've learnt the skills and gotten your film showing in the cinemas of the world?

When the academy was founded in 1927, it was preoccupied with its role in labour problems, its efforts to improve the tarnished image of the film industry, and its function as a clearinghouse for the exchange of ideas about production procedures and new technologies. It was not until May 1928 that the academy approved the committee's suggestions to present Academy Awards of Merit in 12 categories.

The following year the number of categories was reduced to seven, and the two major film awards were collapsed into one, called Best Picture. For many years, the statuettes were cast in bronze, with 24-karat gold plating. During World War II, the statuettes were made of plaster because of metal shortages. Once the fighting ended, the Academy reverted to gold-plated britannium.

One group which has fostered one or two britannium statuettes is Bord Scannán na hÉireann / The Irish Film Board. This body is referred to as the ultimate support and source of guidance for the film industry. Founded in April 1993 by the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, it provides loans and equity investment to independent Irish film-makers to assist in the development and production of Irish films. The Board also acts in co-operation with other Irish semi-state agencies to improve the marketing, sales and distribution of Irish films and to promote training and development in all areas of film-making. Employment of Irish film workers and the use of ancillary Irish services is a vital factor in the Board's consideration of applications for funding. The Film Board assists a number of films in development and provides production loans for 8 - 10 feature films each year. You'd be very well advised to contact the Board to find out about their current schedule of courses and training seminars.

Unfortunately, part-time and evening options in film making education are poorly developed in Ireland. There are several options in film appreciation courses but not so many in the actual skills of the art. Fantastic day-time options include the new Masters In TV and Film Studies in Dublin City University. Maybe if you get really serious about a film-making career you could turn here...