Please prepare the following for your BA Filmmaking online interview and submit this on Acceptd at least 10 days prior to your interview date (you will be emailed directly with an interview date and time)
1. Please create a short scripted drama based on the guidelines given below:
At RCS our core work is in scripted drama and we invite you to create a short script on the theme ‘Birth’. Please submit the script of the film – this should be engaging to the reader.
Your film should adhere to the following guidelines;
The film should be 3 minutes in length (or as near as). Please just use a final card that states your role/s in the production, with no credits for anyone else. This should hold for no longer than 5 seconds.
Maximum of 1-2 actors
There must be at least one line of sync dialogue. Sync dialogue means we need to be able to see the actor’s mouth move in sync with the line. It is not narration or voice-over, although these may be used in other parts of the film.
The location can be all interior or all exterior, or both
No animation – ideas must be live action
All scripts must fall within the bounds of compliance rules in terms of taste and decency. The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland has the right to reject a script or film submission that it deems not in compliance with taste and decency regulations.
If it has not been possible to film your script, please do submit your script only for this part.
2) If you have any previous work please send a link to a maximum of two pieces. Please make sure it is clear your role/s on the projects. If you have not made any work before this point, please do not worry and just let us know. The interview will commence regardless.
3) Film Studies Written Component
Critical thinking and evaluation are very important components of the BA Filmmaking course. As well as developing your narrative skills, and your technical skills along with your collaborative nature, we also expect you to be able to think critically. We expect you to be able to deconstruct the work of others, analyse it, learn from it, and therefore improve your own practice.
Critical thinking is not just about saying one film is good or another is bad; it is about exploring your relationship with a visual text. How does it make you feel? Do you like it or dislike it? More importantly how do filmmakers use the tools at their disposal to create these feelings? Is there a link between the craft skills on display and the mood the filmmaker wants to create?
These sort of issues form the core of our Film Studies modules in the first two years of the course and we would expect them to figure prominently in your final year research project. Therefore, we are interested in the filmmakers who have influenced you so far, or whose work you especially admire. It is good for us to know the sort of applicant you are. We want to know whether you are a film fan, which is good, or whether you are a potential film maker, which is better.
To benchmark your thinking and your range of viewing we want you to submit a list of your five favourite film directors. We then want you to submit a short essay on the filmmaker on the list whose work you admire most. The essay should be no less than 300 words and no more than 500 words. You need to indicate the word count at the end of the piece.
The important thing to remember is that this is a personal view; there is no right or wrong. It is perfectly acceptable, for example, to admire a director who is not necessarily well regarded providing you can express that view clearly and constructively and are able to defend your opinion. Rudeness for its own sake is not helpful; reasoned opposition however is much more acceptable.
Try not to waste words on simply rehashing movie plots; we are probably familiar with most of the films you are likely to talk about and if not we can find out for ourselves. Consider context. Do some research; why might you have chosen this director? Try to find something about the filmmaker that impresses you enough to stimulate your critical faculties.
We will discuss your essay when we see you at interview. We may also discuss other directors on the list so make sure you are able to talk about them all.
Your Film Studies Written Component and Script must also be uploaded to Acceptd.
