Hamilton gets its own film school, aligned with festival
The Hamilton filmmaking greats of tomorrow do not have to go to Toronto today to learn the silver screen secrets of movie magic.
As of this summer the city has its own film school.
Nathan Fleet, founder of the long-running annual Hamilton Film Festival, has announced the formation of the Hamilton School of Media Arts which is, in essence, a film school that is being run out of the recently opened Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, 357 Wilson St. E., in Ancaster.
When I was studying film in the '90s, I had to get on a GO bus to take workshops at LIFT (Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto)," says Fleet. Now it will be all offered here."
Instructors who will be kicking off the school's first fall session (from Sept. 19 to Dec. 21), called The Spark," include award-winning filmmaker/director/writer Terrance Odette; cinematographer Michael Penney, who has worked on such shows as HGTV's Designer Guys" and So Chic with Steven and Chris;" and Hamilton-raised Jessica Clement, star of the feature film Night Blooms" and a regular on CBC's Pure."
Clement, who has worked alongside talent like Robert Pattinson, Jason Priestley and Sarah Levy, will be teaching a five-part series of acting classes.
Odette, a Kitchener/Toronto transplant to Hamilton who wrote/directed such celebrated films as Saint Monica" and Fall, " is teaching a three-part course called Storytelling, Directing and Editing," on Nov. 16, 23 and 30.
Penney is giving a three-day course on creative cinematography on Wed., Sept. 21, Thurs., Oct. 20 and Mon., Nov. 14, followed by a cinematography immersive weekend on Nov. 19 and 20, all of it exploring principles of lighting, lens choice, camera movement and colour.
These are but a taste of what's on offer at the new school. The curriculum will cover everything from getting an agent, animation, composing music for film, location sound and film set etiquette to pixillation, puppeteering for film, claymation, auditioning and indie filmmaking for teens.
The school, which will feature a mix of workshops, classes, courses and talks, with much practical application and equipment access, got its soft start, so to speak, this summer with a highly successful camp for kids at the arts centre.
We have a 20 foot green screen and the kids come up with what kids can be," says Fleet. They would turn the studio into a police office or a space ship. They would turn rooms into collapsible sets. They learned about storytelling, imagining" stories in a visual way, framing their vision with hands and fingers making a (camera viewfinder) box.
They'd be lying on the ground," says Fleet, with his hands forming a framing box, imitating the children. They'd be seeing the world in a different way. They'd be thinking in terms of cameras and lighting. Within minutes."
Within minutes of having the idea put in their heads that they could tell stories this way, they were doing it, he says.
This was all happening in the beautiful, spacious new facility - with theatres, blackbox space, studio space and so much else - that is the Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre.
The summer was just for the kids. Now, the Hamilton School of Media Arts is up and running for everyone. Adults, teens, kids.
Right here in the city.
Many of the films produced both at the summer camp and during the first half of the fall term will be featured at the Hamilton Film Festival, with which the school is aligned.
Other instructors at the school this term are: Patricio Munoz |(animator/drones/graphics); Nathan Fleet; Jordan Cutler (location sound); Annette Gerard (pixillation); Benton Lowe (puppeteering); and Vincent Genuardi (production/film sets/post film school planning).
For complete schedules and costs (tuition varies from $10 to some of the one-off talks to $400+ for the whole acting series), see Hamilton Film School - 17TH HAMILTON FILM FESTIVAL
Jeff Mahoney is a Hamilton-based reporter and columnist covering culture and lifestyle stories, commentary and humour for The Spectator.jmahoney@thespec.com