Meet the Lecturers: Part 1

The start of a new year is the perfect reason to introduce you to some Screen and Film School lecturers. We have two inspirational people from Birmingham and Brighton in this, Part 1. Then over the course of the next few weeks we will hear from other equally talented film professionals who we are fortunate enough to be able to call upon for their expertise and industry experience.

Across our three schools, we pride ourselves on being able to guarantee our students that they will always be taught by film and television professionals. From directing, cinematography, editing, camera operation and screenwriting, our friendly and experienced lecturers are always on hand to help our students develop all the practical filmmaking skills they will ever need to succeed in their chosen career path in our industry.

Not only are our lecturers all active players in their field and have impressive résumés, but they are approachable and always accessible to our students. This goes a long way towards building the community environment which we aim for at Screen and Film School. The wants and needs of our students and the lecturers who teach them go hand in hand with each other.

We’re starting our first ‘Meet the Lecturers’ feature down on the South Coast. Sadie Anderson is a Production Design lecturer at Screen and Film School Brighton. Sadie has set up and led some of the most successful courses in Production Arts in the country and has been held up as being exemplary by UAL for her interdisciplinary work. Sadie is the perfect person to help launch our brand-new degree course for the next academic year: BA Hons Production Design for Screen & Film. This course has been developed to reflect the huge surge in demand for professional, technically skilled production design graduates who are equipped with vital creative, logistic and production skills, and who are ready to enter into the industry.

You can find out more about this new course by contacting our Admissions Team, but for now, here is a brief Q and A with our Production Design lecturer, Sadie Anderson:

Sadie Anderson

How would you describe your role at Screen and Film School Brighton?

I am the Production Design Lecturer at Screen and Film School Brighton, I work with all students at Level 4, to introduce them to the main skills and delights of the Art Department and associated roles: Production Designer, Art Director, Costume Props and many more. I also work with Level 5 and 6 students who have chosen Production Design as their specialism. As well as this, I also teach on the Short Film Modules across all 3 years.

My day at the Film School is varied, lots of research and exploring ideas, facilitating the testing out of techniques and experimenting and lots of collaboration between staff, students and specialisms.

Could you tell us about some of your proudest achievements in the industry  and some  of your well-known  credits?

My favorite projects that I have worked on include music videos for The Lightning Seeds and Julian Cope, a live tour for Erasure, working in 3D for IMAX, and a gold award for the first Sony PlayStation TV AD. 

How would you describe the environment at Screen and Film School to any prospective students?

Interesting, creative, challenging, collaborative and a lot of fun!

What is your  favourite  recent TV show  or film and why?

I love Stath Lets Flats (Channel 4 comedy), as the character development is amazing and it’s very fast-paced, unpredictable and verges on the surreal. 

What is your best piece of  filmmaking  advice?

Learn to really look at things and see properly  and if it isn’t essential to the story, character or the aesthetic, then take it out of the shot.

Moving up to the Midlands and at Screen and Film School Birmingham expert Cinematographer Tunji Akinsehinwa brings a wealth of experience shooting documentaries and being involved in exciting film projects all over the world to our students. We are delighted to introduce you to Tunji:

Tunji Akinsehinwa

How would you describe your role at Screen and Film School Birmingham?

My role at the Film School is Cinematography Lecturer, student tutor, a production supervisor and this coming semester I will be the short film module leader.

Looking at my day-to-day, once the students are all present the workshop begins. The class numbers are small so I can get around to each student especially during the practical aspect of the workshop which takes up about 70% of the time spent teaching and learning.

After the workshop the students make sure they have accounted for all the kit used and often they then want to speak with me about something, so I’ll make myself available for that and this time helps to round off the day for us all.

Could you tell us about some of your proudest achievements in the industry  and some  of your well-known  credits?

In 2013 I decided to move to Nigeria since it had the third largest film industry in the world. I thought my training gained here could be better served there and it was. I shot loads of stuff there including documentaries, feature films, short films and a TV series.

I have several credits from that time including a six-part TV series called Dere: An African Fairytale, which is available on Netflix, as well as a gangster film called O-Town. I suppose my favourite achievement so far is shooting Nigeria’s first Zombie feature called Ojuju. It won rave reviews all over the world.

A more recent achievement was being invited by the British Society of Cinematographers to write the foreword in the 100th edition of their magazine, which discussed Diversity within the industry.

How would you describe the environment at Screen and Film School to any prospective students?

I’ve worked at quite a few film schools and because of the manner in which universities function they can be quite restrictive and regulated. Screen and Film School is quite the antithesis of this; it has a relaxed environment and tries to give the students the space to be self-expressive and creative within the school and beyond. There is a pleasant, informal relationship between the staff and students, and we encourage the students to socialise and to get to know each other.

What is your  favourite  recent TV show  or film and why?

My favourite TV show is a tie between The Boys and The Last Kingdom. The Boys is surreal and reflects society by underlining those that have power and those that don’t, or those that have power and have been corrupted by it.

The Last Kingdom is very similar except it takes place in an ancient era. Both have heroes who will fight for the weak against the strong. Some things never change!

What is your best piece of  filmmaking  advice?

1. When making a film don’t assume anything. If you think something has been done without checking, then it means it probably hasn’t.

2. The best films usually come out of those crews that create strong teams.

3. If you’re the producer(s) make sure there is plenty of food and drink on set.

4. You come to Screen and Film School to learn, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes!

Thanks to Tunji for those words of wisdom. From philosophical advice on learning from your mistakes, to demanding the best food and drink when on set, our lecturers have been there and done that.

We feel that it is important for our students to know that there is no divide between themselves and the film professionals who teach them. Similarly, we have a community of budding filmmakers across our three schools and three cities. Collaboration is key at Screen and Film School. We’ll be hearing more from other lecturers from Birmingham, Brighton and Manchester in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to see who we feature next…