What you can expect from a Screen and Film School Applicant Day

From January through to March every year we hold a number of Applicant Days at our three schools in Birmingham, Brighton and Manchester. The aim of these events is for all of our degree-level applicants to get a taste of what life at Screen and Film School is really like.

This will be your chance to have your creative portfolio reviewed by a member of our academic team, when applying to our BA (Hons) Filmmaking, BA (Hons) Production Design for Screen & Film, BA (Hons) Filmmaking Top-Up or BA (Hons) Hair and Make-Up for Screen & Film courses.

Moreover, it will be a brilliant opportunity for students to interact with fellow applicants for the first time, as well as offering the chance to explore their soon-to-be home city, new school campus and our state-of-the-art facilities and kit.

Applicant Days are such an important way of introducing everything the Film Schools have to offer to ambitious filmmakers that we have put together some helpful information on what you can expect if you attend one, and there are some top tips at the end that will set you up perfectly for the day.

Meet The Team

You will have the chance to meet and chat with your local Applicant Experience manager and to put a face to a name. In Birmingham you will be welcomed by Lucy Carey, in Brighton by Sabrina Gunston and in Manchester by Carly Paton. They will be on hand to offer advice on anything you need to know, and to answer any questions you might have.

Also present on the day will be current Screen and Film School students and members of our wider team, such as our Industry Lecturers, Heads of Year and College Principals. Our Student Ambassadors will also be there to welcome you.

Hands On Workshops

This may be your very first opportunity to experience up-close the array of professional, high-quality kit we use at all of our schools. This could include exploring our film sets and studios, editing suites and screening rooms, as well as seeing up close our top-notch equipment which includes brands such as RED Raven, Arri Alexa, Sony FS7 and Canon C300, and a selection of modern mirrorless DSLRs.

Taking part in these relaxed, informal workshops may also help you to decide which disciplines you would like to pursue the most; typical workshops on Applicant Days include Cinematography and Directing Actors, all of which take place in three our brand-new studios.

How to prepare for a portfolio review

Portfolio examples can include showreels, short films, photography, scripts, film analysis, or any creative work, concepts, posters or ideas that show your skills and passion for filmmaking. During your portfolio review, you will have 15 minutes to share and discuss your work with a member of our academic team – so please present a small segment of your best work. Work can be displayed on a website, USB stick or physically in a folder.

A showreel of any college or personal work would be great and it doesn’t have to be more than a few minutes long – it doesn’t even have to be finished! We are looking to see your strengths and your passion for film, whether it’s an important theme, narrative, character, location. Creative abilities can also be shown with photography or written work. The key is to not be afraid to experiment and to try to express what you are truly passionate about.

Meet our Student Ambassadors

There is no better way to discover precisely what studying at Screen and Film School is like than to hear about it from people who have been there and done it. We invite current Student Ambassadors to our Applicant Days to share tips, insider advice and answer any questions that applicants may have, no matter how big or small.

This is an invaluable way of getting the perspective of one of your peers, rather than that of a lecturer or staff member.

Take the Grand Tour

This is your best chance to explore and then envisage the very place where you may spend the best three years of your life. The places you could make your first student film or meet your first University friends.

You could be considering joining us in Birmingham, Brighton or Manchester; one of the things they all have in common is the facilities and buildings they occupy are of the very highest caliber and are full of the best equipment, teaching assets and places to interact and feel at home.

Explore the City

After attending our Applicant Day, we recommend making the most of your time in city. We are extremely fortunate at Screen and Film School that we are located in the heart of three of the most attractive, dynamic cities anywhere in the UK. Birmingham is on the rise as one of the most exciting film locations in the UK, Brighton is a creative, seaside paradise and Manchester is a northern powerhouse of style, colour and expression.

We hope that you will take away all of the above and much more by experiencing one of our Applicant Days. But before then, here is a checklist we would like to share with all of you who are preparing to come to one.

How to get the best out of your Applicant Day:

• Try not to be nervous, you are not being assessed or monitored whilst in the workshops
• Ask those burning questions, no matter how small
• Make sure you come away fully understanding the UCAS offer you have received
• You should leave knowing what the next steps in your application will be
• Make the most of meeting our current students and other applicants
• If you need any UCAS support, speak to your local Applicant Experience Manager
• Try to see the very best of your new campus and new city!