Combining Theory and Practice
As a rule, basic requirements for an application at the Filmakademie are a higher education entrance qualification and at least one year’s experience working in the film and media area. Most students are enrolled in courses with a standard period of study of 8 semesters. Others who have already completed a preliminary qualification in a corresponding field may skip the first four semesters of basic training and enter directly the advanced level of the so-called project phase of study. The conscious decision made when the academy was founded to tightly structure the curriculum is ultimately to the students' advantage. But above all it is in keeping with the basic philosophy of preparing students as well as possible to work in the industry. It is also for this reason that from the first semester onwards all courses combine theory and practice.
Following an opening lecture by a speaker well-known in his or her field, training begins with a series of basic courses on organization and technology, but also on basic content-related concepts like an introduction to the principles of cinematic narration or the history and terminology of editing. Afterwards, classes in the individual departments start.
In the Film and Media course of studies, during the two-year basic study period, students attend classes in Screenwriting, Directing, Cinematic Experimentation, and Image Composition/Cinematography as well as courses commencing in the second year in Montage/Editing and Animation.
The first year is divided into quarters. In each of these, students take one of the following compulsory courses: Image Composition/Cinematography, Screenwriting, Cinematic Experimentation, or Directing. The Cinematic Experimentation course provides students with the greatest possible creative freedom for their projects within the available budget. Moreover, first-year students are introduced to the fundamentals of production. The end of each quarter also sees the completion of student film projects made in teams drawn from different departments. Along with the systematic linking of theory and practice, this team orientation represents another cornerstone of the academy’s educational approach, since it reflects the division of labor found in professional film production.
The second year of study is divided into semesters. In one half of the year students receive instruction in the particular field they have chosen, while in the other half they select one of a list of electives made up of Screenwriting, Directing (fictional, documentary, or advertising film), Image Composition/Cinematography, Montage/Editing, Cinematic Experimentation and Animation. Film presentations then take place at the end of each semester. Throughout this introductory phase of study, students also attend compulsory interdisciplinary sessions, such as a lecture on film history and film theory, or the so-called “Aka-Pitchings”, which involve students of the advanced phase of study presenting their projects in various stages to all the students of the Filmakademie. To ensure that students also engage with the medium of film on a scholarly level and develop their writing skills, they are required to submit papers in their first and third years dealing with either film history or film theory.
Those students who have completed the basic studies progress to the two-year advanced or “project” phase of study, where they specialize in one of the subject areas Animation, Education and Science Film, Image Composition/Cinematography, Documentary Film, Screenwriting, Interactive Media, Montage/Editing, Fiction Film, or Advertising Film. In addition, there are the subject areas Motion Design and Production Design that are only open to students with pre-degrees. As its name suggests, this project phase focuses on the practical process of film production. During this period, the amount of theory teaching is reduced. Students now spend the entire year on their film projects, and the film produced in their fourth year is submitted as their graduating work.
As in the case of the Film and Media study course, the Production study course also lasts four years. As a rule, acceptance into the Production course requires at least two years of professional experience in the film and media industry. From their first year onwards, Production students organize projects in teams drawn from other departments. Together with the director and cinematographer, producers ensure a sensible and responsible use of the budget made available for their projects. In their third year, in addition to their studies in the Production department, students must also complete one of three electives: Creative Producing, International Producing, or Series Producing. In this context, Production students work with colleagues from other departments such as Screenwriting or Fiction Film or with participants in the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris to develop material for film projects, in some cases up to a production-ready stage. If indicated in the application, the students can also choose one of the following three specializations: Animation/Effects Producing, Crossmedia/Games Producing, or Advertising Film Producing. The training then takes place in the respective departments of Animation, Interactive Media, or Advertising Film, as part of the Film and Media course of studies.
Those applicants who have already completed the required preliminary qualification, at least a First Diploma or a Bachelor, for instance, can generally transfer from other universities directly into the third year (project course) of the Production course of studies as well as all subject areas of the Film and Media course of studies, except for Fiction Film, and Image Composition/Cinematography. In the subject area Animation, the applicants choose between a specialization in Animation and Effects, Animation/Effects Producing, Concept and Art, or Technical Directing; students of Screenwriting choose between Fiction Film and TV Series; in the subject area Interactive Media, they choose between Content Director and Crossmedia/Games Producing; in the subject area Advertising Film, they can either specialize in Advertising Film Directing or Advertising Film Producing.
The third study course, Film Music and Sound Design, which is divided into the subject areas Film Music and Film Sound/Sound Design, is a two-year project course. This graduate course is also subject to the principle that all students must be involved in the development of Filmakademie projects and their production process.
Finally, the range of options offered by the academy includes a one-year postgraduate program within the framework of the Atelier Ludwigsburg-Paris master class and a Film Acting Workshop which is organized in cooperation with the Academy of Performing Arts Baden-Wuerttemberg and is targeted above all at young theater actors who want to learn about the specific requirements of acting for film and television.
Andreas Friedrich
Head of Studies
