New courses at AFTRS 2012
The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) today announced new additions to the 2012 film and TV curriculum including two new masters programs.
Initiated by Neil Peplow, Director of Screen Content, the new courses will focus on building skills to create recognised career paths and springboards to the industry.
Brought over by AFTRS from the UK in May, Peplow – whose credits include co-producing Shooting Fish and Waking Ned executive producing Bright Young Things – had previously completed an audit of UK screen education courses with three of seven meeting the certified criteria.
With AFTRS, Peplow recognised graduates were eager to jump straight into their selected field. However, the new courses would, Peplow said speaking with Encore, build skills through workshops within specialised areas, teaching a realist approach, from the foundation diploma – for students with a passion for film but unsure where they belong – through to the masters courses.
Peplow’s aim is to see students leave AFTRS ready to work, not simply as an auteur, but with a strong understanding across a range of styles of production. Peplow gave the addition of the Documentary graduate diploma as an example, preparing students to also work across factual series such as Go Back To Where You Came From.
Beginning with the Foundation Diploma: Introduction to Concepts & Skills as an introductory course, it would help a hopeful filmmaker find where they fit in to the screen content landscape. This is a 32 week, full time course.
From the Foundation Diploma, the Graduate Certificates: Fundamentals in Specialist Skills combine work and study and progress a student ready to commit to a specialist area. New to the field are subjects; documentary fundamentals, directing fundamentals, producing fundamentals, story development and screenwriting fundamentals, cinematography fundamentals and sound studio practices along with the pre-existing courses.
Within the Intensive Professional Creative Practice: Graduate Diplomas, designed as a pre-requisite to the Masters of Screen Arts, students will move into the industry with new courses; documentary, post production sound and screen sound recording as well as the pre-existing courses.
AFTRS Master programs are for an outstanding practitioner seeking advanced level study. A Master of Screen Arts will see a student create a major project with specialist skills honed over the previous courses.
Likewise the Master of Screen Arts & Business will shape Australia’s next big producer studying not only film but economics and business, politics and philosophy and go to work for a media company planning a major work.
For more information on the new courses visit AFTRS.
New additions?
More like back to the future.
But at least by bringing back MA and Doco courses they’ve admitted what a dopey move it was to cut them in the first place.
Now they’ve just gotta bring back Production Design.
And the old TV course…
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For the record Production Design never left AFTRS – it’s alive in kicking – having run in in 2010, 2011 and up again for 2012.. The MSA and MSAB are genuine evolutions and new offerings from Australia’s national screen arts and broadcast School…
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