London Film School, offer full-time MA Degree courses in both Film Making and Screewriting.

This new week-long course is designed specifically for directors who want to use improvisation as a central component of their work. The course is highly practical in nature, and all participants will be encouraged to 'learn on their feet" through active involvement in the various improvisation techniques examined. The focus will be on the relationship between the director and the actor, but there will be a component examining how improvisation can be used to improve the quality and effectiveness of the written screenplay.

Sean McCann with participants of the Improvisation Workshop July 2008 (Photo: Amos Soffian)

Course Outline

The course will focus on the following key areas:

• How to get actors to improvise successfully. How do you do it? Not all actors are trained in improvisation. Some hate it. Some love it but don't always apply it successfully. This course will show you how.
• Improvisation using pre-existing material - developing scenes / back - story / characterisation and deep character. This is particularly helpful for novice film-makers who want a new set of skills to develop their methods of working with actors.
• Improvisation from scratch - how to generate story, character, and the foundations of a full screen-play from the ground up.
• Improvisation as a rehearsal technique AND Improvisation as part of the final shooting script.
• "Pitfalls, Bad Habits and Areas Of Concern". Improvisation is a tool for creating drama, and can be a help or a hinderance. This course will look at how improvisation can be mis-applied, and also at some common misperceptions about the whole Impro approach.
• "Does It Have To Be Funny?" Improvisation is a natural generator of humour, but can be used with equal success to create drama of the utmost "seriousness".

Participants will have the opportunity to work with experienced improvisers during the week.

By the end of the week, participants will have a deep working knowledge of the fundamentals of Improvisational practice, and will have applied their knowledge in numerous rehearsal settings.

The course will be highly practical in nature - although there will be full notes issued, and time set aside for feedback, the majority of the course will be spent workshopping the numerous techniques - expect to spend a lot of time out of your seat.

Maximum Participants: 20

Fee: £380

Early Bird discount:

10% discount -
Book your place by Friday 31st October to claim 10% discount

15% combined discount
Book this plus any one of the following courses by Friday 31st October to claim a further 5% discount:

An introduction to the craft of the director
An introduction to Working with Actors and Their Techniques

Please quote "Early Bird" in your correspondence to claim these discounts. Places subject to availability. Early bird offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.

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Instructions

Please complete the Application Form and the Ethnicity and Disability monitoring form and email them to : Carolyn Atherton:
workshops@lfs.org.uk

Resources

• Application Form
• Ethnicity and Disability monitoring form

email or post them together with the following:

• Personal Statement
• CV

Postal Address:
Workshops Admissions, The London Film School, 24 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9UB, UK

Email:
Carolyn Atherton: workshops@lfs.org.uk

Telephone us:
+44 (0)20 7836 9642

Fax us:
+44 (0)20 7497 3718

• Workshop Tutor Profile

Funding

Skillset Screen Bursaries allow freelancers and employees in the UK's film and TV industries to train for less. Visit: www.skillset.org/film/
funding/bursaries for details and contact Hal Sinden directly for eligibility criteria hals@skillset.org