Wildlife film making is still one of the hardest subjects both to enter and work in professionally. Having been established for well over 10 years the Wildlife Film School operates with the aim of giving you first-hand experience of working in the field whilst filming real wildlife out on location.
The wildlife film school started in the summer of 2007 taking a group of students who wanted to fully experience what it was actually like to live and work in the field as a wildlife camera operator; whilst also being able to enhance some of their pre-existing filming and editing skills further towards the specialist area of wildlife film work.
During the first few years of running the Wildlife Film School we became aware that there was actually a ´large gap´ in the educational system when it came to the teaching of wildlife orientated film work, and so we adapted our courses (and ideas) to fill this gap.
We now run our courses in some of the most beautiful locations in Scotland and continue to be the world’s foremost wildlife film school in terms of offering an unprecedented amount of time actually spent on location working out in the field.
We are continuing to push this even further, by continuing to be the only wildlife film school in the world that films and edits, with 4K equipment and technology in a tented base-camp, full time, out on location.
Right from the very start we have wanted to do things differently, taking everything to the next level.
We have always filmed real wildlife living freely in its own natural environment.
We have always filmed out on location within these environments to give our students a genuine appreciation of what is needed to work there.
We have always taught from the fundamental skills upwards allowing even the least experienced students to attend our courses and come away having really learnt something. And finally we believe very seriously in practical hands-on experience. We don´t just teach you how to do something, but we demonstrate it to you, and then give you enough time to do it yourself so as to gain the skills necessary to undertake that task required successfully on your own.
Finally… All of our courses are not run in nature reserves or animal rescue centres or any other location where you may find the animals are ´kept´ in pens. All of the animals you will encounter on all of our courses are real wildlife, living in their own natural environments.
We equip you with professional 4K cameras and editing facilities as well as all the base-camp equipment you need for your course. We take you through the fundamentals of wildlife film and television documentary production as well as all the associated logistics, field-craft and camera skills that are required to become a professional wildlife camera operator.
Many of the students who have attended one of our courses have gone on to work professionally within the world of wildlife film-making, some of whom claim that our courses have directly lead to employment with the prestigious BBC Natural History Unit at Bristol in the UK; others students used it to gain valuable ‘In-the-field’ experience for when applying for universities courses at such establishments as the UWE in Bristol (MA in Wildlife Film Making) and the National Film and Television School.
All our instructional staff are professionals from within the broadcast television and film production industries or their relevant professions such as base-camp supervisors; meaning that they are very experienced individuals who will help you get the most out of your course.
However, as we said above, it is not our aim to just ´teach´ you everything. We believe very strongly in the principles of demonstrating something to you and then giving you the time and space to learn it for yourself though hands-on experience for yourself.
Unlike some other film courses, the films you make are yours: The instructors and tutors are here to assist you, and not the other way around. They are not making the films for you, and you are not simply assisting them to make a film for them; you will be doing all the filming, the scripting, the story-boarding, the sound recording and the editing!
We will provide everything you need to be able to produce professional footage of your own out on location and the completed film that you make is yours to take home with you at the end of your course.
