The Film Academy of Miroslav Ondricek is an independent film school offering, between others, an international Bachelor and Master of Arts Degree in Film and Television. All lectures, seminars and workshops in film degree programs are conducted in English. The Master Degree is accredited by the Czech Republic´s Ministry of Education and therefore recognized throughout Europe and the European Union.
The Film Academy educates and trains students to a professional level with specializations in Screenwriting and Directing; Cinematography; Sound or Editing. The program aims to equip graduates with a high level of technical competence and craft skills as well as to develop theirs creative skills to the highest artistic level possible. The Academy aims to provide an environment where students can gain an understanding of underlying aesthetic principles of filmmaking and teaches to apply, to explore, to experiment and even to challenge those principles in the real world.
Hands-on experience and team-work are both given a strong emphasis throughout the study programme. Therefore, the course includes ongoing practical exercises with focus on specific skills such as studio lighting, camera work or editing techniques.
School has
canteen
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Student programs
International Film Studies Program
(1 semester leading to a diploma 2 semester International Film Study Program)
The primary goal of this course is to install in students the basic understanding of the technical and creative processes of the Film Production. During the programme the students are encouraged to specialize (but not necessary) in scriptwriting, directing and in cinematographic craft. The course culminates in a collaborative students final project - a short (5 - 8 min) film made on 35mm colour material or a documentary film.
This course is suitable for students with some knowledge of film and video craft or for students from other film schools who want to experience different country, culture and different practices as well as for those who want to “try their luck” on 35mm film environment.
Scriptwriting
There are four main segments in the process of the screenwriting:
- The idea (the story of the film)
- The outline
- The treatment
- The script
The scriptThere will be lectures but the main emphases will be given to writing workshops where students will try either individually or in groups to develop their projects.
Directing
In this module the students will get familliar with the basic film grammar. They will learn how to translate the literary screenplay into the shooting script, to work on stage with actors, the basics of an art direction and they will attend digital post-production workshop including the digital editing. In addition, they will be introduced to the basics of production management (script breakdown, scheduling, crossplotting, budgeting…).
- The pre-production - work on the shooting script, location hunting, casting…
- Work with actors - rehearsals
- Work in studio and on location
- Shooting - studio and location management
- Post-production including film music
Cinematography
Theoretical lectures covering basic knowledge of photographic process are mainly oriented to specific problems of exponometry, film laboratory, lighting and postproduction. There is a strong emphasis on student´s hands-on experience through practical exercises developing specific skills important for cinematographers. Practical exercises help students to get skills with composition, different kinds of shots, camera angles, panning, traveling, running, tracking, zooming and setting of shot plot. There are also practical tests how to set a correct exposure with different measuring devices and how to check effective speed of film material. Not less important is the way how to use light to create appropriate atmosphere.
This course will be mainly a practical one with emphasis on practical exercises, workshops and individual consultations. All trainers and tutors are practicing filmmakers and the tuition is provided in English. All efforts are focused on students´ final project which will be a collaborative effort with them taking on various roles. It is up to students to decide if their project will be a 35mm drama or if it will take a form of a documentary film.
The program is designed for achieving a broad knowledge in Film and Television Production. All students take classes in Screenwriting, Directing (Drama and Documentary), Cinematography, Production and Post-production techniques; selecting one of those fields as their major area of study. Still Photography, Film History and Theory, Film Music, Set design and other courses are also offered to students. The study includes guest lectures by visiting film professionals such as Oscar-nominated cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek (Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Fireman’s Ball, White Bus etc) and others. The course is accompanied by practical exercises which focus on specific skills such as studio lighting and camera work. In the first semester students make up to five-minute film on DV. They are involved in number of practical exercises focusing on craft skills.
As always it is a very 'packed programme' but still, when possible, we would like to arrange for students field trips to Prague's Barrandov Studios and again, if time will allow, will arrange trips to discover Bohemia's beautiful historic towns and countryside. There is a schools cinema to see some of the most important films from the school's film library. At the beginning of the course we will include in the timetable couple of lessons in 'how to get by in Czech', meaning the language, customs and basically, how not to get lost if something happens.
Teachers and trainers are all working professional, specialists in their chosen field. All lessons will be conducted in English and when and where necessary the translators will be supplied. There will be a number of Academy's student assistants to help when needed.
All the teachers and trainners are practising professionals.
The students are encourage to specialize
Students will write, produce, shoot and edit the short film, either 35mm drama or a documentary.
The basic costs, including the raw material, actors and the tution is included in the course fee.
The day visit to the largest European film studio Barrandov.
The possibility of working experience on graduation films and on other projects being shot at the Academy.
This course is suitable for Erasmus student´s mobility scheme. (ACTC credits) The tuition is in English.
For those who want to enhance their study there is a possibility for graduates of one semester International Film Studies Program to continue for another semester in the Diploma International Film Studies Program. For the graduates of film schools or for professional filmmakers it is possible to come straight to the second semester without going through the first one. Again, this course is suitable for the Erasmus mobility scheme.
This course starts only in October with possibility to join the Diploma International Film Studies Program in the next semester.
The diploma international film studies program
It is an intensive one-year film course offered by the Film Academy in Písek. The program provides a practical and theoretical film education and training in English, a professional training in Directing, Producing, Screenwriting, Sound and Editing, Cinematography and Animation.
First semester will be focused on theory and basic practical exercises. The second semester will be entirely devoted to the final project which can be either a 35mm film drama or a documentary film.
The semester one
The program is designed for achieving a broad knowledge in Film and Television Production. All students take classes in Screenwriting, Directing (Drama and Documentary), Cinematography, Production and Post-production techniques; selecting one of those fields as their major area of study. Still Photography, Film History and Theory, Film Music, Set design and other courses are also offered to students. The study includes guest lectures by visiting film professionals such as Oscar-nominated cinematographer Miroslav Ondricek (Amadeus, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Fireman’s Ball, White Bus etc) and others. The course is accompanied by practical exercises which focus on specific skills such as studio lighting and camera work. In the first semester students make up to five-minute film on DV. They are involved in number of practical exercises focusing on craft skills
The semester two
In the second semester, students make a ten-minute film on 35mm or they will make their own documentary film. It is expected the students will form their own crews, involving writer, director, producer, cinematographer depending on their field of specialization.
Bachelor degree program
Two specializations in the departments:
- Department of Screenwriting & Directing
- Department of Cinematography, Sound & Editing
Students choose to specialize in ONE of the following four fields:
- SCREENWRITING & DIRECTING
- CINEMATOGRAPHY
- SOUND
- EDITING
While students are selected according to one specialization there are courses, which are common to all students particularly in the first semester.
During the first year, all students take classes in Screenwriting (and Dramaturgy), Directing (Drama and Documentary), Cinematography, Sound and Editing with an emphasis on their particular field of specialization. This is in order to achieve an overview and broad knowledge of Film and Television Production. Still Photography, Film History and Theory, Czech History and Culture as well as Czech Language are also required components of study.
The degree program is structured in such a way that all students not only attend classes in their practical field of specialization, but also receive a well-rounded Arts education encompassing a range of subjects such as the Theory and History of Art, Literature and Music.
This approach builds upon the tradition laid down by all the major Central and Eastern European film schools.
In the second and third level, students not only concentrate on their field of specialization, but also continue with theoretical classes. Hands-on experience and teamwork are both given a strong emphasis throughout the program of study. Therefore, course work includes ongoing practical exercises that focus on specific skills such as writing dialogue and comedy scenes; directing actors; studio lighting; location sound or editing techniques.
- At the end of each academic year, students work in project teams to create a short film where the focus is to develop an idea from concept to finished production using their acquired technical and creative skills
- The first level project is a 5-10 minute short film without dialogue and shot on DV camera
- The second level project is a 10-15 minute short film with dialogue and shot on DV camera
- The third level project is a 15-20 minute short film with dialogue and shot on 35mm film. If a student team wishes to shoot a film longer than 20 minutes they may do so using DV technology or they may pay for additional film stock, film processing and post-production costs or they can choose for their final project to make a documentary film
COPYRIGHT The Film Academy of Miroslav Ondricek holds copyright to all productions made on the Bachelor Degree program. Students retain copyright of any scripts written during the Bachelor Degree program.
