The University of Bristol Filmmaking Society

UBFS stands for "The University of Bristol Filmmaking Society", and that is basically what we do. We make films.

We normally produce fictional films, but we're totally into doing documentaries, music videos, sporting footage - anything and everything is considered!

UBFS members meet every fortnight, without fail, in the Students' Union for the Screenwriters' Guild where people bring their scripts, ideas and treatments for other members to look at and critique. This meeting normally descends into film appreciation talks, and is really rather fun. All the films we've made so far have been direct products of the SWG, so it's pretty important as things go.

Also, though on a less steady basis at the moment, we love to take out our equipment for Wednesday Filmmaking which normally involves filming short films in a very short space of time so new members can get to grips with our kit and the way we do things. Apart from being great fun for all involved, these sessions are real educational experiences and a nice introduction to student film-making.

Among various events and projects we are hoping to produce material for the new UBU TV station "Blink".

Relax. This year we will be holding training sessions for beginners which will cover everything you need to know about using equipment and how to make a film look good. You can then use these new skills to make your very own creation, or to help out with others.

We're here to help you make your film, there's no doubt about it. However, we do like to know what's going on and whether, to put it bluntly, us giving you our kit is actually going to lead to something. As such, we like to have a read of your scripts or ideas first, assign you an "Executive Producer" from the UBFS Committee who will be able to get you access to all the bits and bobs from our inventory and give you some sort of timeframe for when you should make it.

In the past we've set deadlines for when we'd like to have scripts, then set deadlines for when films had to be finished, but these were hardly ever followed. Now, having done away with deadlines and screening dates, all we ask is you email the script you want to make to with a rough outline of when you'd like to make it, and we'll take it all from there.

We must stress that we need completed, viable scripts before we can do anything with them.

From then on, we get the ball rolling. Most scripts are plunged into pre-production right away, crews of two or three drawn up, actors auditioned, storyboards created and, when we're satisfied you've planned to the point of tears, and then planned some more, we'll let you have free reign of the kit so you can shoot and edit your film.

Yes, you can. The easiest way to get your hands on the equipment is to get your project approved by the committee. That way, you get preferential access to the equipment - for free - as well as all our filming resources and expertise. Getting approval is pretty easy - just email your proposal to , and once we feel you've a good idea of what you're doing, then the equipment is all yours!

If you want to use the equipment on behalf of another society (i.e. filming a play/concert/event), we can give you discounted [rental rates] if you're a member, as well as providing you with crew or training.

We have two digital miniDV cameras (pictured on the right) - a Panasonic DVX100B (top) and a slighter older Canon XM2 (bottom). Both are great little cameras, with the Panasonic capable of filming progressive, flim-like footage.

We also have two PCs in our own editing suite, both with editing software. We use Adobe Premiere Pro for most of our editing, as it offers pretty advanced functionality whilst still being easy to pick up and use. We also have Avid Xpress Pro HD, which is generally considered the industry standard, though it's a little more complex than Premiere.

There are various other bits and bobs in our possession that make the film-making process a bit easier. We have a decent tripod and Steadicam, a shotgun microphone and fishpole boom, a portable monitor and some lights - in short, everything you need to produce a high quality film. We're always keen to expand our equipment roster, so look out for new bits of kit throughout the year.

Yeah - sure! Anyone can join at any time during the year. Membership is £5, so to get the maximum benefit, try and join as soon as possible, and we'll start sending you emails about all the exciting things we have planned.

To join up, just email .

It gets you access to all our equipment, though we hope you'll be willing to let us be involved in any film projects you might have, and also provided that "approved" UBFS projects aren't already demanding equipment for use.

You're also kept informed of all the projects and events that will be going on throughout the year, and there's a lot of them! There will be a huge number of opportunities to get involved. Events-wise, we have the 48 Hour Film Challenge in the first term, [Screentest] and the Arts & Media project in the second, and Mixtape, our music video event in the third. On top of this, there'll be countless projects that will need crewing and so on.

Strictly speaking, we're afraid not. Just as you wouldn't get a script from an existing movie and film it, we can't really breach copyright laws and steal people's songs for our own nefarious uses. However, since we're showing our stuff privately for no profit, we won't get in trouble.

However, there are plenty of musicians in both the society and the university who would probably love the opportunity to score something (probably for free too).

Also, if a film was deemed good enough to enter into some sort of competition or festival in the public domain, the music and content would most probably have to be completely original for fear of breaching copyright.

Film may be generally considered to look better - but for your average student society, shooting on celluloid/film is too expensive, due to the development costs and the specialist equipment. You're also unable to check that what you shot turned out OK until it has been developed, and editing celluloid can become massively complex when done manually.

Digital formats sidestep all this inconvenience, but we're still careful to try and apply the same mindset to making films as if we were shooting on film - i.e. try and save as much tape and time as possible, and not become complacent due to the lack of stuff we have to worry about.

We're always making efforts to make the digital footage look more "filmy", whether this is achieved by mucking around with exposure/light levels, or adding effects in post-production, or by trying to make shots basically look more interesting than your average home-movie.

Some good examples of where digital cameras have been used include: "Collateral" (Michael Mann), "Once Upon A Time In Mexico" (Robert Rodriguez), "Full Frontal" (Steven Soderbergh) and "28 Days Later" (Danny Boyle).