My first year studying Audiovisual Media
My name is Filip, I am a 29-year-old Audiovisual Media student from Australia. I first found BFM one night when scrawling through the internet for international film schools in order to have the opportunity to live overseas. BFM immediately seemed like the perfect fit for me, and I started studying within the creative module of the Audiovisual Media course in August 2021.
My first impression of BFM was that it was a very well resourced school. It’s not often that you see a film school as the glowing centrepiece of a University. They are usually hidden away on another campus entirely.
My first year exceeded all expectations. We spent the entire year on “factual storytelling” i.e. documentary. Having not considered myself to be interested in making documentaries previously, my first year at BFM has managed to light a little documentary flame within me. I especially liked the documentary history course because I was able to relate my existing knowledge of fiction-film history and how documentary and fiction intersected and took inspiration from one-another over time.
Our most memorable days in first year were our pitches - where we pitch our ideas to our peers and teachers, and the teaching panel select which project will be produced. Everyone tends to begin the day so nervous that it encourages quite a lot of good humour and solidarity amongst the class. So far in second year, our days on set have been infinitely fun and amusing.
My favourite thing about BFM is the understated community that essentially lives within it. Beyond A/V media course, there are several other study programmes within the school and it’s been wonderful to slowly get to know the people that you pass by in the halls. Tallinn is also a very cute city, it doesn’t take long to get to know it like the back of your hand. This is something I really appreciate, since it’s really easy to become part of the little communities around town.
My suggestion to future Audiovisual Media students would be to think very deeply about which module you choose. The creative module will very much focus on nurturing your potential as a storyteller, but you will consequently not have a lot of exposure to using equipment and learning about the technical process. If you have interest in using cameras, lights and sound equipment then the technical module might be for you.
