Information Services

DIY Film School course

The DIY Film School offers training and advice on using equipment designed for mobile filmmaking. Courses are run throughout the year, with an online course also available.

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Why make videos on mobile?

Smartphones are owned by 85% the population in the UK. A decent camera is an essential attribute of any smartphone and the ability to record high definition and often 4K footage is the norm. Broadcasters and video professionals are increasingly looking to mobile filmmaking as a way of creating new and exciting content and new products to turn your mobile phone or tablet into a full featured video production suite are appearing daily. 

There are several key advantages to filming on mobiles:

We almost always carry our mobile devices. Essentially we have a high-quality video camera and a means to record and broadcast content available at all times. It’s more immediate and more portable than a traditional camera rig.

Smartphones have overtaken laptops as the preferred device for accessing the internet. Users who routinely carry out complicated tasks on mobile devices may be less con dent using an unfamiliar camera. Filming on a smartphone removes that barrier.

The best camera is the one that doesn’t interfere with the process of taking photos. It’s the tool you don’t have to think about: capturing your your vision, feeling and ideas

Joshua K. Jackson

Many apps available for smartphones significantly improve the manual control of a device’s camera and also enable high-quality filmmaking, editing and post-production functions. Smartphone apps are becoming essential for traditional as well as mobile filmakers providing a low cost, portable effective alternative to lugging expenses complicated equipment on shoots. 

Moreover, access to the internet enables the video maker to upload and publish their content easily. Services such as The University of Edinburgh’s Media Hopper Create platform allows film makers to create, store, share and publish their media content easily.

Access the University's Media Hopper Create service

The availability and relatively low cost of mobile devices has given many more people the opportunity to create professional media content.

Who is it for?

Courses have been running succesfully on an ad-hoc basis since the middle of 2016, with colleagues expressing an interest in booking a course and organising the participants. We have worked  across the organisation with communications and marketing professionals, students of all disciplines, technologists, archivists, educators, and people who just want to make better videos for fun.

One of the participants said it was the best course she’d ever done at UOE!

Attendees have created marketing material, training videos, content for teaching amongst many other things. Our equipment has found it's way across the country and abroad. Recently students have been documenting their trip following supply chain from the pickers and growers of Gujurat, to the fashion houses of Mumbai using techniques gained from the DIY Film School and using our mobile equipment.

Edinburgh students follow Indian cotton from farm to fashion - EFI blogs

How do I book a course?

If you have at least 8 colleagues or students who are keen on attending a DIY Filmschool course contact us at media.services@ed.ac.uk.

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Further reading

Lynda.com and The DIY Film School
Download the DIY Film School booklet