Bristol Wildlife Filmmakers have teamed up with Avon Wildlife Trust to offer a rare chance to learn wildlife filmmaking skills in the peaceful setting of the 250-acre nature reserve at Folly Farm between Bristol and Bath.

Our three-day Introduction to Wildlife Filmmaking course is open to all – we welcome complete beginners and those who have some experience of filmmaking but want to learn more about the challenges of filming wildlife. Our tutors all work in the internationally acclaimed natural history film industry and there will be specialist camera people, producers and editors teaching on each course.

Our spring course this year is from May 5th to 7th and takes you into ancient woodland to film the mass flowering of bluebells and badgers emerging from their den to begin a night’s foraging (they appeared right on cue last year!).

On our summer course from June 23rd to 25th Folly Farm’s wildflower meadows take centre stage. Unspoilt by pesticides and fertilisers, they brim with flowers such as heath spotted orchid, betony and ox-eye daisy, bees and butterflies such as the rare marsh fritillary, small tortoiseshell and marbled white.

Our late summer course is from September 1st to 3rd and you’ll be filming in and around Folly Farm Nature Reserve and at nearby Chew Valley Lake – an important site for wintering and migrating wildfowl.

Working on location in small teams you’ll learn about the field craft that will help you get closer to animals in the wild. You’ll gain hands-on filming experience under the watchful eye of expert tutors and learn about different camera techniques. Workshops will introduce you to the importance and practicalities of research and storytelling, and to the ethics and legal considerations of filming wild animals. And finally, working with your team alongside professional editors you’ll produce a short film, which will be transferred to DVD for you to keep. Tutors are on hand at all times and there’ll be an opportunity for you to have a one-to-one to discuss your own film projects.

But this course is not all about work. Evenings are for enjoying good food and good company and for hearing Tales from the Bush. Guest speakers from the world of natural history filmmaking share their tales of filming from the Antarctic to the Kalahari, the highest peaks to the deepest underground caves and with fearsome predators to some of the smallest creatures on Earth …

If you’re a wildlife enthusiast, an amateur film and video maker or a wildlife educator come and share the joy of close encounters with wildlife and discover how to transfer your passion for nature to the screen.

You’ll stay in highly rated accommodation at Avon Wildlife Trust’s Folly Farm Centre. Comfortable and spacious bedrooms, carefully restored using traditional construction methods and materials, overlook the nature reserve and beautiful Chew Valley Lake. Meals are home-cooked using organic, locally sourced ingredients.

Feedback from our previous courses has been outstanding. One student found it a ‘life-changing, inspiring experience, something that will stay with me forever. It’s re-established my passion and inspiration for wildlife filmmaking, nature, wildlife and conservation’.

Price: £510 + VAT (£599.25) includes 2 nights single occupancy accommodation at the beautiful Folly Farm Centre, all meals and expert tuition and equipment with a maximum of 16 participants on the course.

For more information contact Folly Farm Centre

E-Mail: info@follyfarm.org

Tel: 01275 331590

Website: www.follyfarm.org

To watch a short video about the course:

http://youtube.com/BristolWildFilm