Amy Delooze: "LSBU makes you feel part of a real-life post-production suite."
London is one of the world’s film making hotspots, so it makes sense that those looking to study the medium, and how to master it, will find themselves drawn here.
Wrexham-born Amy Delooze certainly agrees, feeling that our location, alongside our facilities, made London South Bank University (LSBU) the obvious choice for her. “London being so central to the British film industry was a big part of why I wanted to study here,” she says. “When I found out about the film studios that the university would have built by the time I started my degree, it quickly became obvious that it was too good an opportunity to pass up.”
Film editing career
Amy has always loved film making, and wants a career in film editing. “It was clear to me that LSBU’s degree would set me on the right path, and help me to get where I want to be,” she says.
Impressive editing suites
Our new facilities have certainly played their part in helping Amy get her career off the ground. “Elephant Studios is a great facility, with impressive editing suites,'' she says.
The studios are great to work in too – the lighting is so impressive that I’ve filmed scenes in there that you would never know were shot in a studio. All in all, it’s a very impressive, professional space.
Amy Delooze
Two of Amy’s highlights so far have been the chance to undertake a six-week workshop using ARRI cameras and the opportunity to learn how to grade films in DaVinci. “I don’t think a lot of other universities would give you the chance to spend so much time with ARRI cameras and when it comes to DaVinci and grading,” she says.
The university makes you feel as though you’re not a student, but part of a real-life post-production house grade suite.
Amy Delooze
Networking skills
Alongside the technical skills that we instil into our film students, we also stress the importance of networking and being pro-active – skills that Amy has certainly demonstrated when it comes to her dissertation.
“I’m looking at long-term collaborations between directors and editors, and wanted to secure some interviews in order to explore that,” explains Amy. “While at a BAFTA event that was discussing the role of agents in the industry, it got me thinking. I went home and discovered an agency called Casarotto online. One of their clients is David Yates, who directed some of the Harry Potter films as well as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
Interviewing David Yates
Having always been told as a child that ‘if you don’t ask you don’t get’, Amy emailed Casarotto and asked to interview David as part of her dissertation. “I wasn’t expecting to hear back, to be honest,” she admits. “But two weeks later, his assistant emailed me to say he would love to be involved and we arranged a date for a phone interview. In addition, Mark Day – his editor – agreed to answer some questions over email!”
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
For Amy, however, the chance to speak to the pair was only part of her reward for showing such initiative. “They’ve offered me the chance to sit in with them while they edit the second Fantastic Beasts film,” she says.
When I first sent that email, I did not expect to be sitting in on an edit with David Yates and Mark Day in a million years, but it shows that if you are prepared to put your name out there, it can help you to get a foot in the door.
Amy Delooze
The future
When she has finished her studies, Amy hopes to head to the United States to continue her training and get a feel for the film industry over there. “My goal is to one day get into a long-term collaboration with a director and make films as successful as David Yates and Mark Day have done,” she says.
“I think that having studied at LSBU will help my CV stand out as I try to make that happen,” she says. “The skills I have developed will be invaluable, and I’ve learned from great people. Some of my lecturers have been nominated for, and won, awards for their own films. Who wouldn’t want to be taught by people like them?”
BA (Hons) Digital Film and Video is now called BA (Hons) Film Practice.