FILM student Jack Brotherton said going to Clearing revitalised his career plans when it landed him a place at Wiltshire College & University Centre’s Salisbury campus.

The 23-year-old, from Beckington near Trowbridge, had dropped out of a film degree course at university because it wasn’t hands-on enough and was unsure of his plans until Clearing opened up a place on the BA Honours Film Production and Cinematography course.

Within weeks of wondering if he’d ever have a chance to follow his filmmaking dream he was being taught how to load a celluloid Bolex camera and working on a Christopher Nolan-inspired chase story.

“It was a dream really,” he said. “I’d known that Christopher Nolan had made his first film with a Bolex and I was thinking ‘it’s my first couple of weeks of a course that I didn’t even know existed a couple of weeks ago, and now I’m doing the same thing,’ so I was very grateful.”

The course teaches all aspects of film, from sound to editing to lighting to cinematography. “It was such a last minute thing to start the course but I’ll never regret it,” said Jack.

“I feel like I’m learning to be a better filmmaker rather than learning about film as the subject. So for people who are interested in getting into the industry, I’d say this course is leaps and bounds above any of the other ones that I’ve read about or initially done.

“Clearing was very helpful and it never felt like I was ‘behind’. I’m very blessed to have taken the risk to go back to higher education because I’ve loved it so far.”

He said he now feels like a filmmaker after seeing two projects completed. “I can say I’m a filmmaker now, not just an aspiring filmmaker,” he said. “I have made a couple of films in my first year of uni, but it’s not just learning about how to be a filmmaker, the lecturers tell you what companies are looking for in a portfolios and that gives you a lot of confidence as well.”

He said collaborating with his course mates and benefitting from the experience of lecturers like Kieron Evans and Tim Dodd have been invaluable. “I’m surrounded by people who have been on film sets,” he said. “You are around people who have brushed shoulders with legends of the industry, and they’ll tell you what people are looking out for, and more importantly, what they’re not looking out for.

“We’re taught to be upstanding, confident individuals, rather than egotistical maniacs and you quickly learn that if you want to work in the film industry, you want to be someone who people want to grab a beer with at the end of an 11-hour shoot.”

He said he has learnt a lot about himself as well as the industry. “I certainly know a lot more about the industry, it’s not just about what your work says about you, but what do you say about yourself and how do you carry yourself as a creative and as a filmmaker,” he said.

“But I’ve also learned that for all the great ideas you may have, it doesn’t mean anything unless you actually go and put the work in, unless you’re willing to show up and fall on your face and fail because failure is the front of success. It’s not the enemy.”

He is looking forward to his second year and sharing some of the ideas that have been buzzing around his head over the summer. “I think you learn more about yourself as a creative when you’re collaborating rather than when you’re just on your own,” he said.

“I think it would have been easy to just sit back and think ‘maybe I’ll take a year out’ instead of going to Clearing but if it’s something you’re interested in, better now rather than a year’s time when stuff might have moved on or life might be a bit more difficult.”

Thinking about a future in film?

Jack’s experience is just one example of the hands-on approach to filmmaking at our Salisbury campus, where students develop their creative and technical skills while gaining experience across all aspects of production.

Whether you’re still considering your options for this September or starting to think about university study in 2027, explore our BA (Hons) Film Production and Cinematography course.