Film Acting Skills: 10 Breakthrough Skills to Boost Your Screen Acting Career
Film acting – or screen acting – is specific to acting performances for camera. It shares a lot of similarities with stage acting, but it’s also distinct from stage acting, especially in terms of techniques used in film acting. How is Film Acting Different...
Learn about Filmmaking: 6 Simple Filmmaking Basics to Improve Your Film Skills
If you’re interested to learn about filmmaking, we know it can sometimes feel like a lot to learn. There is definitely lots involved to making a film, as well as lots of different techniques and ways to go about it. But it shouldn’t feel overwhelming or...
Careers in Media: Discover 10 Interesting Jobs in Film and Media You Didn’t Know Existed
When you think about careers in media, lots of the obvious ones might spring to mind: film director, actor, TV presenter, perhaps camera operator. But behind the scenes, there are thousands of careers in media to get involved with. Just think of any feature film...
Film Editing: What Skills Do I Need to be Video Editor?
Working as a video editor, or elsewhere in post-production is all about attention to detail. Whether it’s working as a video editor for film or TV, or in a specialised area, attention to detail is a must-have skill. But what else? If you’re interested in a...
What Filmmaking Equipment Do I Need to be a Film Director? Our Easy Guide to Equipment
To be a film director, there are some basic items of filmmaking equipment that you’re likely to need. Obviously, a camera goes without saying, but which one? And what else? Depending on the nature of film you’re looking to make, your filmmaking equipment...
Top 10 Filmmaking Tips for Beginners
If you’re a beginner interested in learning about filmmaking, take a look at our Top 10 Filmmaking Tips for Beginners below. Whether you’re a complete beginner, or an experienced filmmaker, making a film can be challenging. It’s often a lot of work,...
Top 10 Best Film Schools in the UK
Are you an aspiring filmmaker? Want to study filmmaking at one of the best film schools in the UK? Take a look at our list of Top 10 Best Film Schools in the UK, where we share options for specialist film school training degrees in the UK. These film schools all offer...
5 Fun Photography Activities for Kids
Whether you’re just starting out in photography, or you want to improve your photography skills, you can try out these 5 fun photography activities for kids. These photography activities for kids are designed to boost imagination and inspire creativity....
Get Confident on Camera: 6 Media Training Tips for Performing to Camera
Want to feel more confident on camera? Take a look at our 6 easy to apply tips to boost your confidence when performing to camera. Even the world’s top actors can feel under confident watching themselves back. As Zac Efron told Collider, “I tend to, especially...
Comedy Screenwriting: 3 Easy Comedy Tips
Comedy screenwriting is one of the most difficult challenges of screenwriting. Just like it can be hard to tell a joke or a funny story, it can be even more difficult to write comedy well. Good comedy screenwriting needs to be original, surprising and full of the...
Film Directing Skills: What Skills do I Need as a Film Director?
To be a film director, you require lots of varied film directing skills, especially if you want to be ‘successful’. (Success means different things to different people – more on that later). You need a strong imagination, great people and communication...
Can Filmmaking Help with Children’s Mental Health?
As we mark Children’s Mental Health Week 2022, we’re taking a look at the different ways filmmaking and other activities can support with improving children’s mental health. Children’s mental health is at the forefront of conversation, with...
Film Courses: What Can I Expect to Learn?
If you’re interested to learn about film or filmmaking, then there are lots of different film courses you can explore: Full time film coursesPart time film coursesFace-to-Face film coursesOnline film coursesFilm Studies coursesFilmmaking or film production...
Storytelling Ideas: National Storytelling Week
This week celebrates National Storytelling Week 2022. We’ve put together 10 creative storytelling ideas for inspiration and to help join in with National Storytelling Week. National Storytelling Week is a chance for everyone to join in and share a love of...
Eight Free Video Apps For Young Filmmakers in 2022
With a huge range of video apps at our fingertips, filmmaking has never been easier. Smart technology means a wealth of different video apps and software can be found inside our pockets, allowing us to create video masterpieces from anywhere in the world. Many video...
Nurturing Young Filmmakers: Why Does It Matter?
For many people who dream of one day making a film – young filmmakers included – the idea that one day you might be a professional film director or a producer might feel like a bit of a pipe-dream. It’s easy to see why. Traditionally, the film...
Is it Worth Attending an Elite Film School?
Is it worth attending an elite film school? Firstly, by film school, here I’m talking about conservatoire style film schools. I’m not talking about part-time film schools, or extra-curricular filmmaking courses like the ones we offer. Conservatoire style...
Laughter is The Best Medicine: Writing Comedy Scripts For Films
Have you ever wanted to write a side-splittingly funny comedy screenplay? Producing a genuinely funny film script is not as easy as it might first appear. You might be able to get plenty of belly laughs when telling jokes out loud, but knowing and writing comedy...
6 Terrifying Horror Movie Making Tips
As Halloween approaches it is the perfect time of year to settle in and watch some horror films. It’s also the perfect time to try making a horror film all of your own! Take inspiration from some spooky films you have watched and get planning for some terrifying...
How To Have a Spooktastic Time at Your Very Own Halloween Movie Night
The spookiest evening of the year is almost upon us. It’s time to start planning your very own Halloween movie night for your friends and family! Horror movies, devilish costumes and plenty of tricks and treats… Don’t know where to begin? Read on to find out some...
Ready For Your Close Up? What You Need To Know About Film Makeup and Costumes.
Are you a fan of the Oscars? Do you keep track of the winners of the BAFTA Awards every year? The news headlines that are generated after each glittering event tend to focus on who got the best actor award, best director prize, best film award etc. Less – if anything...
Top Tips For Trying Out For The School Play
Now that schools are back and pandemic restrictions are easing, many students are seeing the welcome return of the school play. Whether a pantomime is being planned, or a musical being made, it’s time to tread the boards at school once more. After such a long time...
Camera In Your Pocket? How To Make Films On a Phone
Move over, Spielberg, there’s a raft of new movie makers in town. Thanks to smart technology, we all have the means to make films on a phone or tablet. That includes filming, editing, sharing results and even ordering pizzas for the wrap party afterwards. Today,...
Film Making Classes Are Back
Sparks Film Making Classes are Back! Hooray! From September, Sparks film making classes will reopen to young movie makers. We can’t wait to welcome both familiar faces and newcomers to the Autumn term of film making classes at Sparks! This term, young film makers are...
New Film Schools: Introducing Sparks Tunbridge Wells and Sparks Uxbridge
Introducing two new Sparks film schools! There are two new Sparks film schools opening up this autumn! We’re delighted to introduce the two newest Sparks film schools – Sparks Tunbridge Wells and Sparks Uxbridge! The two newest Sparks film schools for children...
That’s a Wrap: Summer Camps 2021
That’s a Wrap – 2021’s Summer Camps Come to an End Thank you so much to everyone who has taken part in 2021’s Summer Shoots camps! It’s been a summer of so much creativity, fun and fantastic filmmaking. We have loved every second, we hope you have...
Master Storyboarding
Why Storyboard? Your storyboard is a crucial resource to help plan for success when working on a movie. A well thought-out storyboard doesn’t just help you to keep production on track and on style, it helps you to develop creatively too. There are different...
Working with Quick Cut Camera Angles
In lots of ways, making videos is easy. You just take a camera and shoot, right? This is true, but making videos and working with camera angles well is an art . One of the things we tend to see from beginner filmmakers are types of camera shot which are unwieldy long...
Why should you choose media studies and study film at school?
The modern world is geared more and more towards screens and visual media. We get much of our news, entertainment, social contact and advertising via moving images on screens. why take media studies is an important question to the ones who are interested in media and...
Movie Making – Our A to Z of Must-Know Movie Making Terms
Interested in movie making? Here, we take you through our A-Z of must-know movie making terms in a movie making crash course. How many do you know? Where are you expert level and where can you boost your knowledge? A is for Acting Acting performances are vital to a...
6 Fun Activities to Boost Visual Literacy
What is Visual Literacy? Visual literacy is the ability to read and write through images or visual information. This includes the ability to interpret information from images, and to communicate effectively using images too. As film makers, we work with moving images...
Summer Camps 2021: This Year’s Theme is…
The Summer Shoots – our movie making summer camps – are almost here! We’re so excited to work with lots of young movie makers this summer. In the summer camps, we help young movie makers to express their ideas and to create their own one-of-a-kind...
Join the 100s of Sparks Alumni in Our New Network
Introducing the Sparks Alumni Network… Now that Sparks has reached the grand old age of 11, we’ve realised that there are lots of young movie makers who joined in as children and have now grown up. Many of you, we know, are still making your own movies or...
5 Useful Acting for Camera Skills (from Stage)
Acting for Camera – How is it different? Acting for a camera, or screen acting, is very different from acting on a stage in front of a live audience. The nature of performing a character, delivering dialogue and conveying the action is all very similar, but...
Is My Child a Visual Learner?
Visual learners thrive on visual stimuli. They process information and learn best when they can see or visualise through images, objects, colours or use of body language. Most of the children we work with at Sparks could be described as visual learners. Filmmaking...
Life behind the lens part two: five more key non-acting roles in film
In the second of our series of blogs about film roles that operate ’behind the scenes’, we look at five more jobs that allow regular access to film sets and movie projects and offer exciting opportunities to get your hands dirty making a real movie. We have already...
Life behind the lens part one: five key non-acting roles in film
Becoming a film star is often high up on young people’s lists of dream jobs they would love to do when they grow up. However, acting is just one aspect of making a movie. There is a whole army of talented professionals behind the cameras, working together to bring the...
Easter 2021: Behind the Scenes at the Easter Movie Making Camps
Take a look behind the scenes on the Easter 2021 movie productions! In the Easter holiday camps, crew members worked hard all week to produce some unique movie masterpieces. As well as sharing all their own ideas to build the stories, they also crewed and edited their...
Introducing… The Summer Shoots 2021
Introducing the Summer Shoots: Movie Making Summer Camps for 2021 Get ready for the Summer Shoots – action-packed movie making camps for ages 5-18 throughout the summer holidays. We’re so excited to be back in action and welcome young movie makers to the...
That’s a Wrap! Easter Camps 2021
Congratulations to all the Easter Camp Crews – That’s a Wrap! After five days of movie making fun, the Easter camps have come to a close. Congratulations to all the young movie makers, it’s been such a fun week of creativity and making things...Easter Camps: Day 4
That’s a wrap on Day 4! Movie makers taking part in this week’s Easter camps are knee-deep in their productions, with just one day left to go. It’s been an action-packed few days, with movie makers developing their story ideas, working through...
Register Now for the Summer Term
Summer Term Filmmaking Classes Start 24 April – Register Now to Join Sparks weekly film classes are about to reopen! We are so very excited to welcome all the wonderful and talented Sparks filmmakers back to classes. There are spaces for new joiners. We would...Easter Movie Making Camps: Day 3
That’s a wrap on Day 3 of this week’s movie making camps! Today has been an epic day of shooting, with all the movie makers starting work on filming their productions. There are movie makers in Studios 1-4 at nearly all the Sparks film schools. All the...Easter Camps: Behind the Scenes on Day 2
Easter Movie Making Camps – Day 2 The Easter Camp movie makers are making great progress on their productions today. After a day of introductions and getting started yesterday, they’ve moved onto developing their ideas, pitching and pre-production...Lights… Camera… Action! Behind the Scenes of Easter Movie Making Camps – Day 1
We’re behind the scenes on Day 1 of the first face-to-face movie making camps of 2021! Young movie makers joining us for this year’s Easter Holiday Camps are meeting for the first time. They’ll get their creativity flowing. They’ll start to...
Countdown to Easter Camps
Introducing: It’s All About the Atmosphere
Discover the Brand New Theme for This Term’s Filmmaking Classes In this terms filmmaking classes, Sparks movie makers are set to explore the theme ‘It’s All About the Atmosphere’. In fun film classes, the crew members will learn how to...
An actor’s life for me? How to become a child actor
From the Harry Potter trainee wizards to the Sound of Music’s Von Trapp children, child actors have played a large part in many iconic films, TV programs, and theatre productions around the world. However, for every successful school-aged star that has made it big,...Sound Design Q & A with Dan K
Interested in sound for film? In this Q&A video, Sparks Instructor Dan K is answering Sparks movie makers’ questions all about sound design. Dan is a professional sound designer for film and TV. As an instructor for Sparks, he’s always...
Easter Camps: Registration is Open
Easter Camps – Registration is Open This Easter holiday, we’re excited to welcome movie makers to a brand new series of movie making adventures! We have three brand new creative Easter camps to get involved with. There are movie making camps for...
Happy World Book Day
Happy World Book Day! Here at Sparks, we’re big believers in the value of storytelling. We love World Book Day. One of the things we love most is the opportunity for children to immerse themselves in their favourite stories. It helps to feel close to favourite...
Latest Updates: Plans to Reopen Face-to-Face
Face-to-Face Filmmaking Classes – Reopen in Step 2 We’re so pleased to share that we’ll soon be able to reopen face-to-face filmmaking classes and camps. Under the latest announcements, and with everything crossed, we should be able to fully reopen from 12 April....
Book Now for February Half Term
Coming up this Half Term: Beyond Tomorrow This half term, young movie makers at Sparks are off on a filmmaking adventure to the future. In a fun-filled half term camp, the young crews will make their own futuristic adventure productions. In addition to exploring a...
Take Part in the Online Filmmaking Clubs
Online Filmmaking Clubs for Ages 7-18 We’re introducing some brand new online filmmaking clubs to take part in. There are sessions for ages 7-18. Dates: Saturday 16 Janaury – Saturday 13 February 2021 Times: 11am – 1pm Each online filmmaking club...
More Updates (Again)
We write with further updates. Due to the latest National Lockdown, we are unable to deliver any classes face-to-face until the restrictions lift. Please know that this brings us great sadness. We understand the part we (and all others) need to play in helping to...
Happy New Year / Latest Updates
Happy New Year! From all of us here, we hope you had a lovely Christmas and a happy (or at least a somewhat OK) start to 2021. We know the year hasn’t opened with the best of news. We’re hoping to soon be out of the woods and moving onto brighter...
Happy Holidays
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas… We want to wish you all a very special end to the year and a lovely time over the holidays. We know this year has brought along more than its share of challenges – for us too – and we’re incredibly...
Latest Updates: New Restrictions and Filmmaking Classes 2021
We have some new updates in response to the latest government announcements. (We hope that we are nearing the end of needing these updates!) We are aiming to run the spring term of filmmaking classes as planned, so long as we are regionally permitted to do so....
Get ready for… Beyond Tomorrow
Spring Term: Open for Registration
Launching in Wimbledon: Sparks Film Classes for Kids
Sparks Filmmaking Classes are Launching in Wimbledon… Young filmmakers can join in with Sparks film classes in Wimbledon. Filmmaking classes for kids will start up from 16 Janaury, taking place at Dundonald Primary School in Wimbledon. Classes will take place...Film Classes for Kids – Launching in Chiswick
Sparks Filmmaking Classes are Launching in Chiswick… From January, young filmmakers in West London can take part in fun and inspiring film classes based in Chiswick. Sparks filmmaking classes will start up from 16 Janaury, based at William Hogarth Primary...
Updates from the Set: The Sparks Balham Crews in Action
The Sparks Balham Crews Are Back – In Real Life! Today, we’ve welcomed the young crew members of Sparks Balham back to face-to-face classes. It’s been incredible to see everyone back in real life. For the past month, over Lockdown 2, the crews have...
Complete the Lockdown Photo Challenge
Phew – Lockdown 2 is Over! If you’ve been following our social media posts, then you’ll know we’ve been running a creative Photo Challenge for the last four weeks. Each day we’ve posted a quick photo brief. Each one offers some...
Behind the Scenes: October Half Term in Walthamstow
The Sparks Walthamstow filmmakers were very busy over October half-term taking part in the Curse of the Forbidden Tomb project. Our filmmakers devised ideas for their production, which they called ‘The Curse of the Queen’s Treasure’. The crew had tons of fantastic...
Latest Update: Face-to-Face Film Classes Are Back
We’re Back – In Real Life! From this weekend, filmmaking classes will be back in real life! We’re very excited to see all the young filmmakers back once again in person. All things going to plan (everything crossed!), we’ll be completing the...
Sparks Filmmaking Classes: Updates from the Feel-Good Film Sets
All the latest from the Sparks Filmmaking Classes… Creative production planning is well underway in this term’s Sparks filmmaking classes. Young filmmakers taking part in Sparks weekly film classes are making ‘feel good films’. (You can see a...Behind The Scenes: October Half Term Highgate
Congratulations to the October Half Term Crews in Highgate! Over October Half Term our young filmmakers had the opportunity to create their own action-packed, mystery-filled productions. The crews created mischief and mayhem with terrifying magical curses. They learnt...
Entering your First Film Festival as a Young Filmmaker
When thinking about entering your first film festival, you may feel many emotions from nervousness to excitement. It’s normal to be overwhelmed – entering into your first festival is all those things. When I entered my first film festival, it felt intimidating...
Behind the Scenes: October Half Term in Enfield
Congratulations to all the Half Term Crews in Enfield… In October half term, young crew members became the first ever filmmakers at Sparks Enfield! As one of our newest schools, Sparks Enfield opened with October half term workshops. We were delighted to...Behind the Scenes: October Half Term in Balham
Congratulations to the October Half Term Crews in Balham! Over October Half Term our young filmmakers had the opportunity to create their own action-packed, mystery-filled productions. The crews created mischief and mayhem with terrifying magical curses. They learnt...Behind the Scenes: October Half Term in Dulwich
Congratulations to the October Half Term Crews in Dulwich! Over October Half Term our young filmmakers had the opportunity to create their own action-packed, investigative productions. The crews created mischief and mayhem with terrifying magical curses all within...
Filmmaking Tips from a Young Filmmaker
Our placement student and filmmaker, Angelina, has rounded up her top filmmaking tips from one young filmmaker to another! I’ve been creating films since I was about 10 years old and the first film I ever made was mine and my sister’s very own version of A Christmas...
Big News: New Sparks Film Schools for 2021
New Sparks Film Schools Coming in 2021… We’re so excited to share our big news with you! Next year, there are some brand new Sparks film schools set to launch in London, as well as further afield! We’re delighted to open new Sparks schools...
Saturday Classes Go Online
Movie Making Projects: Jump Scares
Create a Jump Scare If you’re looking for fun half term or Halloween activities, we have a great new filmmaking project to try out. Below, we’re exploring a favourite workshop technique… jump scares! Ideal for horror movie making, or just for fun,...
Black History Month and Beyond
We’re nearing the end of Black History Month, here we’re sharing three events that extend beyond October. Everyone can continue celebrating and learning about Black History year-round. Camden Black History Walk The walk will focus on African/Caribbean...
The Curse of the Forbidden Tomb
Behind the Scenes this October Half Term! Young filmmakers taking part in ‘The Curse of the Forbidden Tomb’ are busy making action-packed thriller movies. Filmmakers aged between 7 and 11 are making an epic movie set in an ancient Egyptian tomb. Through...
Movie Making Projects: One-Take Scary Movies
We’ve got a brand new movie making project to try out! This half term, we’d love to see you make some single take wonders! This challenge is all about producing a great video in just one long take – no cutting and no fixes in post-production. Take a...
Sparks Enfield & Sparks Walthamstow Launch Next Week
Our newest film schools – Sparks in Enfield and Sparks in Walthamstow – are set to launch with their first workshops on Monday! For October Half Term, the two new schools will be taking crew members off on scary movie adventures! The newest crew members to...
A Dive into London’s Black History
This week we share with you two different events that explore the culture and the heritage of African and Caribbean communities in London. We feel it is important to highlight the historical past of Black communities in London, and in Britain, as they have made major...
‘Black Art Matters’ at the Sophie Tea Gallery
This October, as we celebrate Black History Month, we’ll share details of some events happening around London to take part in. We’re starting off with ‘Black Art Matters’, an event organised by Black Minds Matter x Sophie Tea Gallery. Black Minds...
Don’t Miss October Half Term
October Half Term Movie Making Camps: Ages 7-11 & 11-14 It’s less than two weeks until October half term. We can’t wait to get started with some incredible movie making projects! This half term, we have two new movie making camps to take part...
Congratulations to All the Summer Shoots Award Winners
Well done to all the Summer Shoots filmmakers once again, for all their amazing hard work and creativity in producing lots of fun ‘Transformation’ themed movie productions. We were delighted to celebrate with you and announce the award winners with you...
Latest Updates: Covid-19
Following on from the latest announcements, we’re pleased to confirm that we are safe to operate in all three of the government’s new tiers. We know how tough this year has been for everyone, especially for children and young people. We’re committed...
Introducing: Sparks Walthamstow
Welcome to Sparks Walthamstow! We want to tell you all about our new film school… A new Sparks film school is launching in Walthamstow. Sparks Walthamstow will be based at Walthamstow School for Girls. October half term will see the launch of two filmmaking...
Design Preparation for October Half Term
It’s been a fun few days planning out all the details of our our upcoming October half term camps. We’re definitely fans of a fun theme and October always lets us go a bit crazy with all the fun things we love about scary movies. Both filmmaking camps are...
Welcome back to Classes :-)
Welcome back to all our young filmmakers! This weekend marked the start of a brand new autumn term. It was so good to be able to welcome lots of students back to weekly filmmaking classes. It’s been since mid-March, when we were last able to work with all our...
Film Classes Start from Tomorrow
Filmmaking Classes – Autumn Term Starts 26 September 2020 We are so (soooo) excited to be starting back for a brand new term of filmmaking classes! Our weekly classes for young filmmakers help to inspire imaginations, build creativity and develop new...
Vote for the Members’ Choice Award
Members’ Choice Award On Saturday, we’ll be drawing our online film festival to a close with an online awards ceremony. We’ve been celebrating all the incredible film productions made by young filmmakers at the Summer Shoots. The films are...
Latest Updates: Classes & Safety Measures
Following the latest announcements from the government, we’re updating some of our Covid-19 safety measures. Classes are scheduled to reopen from 26th September. We’re excited to welcome filmmakers back to Sparks. We are exempt under the latest...
Online Film Festival: The Secret Treehouse
Online Film Festival – Day 9 We’re almost at the end of our online film festival! We’re celebrating all the work made by young filmmakers taking part in the Summer Shoots. This is our last film presentation made by young filmmakers, but we still have a...
Online Film Festival: Who Dun It?
Online Film Festival – Day 8 We’re celebrating all the work made by young filmmakers taking part in the Summer Shoots. Every day we’re sharing and celebrating a new production made this summer. Presenting… Who Dun It? Made by: Studio 4, Dulwich A...
Online Film Festival: The Princess & The Potion
Online Film Festival – Day 7 We’re up to our seventh instalment in our online film festival! We’re celebrating all the work made by young filmmakers taking part in the Summer Shoots. Every day we’re sharing and celebrating a new production made this summer. ...
Online Film Festival: Switched
Online Film Festival: In My Shoes
Online Film Festival – Day 5 We’re sharing the fifth presentation in our online film festival. We’re celebrating all the work made by young filmmakers taking part in the Summer Shoots. Every day we’re sharing a new production. Presenting… In My...
Online Film Festival: The Lunar Mystery
Online Film Festival – Day 4 It’s Day 4 of our online film festival! We’re celebrating all the work made by young filmmakers taking part in the Summer Shoots. Every day we’re sharing and celebrating a new production made this summer. ...
Online Film Festival: The Rose Ring
Online Film Festival – Day 3 It’s Day 3 of our online film festival. We’re celebrating all the work made by young filmmakers taking part in the Summer Shoots. Presenting: The Rose Ring Made by: Studio 2, Dulwich A fun fantasy adventure film...
Online Film Festival: Turned
Online Film Festival – Day 2 It’s Day 2 of our online film festival! We’re celebrating all the work of young filmmakers this summer. Each day we’ll present a new feature to watch and enjoy… Presenting: Turned Made by: Studio 4,...
Online Film Festival: Merge
Online Film Festival We’re celebrating all the productions made this summer in our online film festival! Thanks for joining us for our first presentation. Each day we’ll share a new production, and ask you to vote for your favourites. Today, we’re...
Online Film Festival
Take part in our online film festival. We’re celebrating all the incredible work of young filmmakers from this summer. Normally, we’d be preparing for the annual red carpet cinema premiere, but 2020 had some other ideas in store. Instead, we’re...
Goodbye, Summer 2020
That’s a wrap! This week, we finished our last summer camp of 2020. It’s been a summer like no other we’ve seen, but we’re proud to be arriving at September having helped 145 young filmmakers to have produced some fantastic creative work over...
October Half Term Camps
Saturday Shoots Confirmed
Saturday Shoots – Confirmed for September We’re so happy to let you know that our weekly filmmaking classes are confirmed to go ahead from September! We have missed seeing you all so much. To say we’re excited to see you again is a massive...
Introducing Sparks Enfield!
Sparks Enfield – Launching October 2020 We’re delighted to share with you that a new branch of Sparks will be opening up in Enfield for October Half Term! The newest branch of Sparks is set to open for the half term break. There will be lots of...
Thank You
Thank you so much to everyone who has taken part this summer. This will be one we’ll always remember – for lots of positive reasons… We Made Movies All Over the World This summer, we delivered our first ever online camps and got to work with...
Movie Making Projects: POV Videos
POV Video Project You’ll need: A video camera (this can be a phone/tablet camera, or a camcorder, etc) Editing software or an editing app (see the Technical Guide) This video challenge is perfect for movie makers who love to roam free with their cameras!...
Movie Making Projects: Little People, Big World Animations
This week we have an animation challenge to get stuck into, using classic stop motion technique. We’re drawing inspiration from ‘Little People, Big World’ photography. Take a look at some of the examples below… Can you create any of your own...
Movie Making Projects: Graphic Match Cuts
This movie making challenge is all about using graphic match cuts. Graphic Match Cuts place two shots with visual similarities next to each other. This is a great technique to use creatively to highlight themes or to establish connections between characters,...
Introducing Online Summer Camps
We’re Launching Online Summer Camps We’re delighted to introduce some online summer moving making camps for 2020. In our online camps, movie makers will explore different filmmaking techniques. They’ll build up their skills and work collaboratively...
Movie Making Projects: Make a Movie with an Inanimate Character
In this movie making project, we’re challenging young filmmakers to produce a film that stars an inanimate object as one of its lead characters. This might sound really strange, but there are lots of possibilities to create ‘other worldly’ and...
Latest Updates: Covid-19
We Are Reopening! We plan to reopen in time for the summer holidays. We know that safety is still paramount. We’ll be introducing lots of new safety measures for face-to-face sessions and operating strict maximum class sizes. In the first instance, we’ll...
Black Lives Matter
Like many others, we were horrified by the recent murder of George Floyd in Minnesota; the murder of Armaud Arbery in Georgia; the murder of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky; the countless murders, suffering and premature deaths of many other Black people and people of...
Mental Health Survey
We’re currently developing a project for young people that explores issues around mental health. The project is currently in the consultation stage. We’re looking to find out what are the most pressing issues and what we can do to help. The project...
Online Screenwriting Workshop
Thanks for joining us for this online screenwriting workshop… This workshop is designed for young filmmakers to practise screenwriting techniques using the ‘three act’ story structure. It’s been written with ages 7-14 in mind, but anyone...
Movie Making Project: Make Some Noise
Explore How to Use Sound Creatively in Your Filmmaking This filmmaking project is all about using sound creatively. It’s for young movie makers who want to explore using different sound techniques in their work. You’ll discover the different types...
Movie Making Projects: Nature in Your Neighbourhood
Make a Competition Film Inspired by Your Local Neighbourhood Our friends at Into Film are inviting young movie makers to submit entries to their ‘Nature in the Neighbourhood’ competition. “We want children and young people to create a short...
Movie Making Project: Friends from the Future
Make a Solo Movie using Shot-Reverse-Shot Take a look at our free project guide for young movie makers. This project is ideal for making movies at home, without a big cast, or the need for a crew. It explores a technique called ‘shot-reverse-shot’...
Movie Making Projects: Shots in Motion
Practise your camera skills! Take a look at our free project guide for young movie makers. You’ll discover the different types of moving shots you can use for storytelling. Perfect your panning shots to show off your scenery. Try out tracking shots for...
Editing Q&A: Find Out Answers to Your Video Editing Questions
Video Editing Q&A: We asked Sparks movie makers their questions about video editing. We answered them in a Q&A session with Dan (one of the founders and directors at Sparks). Take a look at the video below for info on how to create some special...
Enter the BFI’s See Yourself on Screen Competition
See Yourself on Screen Competition: Our friends at the BFI are inviting children and young people (ages 4-18) to pitch their own TV show. Entries will be considered for a chance to win a unique broadcast slot on national TV… ...
Promoting Youth Mental Health through Filmmaking: Mental Health Awareness Week 2020
This week is Mental Health Awareness week, and to mark the imitative, we wanted to share some stories from the recent work we’ve been doing with important charities around taking care of mental heath. Promoting high confidence, resilience and good mental health...Latest Updates on Covid-19
We remain ready and eager to get back to movie making fun as soon as we’re able to. We miss working with all our young filmmakers and we’re thinking of you and your families. We will be so thankful to see you all again very soon. For the meantime, the Sparks...See You on the Other Side
Closed until Further Notice It’s with heartbreak and regret that we write to let you know that all of our upcoming classes and activities have been postponed. This is owing to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. The office will be closed from...
Watch the Survival Instincts Movies
Watch the February Half Term “Survival Instincts” Movies In February half term, young movie makers set about producing their own action-adventure movie productions in the ‘Survival Instincts’ camp. Over three days, the movie...
Vote for Us
We’ve Been Shortlisted for the Hoop Awards! We’re delighted to have been nominated and shortlisted for the Hoop Awards 2020. Our Weybridge centre is shortlisted for the ‘Best for Learning’ Category in Surrey. We’d love your...Woooohooooo!!! We’re Finalists :-)
We just want to say a huge thank you to the judges at the ClubHub UK Awards, who’ve voted for us to become finalists in the Leader of the Year category 2020. The awards are judged by a panel of industry experts from the children’s activity sector,...Behind the Scenes: Survival Instincts in Hampstead
Congratulations to the Survival Instincts Crews in Hampstead! Over February Half Term, young movie makers were busy producing their own action-adventure productions in Hampstead. The young crews explored inspirations from Indiana Jones, Jumanji and...Behind the Scenes: Survival Instincts Weybridge
Congratuations to All the Crews in Weybridge! Last week, young movie makers at Sparks in Weybridge were busy making epic action-adventure movies as part of the ‘Survival Instincts’ February Half Term workshop. Over three action-packed days,...
Happy New Year!
Here’s to 2020… Happy New Year! We hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas and we’re excited for what the new year holds. It’s Our Birthday! 2020 marks our 10th anniversary. We’re looking forward to marking a decade of...
Sparks at #TeenFest, Prague
Our Visit to the TeenFest – the International Children and Youth Film Festival in Prague, Czech Republic This past weekemd, Sparks were thrilled to attend the #TeenFest debut film festival in the Czech Republic. We were proud to share a film made by...
Congratulations to the Crew Behind ‘Soap’
‘Soap’ Selected for the Prague International Children & Youth Film Festival We’re delighted to share news that filmmakers from Studio have had their work selected for screening at #TeenFest, the Prague International Children & Youth...Watch all the October Half Term Movies
Watch the October Half Term Movies Watch Now We’re delighted to share all the fantastic movie productions from October half term! At the end of October, during half term, young movie crews worked on their own supernatural scary/spooky/slightly strange...
Movie Making Projects: We Are the World
Make a Tutorial Video about the Environment This movie making project is inspired by some of the work we’re doing this term in our weekly filmmaking classes. We’re exploring environment impact as a creative inspiration. Here, we’re asking...Our Next Adventure… Sparks Franchises
Sparks was founded in 2010 by our current directors, Dan and Donna, who set out to create exceptional learning experiences to empower young filmmakers. We’ve been running filmmaking classes and camps for children and teenagers for almost 10 years. We started...Watch the Summer Shoots Movies!
Watch All the Movies from the Summer Shoots 2019! Young movie makers taking part in the Summer Shoots have produced some incredible, epic movie masterpieces! All the movies produced during the movie making summer camps are now ready to watch and enjoy...Watch all the Saturday Shoot Movies
Watch All the Movies from the Saturday Shoots Production Term After their impressive Red Carpet Premiere debut, we’re excited to share all the productions made by young filmmakers at the Saturday Shoots. In the Summer Term (April – July...The Red Carpet Premiere 2019
Congratulations to All the Young Filmmakers Last weekend, we hosted the annual Red Carpet Premiere at the ICA Cinema in London. It was a such an incredible occasion and so lovely to see so many young filmmakers take their moment on the red carpet. ...That’s a Wrap on the Summer Shoots
That’s a Wrap on the Summer Shoots Congratulations to all the crew members who took part in 2019’s Summer Shoots! The last of the Summer Shoots – our movie making summer camps for ages 5-18 – wrapped last week and we...Behind the Scenes at Sparks Weybridge
This week, young movie makers taking part in the Summer Shoots in Weybridge are making their own unique movie productions. Over five days, the young movie makers will devise their stories, shoot their scenes, give their best onscreen performances and edit their way to...Behind the Scenes in Sparks Highgate
This week, young movie makers taking part in the Summer Shoots in Highgate are making their own unique movie productions. Over five days, the young movie makers will devise their stories, shoot their scenes, give their best onscreen performances and edit their way to...Behind the Scenes in Sparks Balham
This week, young movie makers taking part in the Summer Shoots in Balham are making their own unique movie productions. Over five days, the young movie makers will devise their stories, shoot their scenes, give their best onscreen performances and edit their way to...Behind the Scenes: Hampstead Summer Shoots
Welcome to the Summer Shoots in Hampstead! It’s the last Hampstead Summer Shoot of 2019 and movie makers are getting stuck into their movie making projects! Summer Shoots are action-packed movie making summer camps for ages 5-18. All this week,...Behind the Scenes: Dulwich Summer Film Shoot
Young filmmakers at Sparks Dulwich are busy making Summer Shoots productions! Filmmakers aged 5-18 are taking part in movie making summer camps, full of filmmaking activities. This week, they’ve been working to produce their own original and unique movie...Behind the Scenes on Highgate Sparks Summer Shoot
This week, young movie makers taking part in the Summer Shoots in Highgate are making their own unique movie productions. Over five days, the young movie makers will devise their stories, shoot their scenes, give their best onscreen performances and edit their way to...
Movie Making Projects: Practise Your Photography Skills
Practise Your Photography Skills Here, we’re sharing some activities designed to boost photography skills. These tips and exercises will help young movie makers (or young photographers) to capture images with great visual style. These activities are quick...Behind the Scenes in Weybridge
Behind the Scenes: Summer Shoots in Weybridge This week, young movie makers taking part in the Summer Shoots in Weybridge are making their own unique movie productions. Over five days, the young movie makers will devise their stories, shoot their scenes, give...Behind the Scenes in Kensington!
Behind the Scenes: Summer Shoots in Kensington This week, young movie makers taking part in the Summer Shoots in Kensington are making their own unique movie productions. Over five days, the young movie makers will devise their stories, shoot their scenes, give...Behind the Scenes in Hampstead
Behind the Scenes: Summer Shoots in Hampstead This week, young movie makers taking part in the Summer Shoots in Balham are making their own unique movie productions. Over five days, the young movie makers will devise their stories, shoot their scenes, give...
Summer Shoots: Behind the Scenes in Balham
Behind the Scenes: Summer Shoots in Balham This week, young movie makers taking part in the Summer Shoots in Balham are making their own unique movie productions. Over five days, the young movie makers will devise their stories, shoot their scenes, give their...
Summer Shoots Kensington: Updates from the Set
Movie Making Summer Camps in Kensington It’s been a fantastic week of movie making at the first Summer Shoots camp in Kensington. Crew members are working hard towards their productions. So far this week, the young filmmakers have taken part in...
Hampstead Summer Shoots: Updates from the Film Set
Summer Shoots: Movie Making Summer Camps in Hampstead The Summer Shoots crews are hard at work in Hampstead this week. They are working through a five day movie making summer camp to produce their own unique movie productions. This year’s theme is The...Summer Shoots: Behind the Scenes in Kensington
Welcome to the Movie Makers in Kensington! This week is the start of Summer Shoots – our summer movie making camps – in Kensington. Young filmmakers, aged between 7 and 14, are teaming up to produce their own unique movie productions. The crews...Summer Shoots: Behind the Scenes in Hampstead
Welcome to the Movie Makers in Hampstead! Yesterday marked the start of the Summer Shoots in Hampstead. Young filmmakers taking part in the movie making summer camps are getting started on making their own movie productions. In age-tiered crews, the...
Summer Shoots in Dulwich: Behind the Scenes
Movie Making Summer Camps in Dulwich The Summer Shoots are underway! It’s the first week of movie making summer camps, with the first Shoot taking place in Dulwich. Young movie makers (ages 7 – 14) are busy working on their own unique movie...Behind the Scenes: Summer Shoots, Day 1 in Dulwich
It’s Day 1 of the Summer Shoots 2019! Join movie makers behind the scenes at the Summer Shoots movie making summer camps in Dulwich! Today, marks the start of the Summer Shoots, movie making summer camps for ages 5-18. The young crews have been getting to...
June Movie Makers: Make a “School’s Out” Montage
Make a “Schools Out” Montage! It’s almost time for the summer holidays! Woohoo!!! This month, the Sparks Monthly Movie Makers challenge is to produce a montage video that sums up the feeling of “school’s out”. It should...
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