About the Summer Sessions
We are excited to announce the return of our popular Access NFTS Summer Sessions for 2026!
These FREE hands on sessions are open to young people aged 11–16 and will run throughout August at our Beaconsfield campus. Each week, participants can choose from at least four different 2 hour workshops, each exploring a unique career pathway in the Film, TV and Games industries.
A Snails Story: Micro-Doc Film Making
Unleash your inner filmmaker!
We invite you behind the camera for a hands-on, high-energy mini-documentary workshop.
Step into the shoes of a young David Attenborough and discover what it’s like to be a
wildlife filmmaker for a day. In this playful, hands‑on workshop, we’ll explore how
science and natural history documentaries reveal the secret lives of tiny creatures,
starting with SNAILS!
Through fast, creative games, blind‑portrait drawing and team challenges, you’ll
learn the basics of documentary storytelling: spotting a good idea, shaping a
three‑act story, and thinking like a director. Together in small “film crews”, you’ll design and build your own snail habitat, plan your mini‑movie, then use your phones to capture close‑ups, presenter moments and atmospheric shots, just like the pros.
By the end of the session, every group will premiere their own short snail documentary in a fun mini‑screening, sharing what they discovered about snails,habitats and filmmaking and hopefully leaving inspired to keep making nature films
long after the workshop is over.
Session Details
Across the session we will:
● Play a quick creative icebreaker to get everyone comfortable working
together.
● Introduce science and natural history documentaries and screen a short
example
● Plan a three‑act story for a short snail documentary using drawings and
storyboards.
● Build a small snail habitat with natural materials and use it as a film set.
● Film the documentary on phones, with rotating roles (camera, presenter, director, designer).
● Watch the finished films, share what we learned about snails and habitats,and give positive feedback to each group.
You bring your phone, and we will provide the rest!
Click on the Book Now button above or contact outreach@nfts.co.uk if you have any queries.
