Advertising at HFF Munich

By Jenn Ghelardini

A few days ago we were fortunate enough to talk with a student involved in the HFF advertising program.

Christoph is an HFF student currently working on his final (fourth) film for the school. He is also enrolled in the school’s one-semester advertising concentration.

Students at HFF have the opportunity to produce full-length film commercials for corporations at a fraction of the cost of an agency. This is only possible with the understanding that the student has total freedom in its design and is his own DOP (director of photography). The student may choose to hire actors, editors and/or animation artists to assist in the commercial production.

The program that prepares students, like Christoph, in the field of advertising consists of a full semester of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. classes that focus on a different subject daily. The students start learning about the history of commercials and the industry’s progression. They study the differences in commercials from around the world, as well as the contrast between the commercials of former East and West Germany. The class emphasizes and reviews award-winning commercials. In addition to film commercials, the school also focuses on the persuasive language of advertisements, through studying radio ads and honing in on the power of sound itself. The students are encouraged to think creatively and are not drilled on the principles of marketing and business. The main emphasis of the course is on theory and ideas, since the students are already technically very advanced. Christoph summed up the principle: “Your idea has to be unique for the product; if you can switch out the product, then the idea is not very good.”

The school focuses on teaching students to produce award-winning commercials, with the intention of earning a prize so that they will gain recognition in the industry and be able to secure a strong job after graduation.