Rock Star!!

Tonight was the Rock Star performance, and it was the funnest night ever! We all got to the school at 7 p.m. dressed as our rock stars, set up, and performed. Everybody was awesome! It was really one of the best concerts I've ever been to. It was funny and exciting and we were jumping around and I took about 500 pictures. 

And performing was so much fun! I was super nervous, but when I got up there, I felt like I could perform every night. It was so cool. Everyone was clapping and cheering. It was great.

Anyway, words can't really describe how fun it was. It was incredible. And this was for acting class, remember. Which makes it about 50 times cooler. 

After Rock Star we went out with two of our professors dressed in our costumes. When my roommates and I got to the bar, the other rock stars started cheering, and everyone else stared at us. Which was basically incredible.

Best night ever. Or at least since a while.

Here's a picture of me as Courtney Love.

180 Degrees and More

I haven't blogged for a few days, and for that I am sorry. But I've been busy. Understandable, right? 

So Tuesday was screenwriting, and I got a little bit chewed out for not introducing my main character in terms of archetypal personality. It's kind of hard to explain. But I'm so used to showing who characters are through dialogue action, and show don't tell, show don't tell, show don't tell, that now it's like, tell, tell, tell, and it's difficult! But I'm excited to see what I come up with when I actually get it.

Yesterday I had sound lab which was long, but pretty cool. We learned to put sounds together- dialogue tracks, sound effects, and more. It was really fun. That's what we'll have to do on our films. Dialogue goes in one track, atmosphere sounds in another, sound fx, music, etc. I feel more sound-savvy already.

Last night we had a directing lab about staying on the 180 degree line in movies. This is the imaginary line that makes it look like the characters are talking to one another, even when you can't see the other person, like in close-ups. So we walked into the room, and I realized that I still haven't ceased to be amazed by film school. There were two cameras set up and a camera strung up from the ceiling somewhere, so it was overhead. There were these awesome lights and two mannequins. I'll post a picture later. It was just awesome. That's the only word for it.

We also talked about not making your actors look like amputees, which made me laugh, because I keep thinking of taking pictures with my mom and sister and talking about that. 

Oh! And last night, well, this morning, at like 3 a.m., Reb sent us the crew grids so we can see who is working on our crew for our film, and who we work for and when we work. So that's super exciting. We should get our scripts to choose from today. It's all happening!

Trucks, But Not Trucks

Today we had a lab about trucks. I was terrified we were actually going to drive them, but we didn't today. That's Friday or next week or something. 

In the afternoon, we got to meet more of our actors and I met my other actor. He seems really cool and nice, so that's good. These guys should be really easy to work with.

I got out of class at 2:00 today, which was the first, and probably last time that will ever happen here. So that was exciting. I dressed up as Courtney Love and practiced my rock star project. 

And that's about it.

And on a totally unrelated note, laser tag is really fun.

Actors

Yesterday was a pretty easy day of school. The cool thing was that we got to meet some of our actors. I met one of mine, and I'll meet the other on Monday. The one I met already, J.T. is very cool and seems really easy to work with. I have two guy actors, which is pretty cool, since in previous years, they were at a serious loss of guys to be in the movies. I'm excited to meet my other actor on Monday. It should be fun. They're from the BFA theater program, so they're really excited about being in our films, just as much as we are to direct them.

Today I started my production design homework, which is creating a prop for this character. She's a punk rocker in the '80s, so I have this whole back story for her that she doesn't have a home, and travels around the country staying with her friends. So my prop is this pillow case that she uses to keep her clothes in while she travels. I got a white pillow case, and to make it look used, I went outside and rolled it in the dirt and stomped on it. Which was pretty incredible. I have the best homework.

I also made an anarchy sign patch and I'm making some more tomorrow, which I'll attach to the pillow case with safety pins. I'm pretty stoked. Oh, and I'm putting a shoelace in to look like a drawstring! Cool.

I also went shopping for my rock star wardrobe today. We perform Friday and I'm super excited. One of these nights, my roommates and I are gonna dress up and have a dress rehearsal. Should be incredibly awesome.

That's all for now. I'm attempting to bake bread. Wish me luck.

Schedule's Up!

We finally got the schedule for when we'll be directing our D1 film. What that's told me is that it's very, very close. And I don't know whether to be really excited or really nervous. Excited, I think. I watched some of the D1 movies from last year, and they were pretty good. But they didn't intimidate me. So that's a start.

Anyway, turns out I direct my film the first week of production, on October 21, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good because it should be the most stressful job, and I can get it over with. Bad because everyone's going to be just starting out, including myself. So both. But at least I know. We meet our actors tomorrow and Monday, and I think we get to pick out scripts soon. I have my fingers crossed for a good thriller or mystery to pick from, because I really want to direct a film noir.

I had editing today, and our actual professor started teaching us. Until now, we've had this other guy who may be a TA or just a BFA professor, I'm not sure. Anyway, our professor, April, is extremely cool and has this magnetic personality. And she knows a lot about editing. She has an experimental documentary at the NY Film Festival. 

We learned how to do J and L cuts, which are cuts where you bring in sound or dialogue before the previous scene is over. They're used a lot in arguments and other situations, and you can make it seem like people are interrupting each other. It's a little hard to explain here, but I'll try.

So, an L cut is when you have a clip of someone yelling at someone else, and you play that sound footage while the image of the other person plays over it (a reaction shot, perhaps). The previous sound goes into the next video clip. Does that make sense? I hope so. And a J cut is just the other way around. Sounds complicated, I know. But now I know how to do it, and I feel very smart.

I may be able to post my project on here so you can see what I mean. I don't know, though. I'll try to remember to do that. 

Anyway, we edited this footage from a movie called Heartwood with Hilary Swank when she was like, fifteen. Ok, she was like 18, but still. Anyway, it was really, really fun. 

Today we also made this scene in cine lab and it was incredibly fun. We all had different jobs assigned; I was production designer. It took us like 4 hours to set up this scene with all the lights and everything. It was nuts. But it went by really fast, and it was really, really fun. 

Production designer decorates the set. So I had to put furniture on set and props and make the room look like a room. I'm excited to do that job on D1. I'll also be in charge of costumes. Yes.

I also found out that the production designer takes all sorts of behind-the-scene footage on set, so I'm excited for being director, so I can get a ton of pictures of myself directing my one and only time. I was going to swindle a BFA student volunteer into doing it, but I guess now I don't have to. 

Budgets!

Today in producing class we got to talk about movie budgets, which is really one of my favorite things to do. Well, one of my favorite things is actually looking up budgets and comparing them to what the movie made, which we also do in producing class. So that's pretty neat.

But I've never seen a broken down line-itemed movie budget before, so it was super cool. And I may look them up in my spare time because I think it's exciting. And also because I'm a nerd.

Other than that, we got to make our own budget, which was really fun. More UPM stuff, which reinforces the fact that I want to be a screenwriter/UPM when I grow up.

We also talked about the WGA in class, which is the Writer's Guild. I realized that I really want to be a member of the WGA. If you're in the WGA, the least they can pay you for an original screenplay is $65,173 for a low-budget movie and $122,354 for a high-budget movie. 

I would take either. Anytime. Seriously.

In sound class today we got to go outside on the backlot and make homemade videos. We took the boom mike out and the sound recorders and everything. For some reason, my group ended up making the Poop Chronicles, with five movies centered around poop. 

I really don't know why, but I know that when I was acting, I did get to pretend to throw up a lot. So that was fun.

Oh! And I got to use a slate for the first time ever! I've always wanted to use one. I never knew what they were for, and now I do. And they're fun. And magnetic!

I really do feel like it's such an old, outdated movie technology. But I really am in love with them. Slates, that is.

Anyway, it was a pretty eventful day. And we're already more than halfway through the 4th week. We meet our actors Friday! Yikes!

It's Electric!

So, I have just realized that I am the worst blogger ever. My "daily" blog has been left vacant for five days. So I apologize to all of you who are interested in my life.

But in my defense, I've been busy. 

Saturday Steph and Skye came to visit, which was amazing. We slid around my hardwood floor in socks and went to a pool party and saw a woman freak out in Wal-Mart. Good stuff.

Anyway, back to school.

Sunday we had an optional lab on learning to use the follow focus. The 1st Assistant Camera person pulls focus on actors, while the camera operator films the scene. So there's this little thing called a follow focus that you turn and...keep the picture in focus! Who ever would have guessed? 

Anyway, the lab was really helpful, and basically what I learned was that it's really hard to keep someone in focus when they're walking up to the camera. 

Yesterday we had a lab on using the generator. We have these generator trucks and all these big camlock cables that we run from the truck to wherever we want to power our lights. My muscles were sore by the end of the four hour lab, but I felt pretty accomplished and pretty strong. I like some of this hard movie labor stuff. It makes me feel cool.

Today we had producing and cinematography classes. We also had screenwriting. We had to write these scenes about a person with a personality flaw, and then today we read them in class and guessed the flaws. It was pretty fun.

I got really nervous, because I have this thing where I hate when people read my stuff when I'm in the room with them. I wanted to throw up a little. Or leave the room. But I didn't do either. I sat there like a good kid.

And most people guessed my flaw, so that was cool. It was about a girl who was incredibly cynical, and who was at her sister's wedding. Good stuff.

Anyway, my professor laughed pretty hard at one line, so I was pretty happy about that. It's still weird to sit there when everyone is silently reading your script, though.

Hmmm, I think that about covers it. I don't really know what I have tomorrow. It's all in my planner, but I don't feel like looking. I'll just go with it.

Oh, and by the way, the rock star project performance is a week from Friday! So I really have to get into learning "Celebrity Skin" and getting my Courtney persona down.

Also, it's week four. Which means there are two more weeks of classes, and then we start filming. I am still very excited and very terrified for filming. But right now I'm leaning toward excited. It should be fun.

Friday we get to have a meet and greet with our actors from the theater department, so that should be fun. I also think it might involve free food. What could be better, really?

Almost Half-Way Through!

Classes, that is. It's crazy! In just a few weeks, we'll be starting Crew Drills and filming. 

Today we had editing, and we got to edit an action scene. I got to show mine up on the big screen, so that was pretty cool. I had a lot of fun editing it. In case you forgot, I LOVE EDITING!

Next, we had a cinematography lab, where we played with lights and set up a scene with two different places that had different contrast ratios that our actor had to walk through. We had an 8:1 contrast ratio, which is really crazy, like film noir. And then we had a 3:1 ratio, which was really soft and pretty. It was really cool to watch the actor walk through it. It was dark, then really contrasted light, then dark again, then pretty light. 

Also, I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of lights. Starting being the key word. But progress is progress.

My cinematography professor told us this story about a writer who said to a photographer, "You take great pictures, you must have a great camera," and the photographer said, "You write great books. You must have a great typewriter." I thought you'd like that, Mom.

We finally had directing class again tonight. We're starting these crazy, beat-by-beat script breakdowns, where we have to go through and write each change in a scene. It's kind of hard to explain. We have to write the subtext, the emotion, and what we want the audience to know for each and every change in the tone of a scene. I guess that's the best way to describe it.

It's actually quite fun.

Anyway, tomorrow's the last day of the third week of school.

OH! And I can't forget!! Saturday, I'll have a surprise visit from two of my favorite people: Steph and Skye! I can't wait!!

We Love Movies

Today ended up being pretty great. First off, I aced my first producing quiz. So that's cool.

I had sound lab today, and we played with these incredibly smart computer recording devices. We plug the boom mics into them and control the sound with this little blinky machine. It's blinky because it has green, red, and blue lights that light up. Pretty neat.

So, this machine is so smart, it will record the same sound under a different file for every take of the same scene. Then it creates its own folders. It's kind of crazy. But very cool.

Also, our sound professor created his own stand for holding the little recording device, and the sound logs. He took this tripod and these other things and this police officer's ticket-writing stand, and put it all together. It's quite incredible. I wish I took a picture. But I didn't. So. Moving on.

We were supposed to have directing class tonight, but it was cancelled so we could go to this pre-screening of For a Good Time, Call, the movie that was made by two film school alumni. They gave us free tickets to the screening, which I thought was just incredible. 

The people at the door checked us to make sure we didn't have video cameras and metal detected us. It was pretty crazy!

Also, the theater was HUGE! It was like stadium seating,where some seats were high up and then they tapered down. People couldn't believe I'd never been to a theater that big before, but I haven't. And it was cool.

Long story short, no night class and free movies are two awesome things. Also, it was cool to see some alumni in action. Well, not in action, but you get it.

Sound recorder!

Catching Up

Sorry guys. I'm becoming a horrible blogger. Also, I'm busy.

Yesterday we had a lab in using follow focus on the camera, so that was pretty neat. Any time I get to work with the camera, I feel super cool. Also, I get a kick out of bringing things into focus, because it's like magic. 

Also, I like looking at the big monitor, because I feel so professional. They hook it up to the cameras, and you can see what the camera guy sees, but through the large screen instead!

Today I had producing, cinematography, and screenwriting. I'm finally starting to get the gist of this cinematography stuff. I now know what ISO and aperture and foot candles are. So that's something.

We have a new scene in screenwriting, about a character with a fatal flaw. Just a normal flaw, actually, but I like to say fatal flaw, because I like the alliteration. 

We also watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which is amazing.

In producing, we're now beginning to practice scheduling shooting, and that's really fun. The scheduling and script breakdown are done by the Unit Production Manager on a movie, and I really think that's something I would enjoy doing. UPM by day, screenwriter by night. Sure.

End of Week Two

I'm already going into the third week of school! It's crazy. It's going by so fast.

Yesterday, in acting class, we got our Rock Star assignment. I've been excited about this project for, like, 2 years, so I'm super excited.

Here's the set up: We were supposed to pick a rock star up from the airport, but something went wrong, and they aren't there, so now we have to go on stage and convince the audience that we're the rock star.

We have to pick someone completely different from ourselves, and then we dress up and have a lip-synching performance. I'm so excited. I think I'll be Courtney Love.

Our directing class was cancelled, and we had a set workshop class instead, which they scheduled basically to put us to work, because flats had to get set up. 

I carried in flats, which are huge and heavy, and, long story short, I'm gonna have huge arm muscles by December.

Thursday

I couldn't decide what to title this post. I'm running low on creative ideas.

Not really. I just couldn't decide.

Today I had editing, and we got to edit a scene from a student short film. It was so much fun! I always forget how much I love editing until I do it again. So I guess I'll be having great epiphanies every week now. 

I just feel like I'm in such a zone when I'm editing. I don't even know what's going on around me. I love it.

We also had a cinematography workshop, where we built cameras up, lit the room, and looked through the cameras. And let me tell you, those cameras look awesome. 

From next week on, in our cine lab, we'll be filming things, and one night we get to do an exterior night shoot on the studio backlot. I'm very, very excited.

There's not too much to tell tonight. Plus, I have to get back to my homework. 

Acting tomorrow, and also a new class, Set Workshop!

And tomorrow I get done at 4! Crazy!!

Oh, and here's a picture of me with the boom mic!

Getting Busy

I had absolutely no time to update yesterday. I came home from class and worked on homework, and before I knew it, it was time for bed. 

So, yesterday first. Yesterday I had screenwriting, and my professor took us aside for 10 minutes each and told us what we were doing well or what needed improvement on a short scene we wrote. He said that I had good formatting techniques, and that I'm ahead of what he expected the students to be. So that made me feel really good. I was worried I would go in there and everything I have been doing was wrong. But it wasn't. So that made me very happy.

I also realized something yesterday. Senior year at NMU, I had about 10 hours of class every week. Now I have that in a day sometimes. And that's just crazy! But I love it, and it's so much fun, and I learn sooooo much. 

It's about to get pretty hardcore, though. Today we had directing class, and we really learned about our D1 films and what the schedule will be like. Six films are going to be shot each weekend between the two tracks. Friday through Monday will be shooting days, Tuesday will be equipment check-in/check-out days, and Wednesday and Thursday will be planning days for the ATL positions. The week before I'm on an ATL position (director, producer, production designer, director of photography), I'll have the weekend off to prepare. And it goes on like this for weeks. So that's gonna be sooooooo nuts. But I'm excited. I've always preformed well when busy, so hopefully that still stands.

We had a sound workshop today, which was very cool. It's always kind of been a dream of mine to hold a boom mic, one of those fuzzy-covered mics that people in movies hold over the actors. Well, today I got to do that. It was so cool! You have to wear these big headphones and carry around a sound box and hold the boom mic high up or down low, to capture the actors' sound. It's insane, though, because the slightest little noise-- it could be someone talking all the way down the hallway-- picks up in the headphones, and therefore, on the sound track. That's why it's so important for people to be quiet on set...hence the old, "Quiet on the set!" 

The boom mic was also amazing at picking up whispering. It's just crazy. I love it. And I'm gonna get some tricep muscles.

In production management, which I so simply like to call "producing," we learned about breaking down scripts. The Unit Production Manager will go through the screenplay and make notes of each character, props, wardrobes, sounds, music, extras, animals, vehicles, etc. mentioned in the script. From this, the UPM makes a shooting schedule and a budget. We're not doing the schedule/budget part right now, but the breakdown part is so much fun. It's very tedious, but I really enjoy it.

Finally, in production design, our assignment for next week is researching characters and wardrobe/hair/makeup for those characters. Luckily for me and my sub-par drawing skills, we can photo-collage if necessary. Even though I can't draw very well, I may try. It sounds fun.

So that's about it for today. Class went from 9 a.m. to around 10:30 p.m. But it didn't feel that long at all. Anyway, I'll leave you with this quote that Steven Speilberg said. By the way, it's the undersatement of the century. When asked about movies he said, "I kind of know what works." 

Kind of?

Cameras, and Lenses, and Dollies, Oh My!

Today we got to set up the cameras. We put them on the "sticks," (which is the film term for tripod) and put the viewfinders on, the camera, the matte box (the rectangle box that totally makes a movie camera look like a movie camera), and tried them out. They look awesome! It was really, really fun. 

The cameras are Red Epics, and they shoot in 5K, which is extremely high resolution. So, basically, anything we shoot is gonna look incredible by proxy. The lenses are cool, too. I'm excited to use wide angle lenses, because I love wide angle. We aren't allowed to use the telephoto lenses this year, because our professor said that if we use the telephoto lens, nobody learns how to actually use the normal lenses, and how to move the camera, and everything.

It's really cool, because the Director of Photography doesn't actually operate the lenses. He (or she!) will look through the camera, or through the viewfinder, but the 1st Assistant Camera person (1st A.C.) will operate the lenses with a thing called a follow focus, and a knob to turn the follow focus. It's kind of difficult to explain, but it's really cool. The follow focus keeps focus on the actor. It's pretty neat.

The next class I had was Dolly Workshop, which was absolutely amazing! We got the dollies we're going to be using for our tracking shots, smooth shots, high shots, low shots, etc. We learned to put them together and all that, and we learned how to do a "dolly party," which is when four people pick up the dolly and move it onto a track. It was heavy, but not as heavy as I thought it would be, and I felt very accomplished to have taken part in the "dolly party."

After the work in the building, we went outside and laid tracks for the dollies. It's like a metal rail, and when you put the dolly on it, it rolls completely smoothly. This is what most movies use for those smooth tracking shots, walking shots, point of view shots, and more. I had so much fun, and I really wish I could put a million dolly shots in my film. I think my crew would kill me. But we'll see. 

When you lay dolly track, you have to make sure it is completely even. So we had to go all down the track with a level, and pieces where it wasn't level, we had to put wood blocks underneath to level it out. It seems a little time consuming, but it was actually fun. I actually felt like I was doing something. I felt accomplished, once again. I should mention, the leveling out is done when the dolly track has been laid on uneven ground. Because sometimes, you will have to film on a hill, or over a mud puddle or something. Who knows.

Oh! And I almost forgot! The director and the first assistant camera guy (or girl) ride on the dolly! There are seats on the side that are really cushiony, and you can go for a little ride.

 

Football!

So, this has nothing to do with film school, but...

I went to an FSU football game yesterday! 

I don't really like football, but I went with my roommate, because she loves it. And I'm really glad I went! 

It was insane! The stadium can hold, like, 80,000 people or some ridiculous number. It wasn't full, because we didn't play a huge team, but it was really cool. 

Before the game started, there were F-15 fly-overs and little firework things. And the mascot here is a man dressed up as an Indian who rides a horse and carries a flaming spear that he throws down on the field. It's incredible!

And everyone does this weird hand thing and says "OhohOhohOhoh," which is supposed to be the Seminole Battle Cry, and look like you're swinging a tomahawk. It's kind of weird, and I didn't really get it at first, and I had to ask what everyone was doing. But it was pretty cool.

Long story short, I'm glad I went. Even though all of the things I thought were cool had nothing to do with football...