2012 is certainly off to a rip-roaring start, and I'm not even back at school yet! To sum it up, everyone is working dutifully on organizing their films and upcoming shoots- so far it looks like I will be art director and 2nd assistant director for Marc Riou's 'Black Dawn', and production manager for Nugent Cantileno's 'The Tilt of a Rose'. Both are projects I'm very excited about and offer jobs that I haven't taken on yet, which will be a new challenge...and I always enjoy a challenge! Aside from that as soon as I get back to school which will be within the next few days or so, I'll start editing the prom sequence (as the footage has been converted) and alongside preparing for Marc's shoot and assisting wherever I can in pre-pro for Nugent's, preparing for my shoot on location at Josh's house (doubling for the character of Margot's) the last weekend of January. It will be fairly intensive but we'll get a lot done, including some of the crew's favorite scenes: the sequence where Cole brings Margot home, ends up conking out, and has to hide in the morning in a suspenseful/slightly comedic scene where simply everything goes wrong at once as her best friend and boyfriend show up unannounced. It's sure to be fun to shoot.
Today was a crazy day for me, but a good one. Coleytown Middle School in Westport has a strong TV program that tries to encourage kids to get involved in the filmmaking process early so they take the love of the art with them to high school. It's something very close to my heart, as 7th grade was precisely when I joined the "Production Club" at my own middle school, and my artistic fate was decided. I know some of the staff at Coley, and they knew of 'Super/Heroes' (some had seen it) and wanted me to come in for a few periods, screen the film (considering it's about a PG rating, it was appropriate for the 7th graders we'd be showing it to) and give a short lecture before, and have a Q&A session after. It was hard to watch the film 4 times in a row- you're always looking at things you would've done differently yourself, though the acting as ever was wonderful- but the kids really got into it, had no trouble following, and asked a lot of great questions. They seemed really interested and encouraged. They were especially excited to know how we did the special effects, how we found the actors, how long it took to shoot, etc. They were a little traumatized to see how much prep and organization goes into just 5-6 days of shooting, but you have to let them know while they're young! All in all I think it was a good experience for them. I know I would've liked something like this when I was this age, at least. If it helps push at least one kid in the filmmaking direction, I'll be psyched.
I also stopped by the office today and had a fantastic talk with my (internship) boss, Doug, also a part-time filmmaker. It's always great to get his perspective. He was very supportive of my work and it's likely I'll be around again this summer, which is great. I love working there. All my best ideas come in between jobs, when my creative juices are flowing! And the jobs themselves are a lot of fun.
Today was a crazy day for me, but a good one. Coleytown Middle School in Westport has a strong TV program that tries to encourage kids to get involved in the filmmaking process early so they take the love of the art with them to high school. It's something very close to my heart, as 7th grade was precisely when I joined the "Production Club" at my own middle school, and my artistic fate was decided. I know some of the staff at Coley, and they knew of 'Super/Heroes' (some had seen it) and wanted me to come in for a few periods, screen the film (considering it's about a PG rating, it was appropriate for the 7th graders we'd be showing it to) and give a short lecture before, and have a Q&A session after. It was hard to watch the film 4 times in a row- you're always looking at things you would've done differently yourself, though the acting as ever was wonderful- but the kids really got into it, had no trouble following, and asked a lot of great questions. They seemed really interested and encouraged. They were especially excited to know how we did the special effects, how we found the actors, how long it took to shoot, etc. They were a little traumatized to see how much prep and organization goes into just 5-6 days of shooting, but you have to let them know while they're young! All in all I think it was a good experience for them. I know I would've liked something like this when I was this age, at least. If it helps push at least one kid in the filmmaking direction, I'll be psyched.
I also stopped by the office today and had a fantastic talk with my (internship) boss, Doug, also a part-time filmmaker. It's always great to get his perspective. He was very supportive of my work and it's likely I'll be around again this summer, which is great. I love working there. All my best ideas come in between jobs, when my creative juices are flowing! And the jobs themselves are a lot of fun.