Updates
Remember when you were in grade school - when one of the kids gets a toy, like transformers,
everybody else wanted one. That's the situation at the new production company.
Jennifer is one of 6 assistants working there. Monday, no one had an intern except her.
Tuesday, one of the assistants started interviewing interns. Wednesday, another assistant
complained because Jen had an intern all to herself. Thursday, Jen and Troy, another
assistant, had interns. Friday, an email goes out to all the assistants, "all interns are
to be shared and regulated by the head of the interns, Andrew".
Monday, I'm stuck in the back office where the copiers are. You won't believe how many
scripts I copied that day. I have to check in with all the assistants when I go in the
office now.
Film school - year one.
There are hundreds of film schools in the United States. All of them have specialized
programs for their undergraduates and graduates. The film school I attended was Academy
of Art and that's the program I'll be talking about.
My four years there the program changed twice. One reason was the changing of the directors
and another because of the changing technology.
Regardless of the program, your first year will be devoted to general studies and beginning
course in editing, writing, photography, film history and color theory.
If you wanted to be a director, the best idea would be to have a degree and do graduate
work in film. Directors need to know everything about everything. Have a solid background
in general studies and then go to film school. If you know nothing about the world, how
are you going to create a believable world? How are you going to tell a story rooted in
reality if you don't understand the workings of the world?
Film is an art form. So you have to approach the studies of film in that manner.
What makes a good picture? One of the first classes you should be taking is Basic
Photography. Film runs at 24 frames per second. Each of those frames is a still photo.
What makes a still photo work? You're going to learn about composition, positive and
negative space and tangent lines. Learn to shoot a great photo and you're on your way
to shooting a great short.
Learn about editing on tape to tape editing systems, although now everyone's starting
on Final Cut Pro. How does two different frames come together to become an edit? Why
should you cut on sound and movement? What are L-Cuts and fades? These and so many other
terms will be taught in Editing One classes. You'll be cutting one-minute movie trailers,
music videos and documentaries.
One of my favorite projects was taking two different movies, like Aliens and Halloween,
and making a whole different movie.
First year screenwriting classes are very important. This is the first step towards
realizing that without writers, you cannot make a movie. You can shoot a documentary but
not a movie. This is where everything starts.
Film history. Learn about how film was created and the journey of many pioneering directors
and their contributions to the craft. Most important, learn about their mistakes, so you
don't have to make them.
I remembered my first year as hectic. While I had five classes and they only met once a
week, my homework was ridiculous. In traditional classes, you would have some reading and
tests here and there. In Editing One, you have one week to cut together a one-minute trailer
of a movie with no sound.
Looks easy but think about it. First, you have to watch the movie. Second, log down all the
footage that you can use. This means only footage that has one cut. You cannot use the
editor's cut. Next, put everything together and hope it makes sense. All of this might take
you, if you're lucky, 20 hours. Now you have four other classes to deal with.
If you love film, then this is one of the most exciting and important years. You're learning
the foundations of screenwriting, editing, photography, color theory and acting. Everything
you learn this year will apply to more advance classes in year two.
You have no life, but no one really cares...
Next - Year two.
Written by Charlie Cheng
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