Projects Update 5/16/19

I’m 1/4 of the way through my undergraduate career. People have been telling me that for the last few weeks and I still can’t believe it. I’m at the airport right now surrounded by way too many bags, thinking about how I am officially done with my year. It has gone by so fast, yet so long at the same time. So much has happened and I had one of the best years of my life (I think I said that last year… this is a good sign). Worked on more sets, got that 4.0 (for real this time), and so much more…

Film Projects- I keep saying I want to work on a project, but so much has been happening this first semester that it seemed to be impossible. So far this semester I’ve just edited old stuff. I made a short video of a road trip I went on last summer down the CA coast. Next year I will have to in my production class, which I’m really looking forward to. I’m taking a screenwriting class as well where I can hopefully write some scripts to do for fun as well.

Title slide from the short cinematic video I made of my summer road trip.

The Sundial- I really enjoy working here, although maybe I’m the only one. We started with three graphic designers, and a production manager (lead designer), now it’s just me. Our other two designers left early in the semester, and we never found a good replacement, so it was just me and Dalton the production manager. I’ve really enjoyed it and got to know him and the staff really well, the problem is lots of people are graduating/quitting next semester. Dalton just announced it a few weeks ago to my surprise. This means next year they have to do a huge staff higher and there are lots of positions open. I told them I’d be back, so I can either keep doing design, apply for the production manager, or look into video/photo positions. I really don’t know what I want to do. I really like designing because the hours are good, and it’s really laid back. Yet I feel that a video position would be a better resume builder, it’s just that no one cares about the video that we publish. I’d rather work on the print paper that is distributed all around campus. We’ll see next semester. I’ve also been working on a Sundial Snapchat news version. I designed motion graphics and stylized it for a phone screen. I might propose that next semester to the new EIC.

ID Tech– So I still don’t know where, or when I’m teaching, but I’m very excited to start. I’ll definitely be in LA at primarily UCLA and some weeks at LMU. I could potentially fill in somewhere for a week too (they could send me across the country). I talked to my manager and it looks like I’ll be working about 6 weeks this summer anytime from the end of June to mid-August. Again, I can’t wait to get started working with a big company like this, teaching like I really love doing. Also this last year I’ve realized I really like teaching, and I want to keep teaching. So I have decided that I would like to go to grad school at some point so I can teach at the college level. I don’t know when or where, but when I get older and have lots of experience, I think I want to share that with another generation of filmmakers.

UPDATE: I went to regional staff training last weekend and it’s made me even more excited to start teaching. It sounds like the perfect combination of learning and having fun. There is lots of time for learning, but there’s still that summer camp feel to it. I think it’s going to be good fun. I also got my work schedule, I don’t start until the first of July, so I get an extra week more than I thought I would. Then I get the next week off and work five weeks straight to close out the summer until mid-august. The second and third week will be at LMU, the rest are at UCLA. It’ll be lots of fun working at those campuses, at UCLA we’re teaching right at the Theater Film and Television building, which is pretty cool. And LMU will be funny to teach at because I spend a lot of time there (my girlfriend goes to there). All in all, looking forward to it.

DMA Work- Heading back to Davis now, so I think I might email Jeff and see if there is anything I can help out on. I really liked working DMA, and I learned a lot at my time there.

Film Camp/Classes- Just working at iD, my days at DAC I think are over. I really loved teaching there and will never forget how much I learned, and how much fun (and stress) I had teaching those camps. I am very grateful to have had that opportunity.

Job/internship Applications- That is going to be the bulk of my summer. I think I want to get a fall internship at a production company next year. This is on top of another possible job I’m going to apply for. This summer I will be looking at production companies that look interesting to get experience working in video production. My biggest problem is transportation. I do not have a car, however, I just got my license (at 19, don’t judge). This means I could potentially buy a car. However, that is a big investment, I would have to discuss it with my parents (maybe I can get one of my parents’ Prii (yes, that’s the plural for Prius)). For now, I will be looking at internship locations where I can take public transit to. Hopefully, I can find some in the valley or Burbank. The job, on the other hand, is a “Success Ambassador.” This year at CSUN they started a Freshman student success program. The program includes a series of workshops (such as time management and resume building) along with biweekly one on one meeting with a mentor (ambassador). If I haven’t mentioned it before, I was part of this program this year, and really enjoyed it. I found it helpful and just fun to learn at the workshops, and just talk to someone about school and my life. So if the program continues next year, my mentor is going to recommend me to be an ambassador next year. It sounds like a great, fun job that I definitely would like to do if I get the chance. This would be along with the Sundial, 16 units, and an internship… YIKES!

Set Work- It’s been a great semester for set work, because of all the Senior Thesis projects. I was lucky enough to work on two of them, one in television production and one in Film. Now, these are the big deal, budgets are from 20k to 40k, and crews can be as big as 50 people. It was a fantastic real-world experience.

“Bake it Till You Make it” set, I’m at the top looking down at the monitor to pull the focus.

The first set I worked on was “Bake it Till You Make It” which was a television thesis. It was the same crew as “Hear, Me” last semester, so it was really fun to work with them again. I came on as a PA (production assistant) on the first day. I started out doing typical PA things like moving in equipment and setting up craft services, but as you know I really like the camera department so I started hanging out around there with the grips. I started just doing grip stuff like setting up lights which I really liked. Once we started shooting, however, they didn’t have a second AC (Assistant Camera) to do slate (clapboard), and since that’s what I did the last time they asked me if I wanted to do it. Of course, I was excited because it meant I could hang out with the camera department and grips. So in between takes, I’d help move equipment and then slate when we were shooting. Anyway, after 12 hours (10 to 10) we finally wrapped. In order to keep down on transport cost and time, a lot of people stayed over, including me. This was really fun because I got to know the crew as more of friends as opposed to like colleagues. However, the best part of the night was when Pond the cinematographer came over to me. So it turned out the first AC Chris (a really nice guy, I’m actually rooming with him next year) couldn’t make it for the second day of shooting, so he asked if I wanted to be first AC. I was so excited, it was exactly the kind of position I wanted to do! I was very excited, but also really nervous. The next day I woke up and started helping the cinematographer set up the camera. I learned a lot about how it worked and how to set it up. My job, however, was to be the focus puller. So I operated the wireless pull focus. This meant that I got a handheld dial that I held and needed to pull (change) the focus live while filming. This is a very intricate art of getting every subject in crisp focus, especially with lots of movement in the scenes. I was very nervous I was going to mess up. Don’t get me wrong, I did, but not a whole lot. I was really proud of how well I did, and the cinematographer seemed to be really happy with my work. This set was a fantastic experience for me, the people were really fun and down-to-earth, and it was just wonderful all working together on a film.

The second set I worked on was a senior thesis film. This was the big deal, 40k budget, and 50 person crew. It was a spectacle to be at. On top of that, the film was lucky enough to receive the ARRI grant. Each year one of the five senior thesis films is picked for this grant where camera company ARRI (known for the Alexa which is an industry standard film camera) donates equipment to the project. The ARRI camera was absolutely beautiful. At one point during the production they brought out the RED (professional grade cinema camera, standard at most film schools) to shoot Multicam, and that camera looked like a play-toy compared to the ARRI. Now, I start by talking about the camera because that was the coolest part about working on this project. Otherwise, it was kind of tiresome and boring. Since it was such a big crew, I stayed as a PA and had to do the regular boring PA things. An hour into the shoot I got excited tho because one of the grips called me over for help, then she pointed at a light outside of the building and told me to sit there and watch that light… so that basically summed up the night. Actually, I only watched the light for an hour before I was dragged in to be an extra. We were shooting at the Granda Inn in LA, which is a vintage Latin dance club– a really cool place actually. So the other PAs (who were basically all my friends, so that was fun) and I sat at the bar in the background with a fake drink during the first scene. Later in the night, it was time to dance. Yes, it was me and all my friends attempting to Latin dance in the background of the shots (I sure hope you can’t see us because we had no idea what we were doing). Anyway, that was also quite fun, however, that was the remainder of the night, on our feet dancing all the way to wrap at 6… a.m. I forgot to mention it was an all-night shoot, those are always good fun. Anyway, that was pretty much it. It was a good time as always, and I look forward to seeing how the film turns out in the end.

BTS picture from “Hot Latin Nights at the Granada Inn” where I am standing in as an extra in the back right attempting to dance. I guess the camera did catch me…

CSUN Cinema Club- I want to revamp it next year in more of a production club where we make a movie each semester. I hope I can figure that out this summer.

CSUN Classes- So I finished this semester and registered for next semester. Again I had some really great professors this semester. My psychology professor was great, he was this old guy that was super energetic, lively, and funny. He focused on learning concepts rather than facts which I appreciated. My public speaking honors professor, on the other hand, was a young grad student. He was fantastic, super, relatable, funny, and engaging. He was the professor I got the closest to that semester. Then I had Music in Film, which was a great class. So perfect for me– two of my favorite things, in another life (if I was actually good) I would be a composer. I found it fascinating looking at how important music is in film, and how it has evolved through the decades. One of my favorite classes and the professor was really cool too. He was a USC graduate and did a lot of composing himself. When we talked about things in class he could go over to the piano and play it, or compare it to his work, or talk about how he hung out at Hans Zimmer’s house. He was really down to earth too that made him respectable. Then I had my film Aesthetics class where we watched a film every class. Saw some really good ones that I’ll talk about in my review section. The textbook we read was fantastic, I learned a ton. Super good information about film production. My professor was pretty cool because she had a lot of experience actually directing. A lot of low budget films, and a good amount of television as well. Then I had my World Arts class. We studied the arts of Africa, Polynesia, and America. Learned some really interesting things about the indigenous people of those places, making me want to travel. The professor was super smart, I had to do research on the Ashante’s Akua’ba doll, and a page that she had written was the top result on Google. for my final I chose the creative project (naturally) and crafted a Hawaiian spear.

Next year I will be taking Geography with my favorite professor. I chose the class just because of him. It’s a science class though, so it will be different. Then I’m taking Philosophy Honors which I’m kind of worried about because it could be just lots of reading, I’m hoping it’s going to be more discussions though. I’m also taking Greek and Roman Mythology which is the first upper-division course I will be taking. I am really looking forward to taking that class because I’ve always loved that mythology (thank you Percy Jackson). Then the film classes I’m taking are photography and screenwriting. Photography is film photography, so I will have to shoot on actual film, something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m really looking forward to that. Screenwriting I’m hoping will be good to help me with my scripts. It will hopefully force me to write as well.

Film Festivals and Events- Nothing really in this section last semester.

Awards and Honors- Just academic honors. Since I participated in the CSUN Success Scholars Program, I got a certificate from that. And then CSUN Housing gave out academic achievement certificates of which I received. The biggest thing was Dean’s List I suppose. I’m really trying to keep above a 3.9 in college, with this semester I must be at like a 3.99. I’d really like to graduate with my certificate from the honor’s program as well as other academic recognition.

Graphic Design- Mostly Sundial things– page layout, ad design, etc. Otherwise, I have been designing things for birthday presents. It started with my poster art for Hitchcock’s Rear Window that I made for my mom. I drew the entire thing digitally on Adobe Illustrator. I’ve gotten better at digital drawing, and have found myself really liking it. Then for my girlfriend, I designed a book and a few other things. So I suppose I have been doing a good amount of graphic design.

Poster Art I made for Hitchcock’s Rear Window.

Photography– Photography-wise I haven’t done a whole lot. I did do a shoot around campus that was fun, and I think another over break, I’ll see if I can scrape up some pictures from those. Next year I will be doing lots in my photography class. I’ll have to get used to shooting on real film, really looking forward to it.

Photo of my roommate from the photoshoot around CSUN campus.

Film Review- For this film review I will be reviewing films I watched in my film aesthetics course. All the films are critically acclaimed, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some bad ones.

To watch:

1. City of God- Don’t be scared of foreign films, some of the best movies aren’t in English. Absolutely gripping from start to finish, came out of this one stunned. A shocking look at the conditions of the slums of Rio and so fascinating to see that culture. Honestly so engaging to watch, every minute of it. Editing was very creative and really added to the intensity of the film itself.
2. Whiplash- A pretty new movie about a music prodigy and his jazz teacher that pushes him to his limits through morally ambiguous teaching methods. I enjoyed it a lot because I thought it was a really unique story. I also found it kind of relatable to my music ensemble experience. On a technical level, this film is beautiful. Really nice use of lighting and also super meaningful editing. It was great to see a well-made movie that is more modern.
3. Singin’ in the Rain- I put this one on here because it really withstands time. It made a class of college students laugh and clap through the whole thing. The jokes are still funny, and the story is still interesting. Just a fun watch, one of my favorite old movies.

Only, eh…

1. Last Year and Marienbad- Call me uncultured, but I found this film horrendously boring and difficult to watch. As part of the French New Wave cinema, it takes an incredibly artistic and abstract approach to filmmaking. I do appreciate that creative exploration, however, I feel that the film lacked meaning due to it’s over complication. I was counting down the minutes until “Fin.”
2. My Darling Clementine- For a movie called “My Darling Clementine” Clementine wasn’t in it a whole lot. I found that her character was flat and all of her love interests were boring. I was hoping for a fresh approach to the western genre where a female had more of an influential role but this wasn’t it. Just your standard western, however that in itself still has a novelty to it in its own.

Other News- Well, like I said at the beginning, it’s been a pretty great year. Did well in my classes, and had a really fun semester, crazy that a year has already gone by. I’m really enjoying the summer as well, it’s great to see old friends again too. Really enjoying myself at this stage in life. I find that I have a lot more freedom than in high school. It’s also really nice having that combination of going away to school and having an independent life as well as coming back home to old friends and family. As always, all is good.

Well, I’m glad I got this post in. I think I might do another post at the end of summer? depends on how much happens. Going to keep at this twice a year minimum though, so I will post in December latest. I’ll have definitely lots to talk about then.