Last week the acclaimed Red camera made an appearance in our cinematography class. What an amazing device! Basically, the Red camera brings digital film up to the quality of digital still photography and at one tenth the cost of anything comparable. The picture is simply stunning and since it is recorded in a raw format, there is a much greater range of picture adjustment and color management that can be done in post production. The trouble is that this camera puts out an absolute fire hose of data and current storage and editing systems are barely capable of handling it. But that’s a good problem to have. The capacity of storage and the power of computers and editing systems will
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Just finished shooting Frances’ second film ‘Drugged’ this past weekend, which I produced. Funny thing about this producer role is that no one can really tell you what to do or how to do it. Actually that’s a good thing… especially for me. It’s a great role for creative problem solvers. It’s also a job of herding the million cats that are part of making a movie. Of course, no funding and budgeting was involved, so, for the time being, we’re mercifully spared the overwhelming monetary aspect of filmmaking. To some, producing has too much going on and some serious responsibility associated with it, but being involved in all aspects of making a movie is what makes it so interesting,
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This week at B.D.F.I. was very exciting for me. To begin, we started the
week learning about sound and how to operate a boom microphone. Opposed
to the strictly visual nature of the program thus far, this was a welcome
change of pace in addition to being immensely informative. Patrick cut
his teeth in the business as a sound tech, so having all that experience
relayed onto us was very cool. Antoher big event of that week the stands
out in my mind is the guest lecture with Debie Brubaker. Having one of
the most respected producer’s in the bay area come in is a testament to
the pull B.D.F.I. has in the bay, as well as the amazingly close-knit
relationship shared by entertainment
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As my second film project at BDFI gets underway, I find myself reflecting constantly on the first. After editing for the past few weeks, I’m getting pretty tired of it. In fact, I’m starting to hate it. All the problems stand out and the good stuff seems to have faded. I want to start over and fix the script and the framing and the lighting and the continuity and the editing. I’m wondering if I even want to show it to anyone. Then I screened it.

I showed it to a few of my cycling buddies at my home last weekend. I had to. I’ve been telling them about this project for weeks now and even had them read the script
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For this second project, I am really struggling with the script because
the characters are foreign to me. I don’t know them so I don’t know how
to write them. I’ve spent many hours on the script more than my first
one, but I’m not going to give up on this one. What really helps is
constructive feedback. When the class read my script for Patrick, I
really got great feedback that will help advance my script because it
addressed the story. Writing this script also reminds me of what I really
want to write about. I want to film raw, human interactions and emotions
– the heart of the matter. After shooting and editing my first project, I
can now appreciate it for what I was trying to
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This week has personally been a rough one for me but being at BDFI
reminds me of what I really love most and I forget about everything else
when I’m here. Although producing is what I really want to do with the
film/TV industry, I love learning everything from cinematography to
acting here. I think it really helps me to develop as a knowledgeable,
well-rounded filmmaker. Debbie Brubaker came in on Tuesday and shared
with us her experience in producing film. She was very down to earth and
shared a lot of valuable experience, and her story reinforced my desire
to produce.
Working on my first film project, I first seemed overwhelmed with the task
but it is coming together nicely. I got a great producer and I’m learning
a lot
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So intense. Four more weeks until the semester is over.

I can’t stop watching movies now without deliberately trying to forget everything I learned at BDFI. I notice all the shots, exposures, mistakes, continuity, etc. in a film I see. I appreciate the writing now that I know almost everything is written! I had this experience before when I first took film production classes at community college. But this is so different. I can see the directors/producers getting bummed out WHILE I’m watching their movie. I feel the pain. I needed more coverage, more takes, more guts in my execution of the story, better dialogue, etc.

We’re doing our second project, a 3 minute scene. And I feel my writing
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This semester has been amazing! I have never enjoyed being in school so much! Everyday when I walk through the beautiful gardens I think how lucky I am to be going to BDFI. I have learned so much this semester and I still have so much further to go, I can’t wait.

I finished my first project a couple of weeks ago and I am just finishing up the editing. I had so much fun with it. At first I was stressed that I couldn’t get it done the way I envisioned it and I was having difficulty with people’s schedules and I wasn’t sure if I could really pull it off. Then I realized that even if my idea failed
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It’s been almost 3 months since I started at the school and I am
working on my second film project now. It’s been very intense. Why I
say that? I say that because, personally, I realized that film making
isn’t just another career, but it’s a life. I feel that I’ve become
more in tuned with the under-current of human emotions that runs deep
inside of all of us. In order to create characters, your key
ingredient is to tap into that. I see the characters that I create
become alive in my script and film. It’s incredible to walk in these
characters’ shoes. I’m grateful to have around the faculty and the
senior students of the school. Their unwavering
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We have just entered week eleven, or twelve…despite the amount of weeks,
it has been a good amount of time since our first week of class. Many
changes have occurred since the beginning. I like to think I am more aware
of the industry and movie elements in general. I know I still have a lot
to learn, but I know more than I did, which is an accomplishment in
itself.
Stories and screenwriting. It’s not as easy as it looks or sounds. Having
a great idea does not mean it will make a great story. There are a lot of
elements which go into a script. For instance, the characters must have a
character arc, which basically means they must change over time. Having a
character stay linear, is
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