I think the highlight of this week was doing the improvs to get script ideas. It was great seeing people’s faces light up when their classmates interpreted their ideas. It really seemed like people were feeling stuck, like Tony, but her face completely changed after Charles and Evan created dialogue. It was very gratifying to see Tony light up like that. We have really good actors in our class. Charles and Michael in particular. I got into a dialogue with Michael and had to stop cause I was getting too caught up and emotional. That was interesting to me. Melissa also identified a key part of my dialogue that was missing and I wouldn’t have discovered that on my own. Story telling is difficult. Understanding the story arc is a challenge, but I love it. It is really exciting to me. I really like our class a lot. Everybody is really engaged. Shiela was a crack up doing her improv about Charles story. She was really able to capture that character. It was also great seeing the editing assignments. I loved Jonathan’s and Jules’ project. I also really liked mine and Tasha’s. We had a really fun time working on ours. It was a lot of hours, but we laughed a lot and marveled at the times when the scenes hit the music beats so perfectly. It was a great learning experience. Tasha picked it up so fast. I am still unsure of the mechanics, but that is no surprise. I don’t learn those things easily.

Wow! What a week it has been. My weekdays at BDFI have well exceeded what were already high expectations. I was surprisingly impressed when Patrick said the school is not necessarily technical, but a “Leadership” school. To be leaders in our industry. Now that is the right idea. I knew that I made the right choice to attend BDFI, and can’t wait for the second day.

When we watched clips from Se7en, I learned about negative and positive space, 180 degree rule (something that I need to work on), matching shots, framing correctly, and it was fantastic how it was all explained. Shifting the positive and negative space to reveal characters is something that I never realized until watching the clip. Keeping the more important characters larger in the shot, and having certain shots be calmer or more convoluted depending on the demeanor of the character seems very useful and artistic. The whole presentation really helped me visualize and understand the concepts, something that I had rarely seen in any other film class.

Going over the basics of screenplay and how we needed to “pitch” an idea made me nervous but excited. The area for me that I think I can learn the most in is effective storytelling and screenplays. I have many ideas always stirring in my head, but don’t really have a good way to get them down on paper, and in a way that tells a story. I’m very excited to learn how I can do this. Sharing embarrassing moments about ourselves seemed weird at first, but in the end made complete sense. It really made me think harder about what would make a good story and the potential themes that a filmmaker could explore when writing a movie.

I learned that working with the other people in my class is going to be a must. Just a few minutes after finishing class I was in one of the edit bays, helping out a classmate on FCP. I loaded up Motion and we worked for a bit on some footage and graphics. He even taught me a few things about Motion I didn’t know. I loved how on the first day of school I walked into an edit bay, fired up FCP and started editing.

In cinematography class, I got to brush up on my skills with my favorite camera, the HVX-200. Being able to just go and shoot, try out depth of field and play with the white balance settings was a great lab.

In editing, I refreshed my memory on capturing from tape (I’ve only worked with P2, XDCAM, and direct to disk digital workflow for 2 years). So being able to play around with FCP and help the others out in the class was a lot of fun.

One class that I was pretty nervous about was improv. I’ve never really been good at it, but our instructor made me very comfortable, and I ended up feeling very good about it all. I feel I’m going to learn a lot out of her class.

Not only did I get to watch clips from one of my favorite movies (Se7en), I learned a ton as well. Being able to interact and learn from industry professionals has already gotten my mind stirring for new, great projects, and I can’t wait to pitch them on Wednesday.

Brilliant to view the final products from students of their selected films put to music. Powerful messages conveyed through editing and the perfect tunes.

Amazing how far we’ve come in three weeks. Nice to see the development and evolution of our 3 min dialogues.

Teachers work together beautifully to help us sharpen our skills to create the richest, most convincing, highest quality dialogues possible.
If they are anything like the one minute music videos we made last week
we will be in for a most memorable show!
What a blast!

Thank you all!

The first day at Berkeley Digital was one of the most exciting experiences of my life. The school is absolutely amazing and I feel very honored to be a part of it. This institute is everything I could have hoped for. Attending classes in an executive style suite is exactly where I want to be.

Today was a very exciting day for me. I am finally going to do what I’ve always wanted to do and that is make films. The Berkeley Digital Film Institute is the best decision that I have ever made. Walking into the building this morning I expected nothing but positive attitudes and supportive insight. That is exactly what I got. I am completely blown away by how professional this Institute really is. I know by attending I will be given all the access and knowledge I will need to achieve my film making dreams.

The session today was very honest and exciting. The set up of the courses being consistent with one another is the best way for us to learn the step -by -step process to filmmaking. Today’s session also made me realize how much time and dedication filmmaking truly is. I am determined to dedicate myself to this Institute as much as I can.

My first day of school was everything I thought it would be. It was fun, exciting, new, insightful and very important. Today was the most important day of my life. Today I take the first step of achieving my goals in the place I have always wanted to be, an institute that is industry level. So from the classroom setting to the working professionals as my mentors, this school is going to change my life forever and today’s session proved to me that I can expect nothing less.

Film School continues to be a value packed growth experience that I am completely enjoying. It keeps getting more exciting to me as I grasp new concepts and expand my knowledge. I still feel a churning energy inside myself that wants out, but I know that I must be patient.

Of course I do have my favorite classes. I really enjoy Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I also really like labs. This weekend Tasha and I spent evening hours in the editing suites. That was great because it was so quiet and we could really get stuff done.

I find myself thinking about future projects and general concepts all day long, and in bed before I sleep. I hope it won’t get out of control- crazy because we have to find time to process what we have learned and recharge our batteries.

For the most part I find that the instruction is excellent and the group we are in is particularly well balanced and fun.

Surprisingly, we are down to business. We are getting ready for our first film shoot in four weeks. We have already chosen our scenes for this three minute shoot. We are prepping for casting our actors through local agencies, finding our location, learning advanced editing tools, and shooting techniques. Needless to say this is all up hill and it’s great because in the next three semesters we will polish our skills. This is exciting because meeting this challenge our first semester will only take us to extreme heights by then end of our matriculation at BDFI.

My first day at Berkeley Digital Film Institute (BDFI) was more than I had expected by all means. It blew me away hearing what I was being prepared for in terms of leadership, method, and the way into a job for great studios. Patrick did a phenomenal job of describing our place in the film industry today and in describing the changes that were taking place between L.A. and Northern California. He put into perspective how much this school focuses on leadership and our role on set as opposed to the more technical side and vocational schooling. It was his confidence in himself and his school that really pushed things over the edge for me and helped me to decide to step out on my own in BDFI and have confidence in who I am and why I am here.

After leaving class on Monday I had lunch with a few of my classmates and was extremely excited to see the energy and confidence that they had and had been given in class in just that one day. Like me, some came into it nervous and not knowing what to expect, but sitting down to hear Patrick’s confidence in the school and in us was exactly the thing we all needed. Every student is hand picked by Patrick and it shows us that he sees something in each and every one of us, so when he steps up to show confidence in where we’re going and why we’re here it’s a huge boost and something a little surreal. It’s almost like you’re getting your first taste of success when he shows that confidence in you.

After going to BDFI for only 1 day I’ve still got that anxious feeling, but I’ve never felt more energized, confident, or ready to take control of my destiny in the life I’ve chosen in film. I was born to direct, BDFI’s showing me how.

Today in Patrick’s class we pitched the idea for our first project – a three minute piece done with a locked down camera. As a group, we are feeling a bit more comfortable with each other. It’s interesting to note that many of our story ideas are very personal ones. It will be interesting to see how this personal attachment to a storyline will affect how we each direct our actors.

Melissa helped me develop a stronger scene objective for my protagonist which created a stronger spine for my scene. She is very direct in her delivery and really “cuts to the chase” which makes her a great asset to our group.

One great thing is that Jonathan (a fellow student) is our T.A. He is always available to answer questions about Final Cut and it’s comforting to know that he is my first line of defense when I’m really stumped on certain aspects of Final Cut. This is important since we are all beginning to feel a build-up of the pressure of having to organize and complete our first project.

Orientation is a process. Getting acclimated to what is suppose to happen in the next 15 weeks with 12 new individuals is very exciting. I believe this group will have a high level of communication due to our interactions during break. I remember Tasha, Liz, Marcie, Michael, Jonathan, Jules, Evan, Charles, Toni, Luis, Collin, and Christina.

Two of our instructors, Fred and Alan, weighed in nicely about their journey in the business of film. I am convinced that anyone with the desire and dedication can contribute in some capacity in the production of films

I enjoyed Patrick’s invitation to begin to explore aspects of the role of director of photography. David Fincher is an incredible director and learning methods his DP uses on his films particularly Se7en was interesting. Se7en won best film at the International Fantasy Film Award and Hochi Film Awards. Myself, I loved his movie The Game with Michael Douglas. My family and friends still talk about that movie.

Being oriented to Berkeley Digital required understanding our role as a student. Being trained to become leaders in the industry is very different than becoming a worker. Workers are trained for a job. Leaders are trained to create jobs. I will hold on to that perspective and show true leadership throughout my matriculation through Berkeley Digital.

I like the round table approach for student instruction. I have received a doctorate and throughout my education, survival was about connecting with a few other students that were able to match your ambition and alienating the rest of the class. By during this you would hope that your group would be top of the class and be able to maintain high GPAs. I look forward to this less dogmatic approach to learning. I think we can all learn from each other and help support each others projects.

After class I went to lunch with Charles, Toni and Michael. We got into my van and drove to Cedar and Shattuck. We walked around and ended up at Sauls for lunch. We had a great time bonding and getting to know each other. I look forward to having lunch or breaks with other students in the class because I plan on being an intricate part of each of my classmates experience at Berkeley Digital.

I did not feel intimated by the process of bonding with other students or the curriculum. I am ready for the challenge of the first semester because I know once you lay a solid foundation the process of learning film directing/producing will be fun. I am looking forward to seeing my fellow students work as well as my own.

Just as in life, the older I get the more I realize how little I know, so too at BDFI. Further exploration of each subject in the Digital Film Industry has illuminated the tremendous amount I have yet to learn. Although at times disheartening and frustrating, it is inspiring to have met others who are completing, or have completed, this amazing program and confirm the light at the end of the tunnel.

Instructors, staff, and students are very accessible for help and inspiration. I have found that I really enjoy digital editing; Sharif, Colin, Jonathan, Alex, and Michael have been tremendously helpful in walking me through the basics of this most enjoyable and foreign world. Thanks a ton!