Monday
Ad infinitum
Patrick’s analogy of the day stuck with me…maybe because he was describing something I never actually had the chance to see. When we started talking about the first holograms and how they were made, my imagination went crazy. Let me explain. Back in the days, rigid holograms apparently had a structure that gave them a peculiar property: if you looked at the hologram plate, you would see whatever image was represented on it, but if you broke the plate in half, the image would remain intact. And as you broke another piece, the image still remained. Break down, break down, break down…and at the end, you would still have the whole image represented on the littlest piece of the hologram.

Ideally, the process of script writing, of storytelling, emulates these holograms: each act, each scene, each dialogue (each word!) should contain the entirety of a feature. Every instant should reflect the whole and lead to the ending. So that when the ending comes, we can all believe in it.

Tuesday

At the beginning of class, Allan took us through the process of calibrating a TV monitor. It was a good brush up for me, because for some reason, I can never remember the exact order in which to do it. In fact, most people don’t event bother. I suppose the process of calibrating a CRT monitor will eventually disappear along with the monitors, and as LCDs take over, new, more “user-friendly” methods of calibrating will become the norm. But until then, let us remember!…Chroma & Phase, then Brightness, then Contrast….once again….Chroma & Phase, then Brightness, then Contrast…repeat after me…
Allan also got us ready for some field trials with the Panasonic HVX-200. I think the exercise helped everyone better grasp the concepts of focal length, proper framing, etc… It’s really nice to start seeing how each class informs the other. Yesterday, Patrick talked of “the sweet spot”….the spot where camera distance to subject and lens choice perfectly match to give you the closest perspective to what you see (or to what you want your audience to see). Today, Allan’s exercise is all about understanding this relationship between camera distance to subject and focal length. Complementarity…yeah baby!

Wednesday

First round
Oooohhh the pain. After hours of pushing back the time to sit down and do it, and a few more hours trying to give birth to something I can be approximately proud of, in the end, I gave birth to a monster of a script. Seriously. Instead of a 3-page scene with dialogue, it was more like a compilation of everything not to do when you right a script: I started writing without a clear idea of who my characters were, or where they were going, or where I was going to take them. I started the scene too early, and got out of it too late. I got bogged down in the words when I didn’t even have the ideas. I talked about “it” rather than showing “it”… the whole thing sounded more like government propaganda, than two people having a human discussion…
So when my turn came to pass out my script to the class, it was hard to hear it read aloud. I’m just happy most students are straight shooters and that I got real, constructive feedback from everyone. I knew what was wrong, I just needed to hear it. First round is over…next draft!

Thursday

Editing! Huuummmm that’s gooooood. Maybe it’s the frame-by-frame accuracy of this craft that I just love? Maybe it’s having the possibility of creating a world according to my own rules? I don’t know, but I just love it.
Our instructor Sheriff (did I misspell your name?) is the man. He gave everyone a fast-forward tutorial about all the actions and matching keys you need to know to operate Final Cut Pro without the mouse. Don’t use the mouse! Otherwise…”MOUSE SYNDROME”! That’s right, you better watch out when you’re spending hours in from of that timeline…don’t let the evil mouse get a hold of your hand. Plus, it makes you a much more efficient editor.
Afterwards, we moved out from the edit suite to go see Patrick for what he called “probably the most important lesson you will ever have in your life”… He pulled out a board, a black marker, and started drawing a canon. And out of it came the canon ball…. if you were there, you know the rest…and if you weren’t, then it’s time you come learn about “ballistics”….

Friday

I have an announcement to make: our Improv instructor Melissa kicks $#@! She is hilarious. Having a 3-hour class with her is like attending live comedy. Melissa cracks jokes without even noticing it, she’s such a character. But beyond the laughter, it’s really encouraging to feel her experience and ease at improv: we’re in good hands. She, like all the other instructors, knows what she’s talking about. It’s clear.
When we started an exercise of improv to develop relationships (where each pair of students picked a place and a type of relationship to act out, and had to have the rest of the class guess what they were), Melissa’s knowledge came right out. After each of our little gigs, she would expand on the many other ways our improvs could’ve gone, she would just invent crazy scenarios on the spot, go from one possibility to another, and make the improbable seem tangible.
Melissa is making me miss theater. It’s been 6 years that I haven’t acted, but she makes me just want to get up, dance, and improv!