I must say that I had a blast this week, first on my shoot with Colin, Evan and Luis, and then on one of Colin’s shoots tonight. Amazing the possibilities with high definition equipment, and lights. Now off to the editing room! I love how Sharif danced in his editing chair demonstrating the art of conducting the footage.

I watched Mike’s pilot of DOOF with 4 kids this week-end. AWESOME. The kids loved it! Just the kind of show they want to watch. And to see Charlie from Pizzaiolo tell us a bit about what makes pizza his passion; no wonder it’s hard to keep me away.

I want to thank Patrick, Alan, Fred, Sharif and Melissa for all the talent, time and heart they have given this semester. Quality is everything, and you all have definitely met and surpassed any hopes or expectations I had when I first came to BDFI. I have been provided such a profound and rich experience here, with excellent balance between the technical, theoretical and experiential. I am inspired, excited and eternally grateful for this opportunity. I am also looking forward to working with this amazing group of fellow students in the years to come! Thank you Patrick!!

How can I squeeze out the essence of a connection that can touch hearts and move souls? Keep it super simple, sweet and sensual. I am so used to peeling oranges. It is a different story to create one from the inside out. I am loving all of it, and continue grateful for this experience. Hope your week-end is juicy!

I finally got some time alone with the camera, and thanks to a little help from Mike, I think I can see the beginning of a newfound love. With the help of our lighting class this week, I was able to assemble in a short period of time, the camera, lights, staging and costume design for a very entertaining family interview.

I can’t wait to get into the editing room and play with all the new sound effect tools we have learned this week. I must say, there is no better way for a family interview. Hope you are enjoying the week-end downpour, and that you if you have 3 dogs you have to walk 2 to 3 times a day, you stay alot dryer than I have!

The language of emotion has so many layers that we take for granted in films: lighting, color, tone, camera angle, focus, contrast and sound. There is so much we can communicate, and so many feelings we can evoke in our audience. Although the visuals help to create tone, it is the complexity of the sounds we hear, our auditory experience, that speaks directly to our emotions. What are the sounds that we tune out? How much do we listen, and how much do we hear? How do we express our stories effectively with voices, music, and situational sounds? Directors are similar to musicians in that they need to stay powerfully present to do their job well. There is no other way to hear all the background sounds and notice the visual distractions, while keeping a cast and crew focused on the heart of a story.
Editing is another world unto itself: a world of vast possibilities and maneuvers, and where I easily lose myself for hours.

I am touched and grateful to all my fellow schoolmates at BDFI. All share so much of themselves, their personal stories and dreams, as well as their practical knowledge and talents. Even on those days when I feel tired and vulnerable, I leave school inspired and informed regarding how to improve my project. Classes definitely help to shape the way I see the world and the choices I make to format my ideas.

Patrick, Allen, Fred, Sharif and Melissa have a wealth of information to share. While theory and ideas are important, experience is the greatest teacher. I appreciate we are given so many opportunities to put into practice all that we have learned.

I continue to be amazed by what we can create with ideas, stories, actors, filming, lighting and editing. What a complex and profound form of art. Thank you all for opening the doors to this amazing world.

Three weeks ago I was constantly writing down dialogue; I was listening to everyone’s conversations and jotting down anything of interest.
My kids got sick of it: “Not dialogue again mom!” Or they said, “hey mom, won’t you write that down? That was good”. They even helped me write.

The next week it was all about objective: what is it that you really want? What is it that you are looking for by saying that?

The truth is that this was so challenging for me because I did not understand the focus of this week: subtext. So many layers of subtext. Now all I do is watch myself talk. How many layers of meaning lie beneath each of my words? Do I even know? So rare to only communicate one layer of meaning. The world would be a most flat and boring place. Playing with subtext in dialogue has been quite entertaining. I realize I do it all the time. How many mysterious layers of subtext did I hear in our improv class today? Did I capture the subtext in my footage? Did I give my actors clear objectives?

Sharif, Fred, Melissa and Patrick all helped to illuminate what lies beneath our dialogues and scenes; Alan illuminated the world of lighting and the subtext we chose to create with it.

Now if only the sun will shine we’ll be set for the week-end.

As a counselor I helped couples express to each other what it is that they are feeling; yesterday as a director, I helped a couple that I put together, feel what I was expressing. I really enjoyed the experience; the depth, vulnerability and range of emotion of the actors I chose was remarkable. To perform as they do, they must constantly be growing and learning from all that life throws their way. The experience was a gift, and the actors are a blessing.

This is a time of great activity at BDFI, and we are all feeling it. I do work best under pressure, although at times I get frazzled. The small inconveniences that may arise are to be expected. I remain grateful for this opportunity, and most excited to actually be filming my scene tomorrow! Hope you all have a great week-end!

Of all the challenges I have faced so far at BDFI, using Microsoft Word to format a script on my PC has been the most time consuming. It reminds me of when I was learning to knit, and I wasted hours doing one row, only to find I had dropped a stitch at the very beginning. Apple laptop here I come. I definitely need my moment at the genius bar.

The beauty of this whole process of filmmaking is watching our dreams and labors of love actualize into a reality. What a gift to challenge ourselves completely and work together to create this multi dimensional form of art and self-expression. I am loving it!

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!