Today was my first day at BDFI. I met the 9 other people in my class and I look forward to working with all of them. We have a pretty diverse group, with people from all over the country.

Mostly what we did today was orientation. We sat around a big table with Patrick and introduced ourselves, said where we were from and what film experience we had, if any. Then Patrick talked about the program and filmmaking in general.

Something that really stood out to me was when Patrick said that 98% of filmmaking is the script and the actors. I’ve always been more drawn to the visual side of filmmaking… the lighting, the atmosphere, the style. But when he said that I realized that there are also specific types of stories that intrigue me, and ultimately the story is what making a film is all about. All the other elements contribute to the story and reflect the story, but the bare bones of everything is the script. And without good actors the film is worthless.

I’m really excited by the fact that I can come up with a story in my head and bring it to life. I can’t wait to get started.

After going over the syllabus we shared embarrassing stories from our childhoods and then watched a coverage asset previewing what we will learn this semester.

It explained different elements that were going to be relevant to filming our first assignment, which is a three-minute dialogue. It talked about positive and negative space, preserving headroom (which is something I never thought about before), matching sizes, angles, height and background, the 180-degree line and the angle of intimacy, screen direction and continuity. I am anxious to get started in practicing all of these aspects of shooting and look forward to making some great films!

After that we had a mixer with other students who are further along in the program. It was nice to hear about the school from other students and see where they were at. I think it is really useful to have them around because they’ve already been through what we’re about to go through and could offer advice. They could also help out with our shoots, which is great.

After the mixer, the 10 of us in the new class went to the Westside Bakery Café around the corner and had lunch together, which was a nice way for us all to bond. I’m excited about going to school again tomorrow!

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