At Monday morning’s Orientation class, Patrick Kriwanek (our Dean/CEO) presented us with his class syllabus for this core class that he will be teaching every Monday morning. Patrick then had us introduce ourselves and gave us an overview of what to expect in terms of classes, teachers, homework assignments, and projects, etc. At this class we, also, watched a coverage DVD from the film “Se7en” or is it “Seven?” by David Fincher. Patrick told us all about his own career in film making, and about many of his special projects, and about his former work as the director of the Motion Picture/ Video Program (Film School) at the Academy of Art in San Francisco for about 8 years. Then he told us all about how he was just recently given the fantastic opportunity to open his new Film School here at the Saul Zaentz Media Center which seems to have been a dream of his for a long time. Lastly, Patrick told us that on Wednesday, at Fred Ritzenberg’s Screenwriting class we would be discussing the pitching of our ideas for our first project.

On Tuesday we had our Cinematography Instructor, Alan Hereford, who is a working professional. We learned introductory information about the skilled use of the Panasonic HVX200 High Definition Camera, crossing over into the Mastery of and fluency with all external and menu-driven commands. We took the cameras outside to practice shooting with a partner.

On Wednesday we had our first Beginning Screenwriting class with Fred A. Ritzenberg. He had us introduce ourselves, too, which I think is a nice custom for breaking the ice and allowing us all to get to know each other and to feel more comfortable and relaxed about sharing our ideas. Fred quickly cut the the core of what my Screenwriting ideas for projects are, when he asked each one of us what we thought we wanted to make our film projects about. I was surprised that he pulled that information out of me so quickly and very succinctly got right to the heart of what was on each students mind in terms of what they wanted to make films about. Fred talked about Formatting and wants us to read a book called: “The Screenwriting Bible” which should arrive soon according to Patrick. Fred, also, told us all about his career and rise to “Screenwriting fame and hopefully fortune” which was very interesting. He wants us to give him a list of what we think are “The 10 Best Movies Ever Made,” and a list of “Our 10 Favorite Movies.”

Thursday was our editing class with Sharif. He was very knowledgeable, helpful, and delightful in every way. Since I have no paperwork whatsoever to refer to for this class, I have consulted my local Apple Store in Walnut Creek (at Jules recommendation) and will be attending their free classes on Saturday and Sundays on “Beginning Mac” and “Leopard” which I hope will help me get some Mac operational ground
work foundation so that I can learn to work the Final Cut Studio program at BDFI.

On Friday we had Melissa Hillman’s Acting and Improvisation Class was great and great fun. Melissa is really an excellent teacher.