This semester has been amazing! I have never enjoyed being in school so much! Everyday when I walk through the beautiful gardens I think how lucky I am to be going to BDFI. I have learned so much this semester and I still have so much further to go, I can’t wait.

I finished my first project a couple of weeks ago and I am just finishing up the editing. I had so much fun with it. At first I was stressed that I couldn’t get it done the way I envisioned it and I was having difficulty with people’s schedules and I wasn’t sure if I could really pull it off. Then I realized that even if my idea failed I would still learn from it and it was supposed to be fun. I wanted to make sure everyone on my set had a good time and felt valued and that was what was most important. Everyone on my shoot said they had so much fun and we all worked really well together. I couldn’t have been happier because that’s exactly what I wanted.

I am in the script development and casting process of my 2nd project now. For some reason I am having a harder time with this project and I know it’s going to be a challenge until the end. I am having a harder time writing for the characters than I did with my last one. The idea is solid in my head and on script, but getting inside the characters heads and writing for them has been more difficult than I anticipated. The other thing that is harder for me is my location is outdoors in a park. This offers up many more obstacles than shooting indoor. The first is lighting, outdoors you cannot control the lighting other than with bounce cards and screens. Sound is another big issue since I am shooting in a park and most parks have a lot of noise and people. There are many more challenges to outdoor that I’m not even going to go into, the list goes on. At the same time I am very excited about this next one. I am auditioning Thursday and I’ve gotten a lot of responses now I will just see if I can juggle their schedules so I can try to audition as many of them as I can. I must say casting is probably my least favorite part of the process. I feel like I’m buying horses and checking their teeth and hooves. I don’t like having to judge people. I don’t know maybe I’ll get used to it. I do like it when you got an awesome performance and you know you’ve found the best person for the role and you can move to the next step.

Last week I was part of a script reading focus group with our screenwriting teacher Fred. I learned so much from reading the script. It was a beautiful script and it was written in a way where the writer did the work of the director, editor and the actors and he did it in very few words. Any director reading that script would know exactly how to shoot that scene and exactly what it looks like. The editor would know just where to cut by the way he would parallel visuals to make the perfect transition of scenes. He did the work of the actors in the way he wrote the character and the action lines to where the reader could see the performance and how the characters would react emotionally. It made me realize how much more there is to screenwriting. I am going to try to adopt some of those techniques as I go and strive to get to that level.

One of the things I love most about BDFI is the students and instructors. Our school is made up of such talented and genuinely nice people I feel so lucky to have met and worked with. All of the students are so nice and will help you whenever they can. Whether it’s in the editing suites or on your shoot people are down to help. Our instructors are awesome and really fun. I have learned so much from each and I look forward to what’s in store for next semester.