I received an e-mail from Tammy who is the Operations Manager at SFSDF. It was a blanket e-mail that went out to everyone in the Fall program and it mostly dealt with financial options and deadlines and it was also a personal introduction. Evidently she is also from the first class to graduate at SFSDF. After reading the e-mail I called her to discuss paying for the first month of school and once we got payment out of the way she gave me a list of items I will need before I start. It is as such:
-1 External Hardrive: In the range of 500 megabytes to 3 gigabytes. Will be used to store our projects.
- 1 mini Maglite- approx. 6 inches. To be used on set during days which we are filming.
-1 pair Leather Gloves-Used for handing equipment which will include lighting that will be hot.
-Gaffer's Tape. Evidently this is blue and we will be using it on set. Will post a pic once I purchase it.
- 1 Carabiner -or- Fanny pack. This will hold all of your items together while on set. She called it a hip pack. To-may-toh, to-mah-to... it's a fanny-pack so I am sure I will go the carabiner route.
- 1 Note pad. For jotting down memos or ideas that will lead me to wealth and stardom.
Evidently I can get almost everything from JCX Expendables, a film supply store in the Mission. It's been a while but it looks like it is time for some back-to-school shopping...
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
T-Minus 30 days...
Roughly one month from today and I will begin Film School. I noticed some changes to the school's curriculum the other day. The biggest being that I will be writing/directing five projects not 3. Here are the details of what to expect straight from the horses mouth.
"The Digital Filmmaking Program is an intensive, hands-on program designed to prepare students for a career in the motion picture industry. The innovative curriculum is taught by award-winning filmmakers and is project-based, with students creating five (5) of their own movies and working on a professional feature-length motion picture.
Over the course of the year, every student will create:- One 3 to 5-minute narrative fiction film- One 3 to 5-minute documentary film- One 4 to 6-minute “challenge” film (either documentary or fiction)- One 30-second commercial with special effects- One 8 to12 minute thesis movie in any genre and:- Crew with professionals on a feature-length motion picture
Students learn the art and craft of filmmaking and work in a variety of genres – fiction, commercials and documentary. The class is structured around small production teams in which students produce their own movies and crew on team member projects. In this way, students get personalized instruction, maximum experience with the equipment, and create material for their demo reels.
SFSDF is proud to be a small school, with only two new class starts a year, in March and September. Unlike other film schools that have a “conveyor belt” mentality and start a new class every month, our class sizes are limited in order to offer students maximum access to both equipment and instructors. Our mission is not to turn out large numbers of students with little knowledge – it is to train a small group of passionate students and prepare them for entering the professional world of filmmaking.
SFSDF student movie projects are strategically designed to allow students to build their skills in an organic and increasingly challenging way. After completing their first own film projects movies and crewing on as many as 25 of their teammates movies, student have the skills and confidence necessary to crew on a feature-length digital motion picture. SFSDF is the only film school in the country offering students this valuable and unique experience.
On the movie set, students fill in key crew positions and continue to develop their craft by working side-by-side with professional crew members from San Francisco and LA. During the course of filming, students rotate through two feature production departments and receive credit on the finished film. This on-set experience allows students to gain critical real-world knowledge and invaluable contacts in the movie business.
Students that successfully complete this Program receive the three essential tools for launching their career--a demo reel built from their best work, motion picture credits including work on a feature film, and contacts in the industry. Students enter the filmmaking program at SFSDF as students and leave as professionals"
"The Digital Filmmaking Program is an intensive, hands-on program designed to prepare students for a career in the motion picture industry. The innovative curriculum is taught by award-winning filmmakers and is project-based, with students creating five (5) of their own movies and working on a professional feature-length motion picture.
Over the course of the year, every student will create:- One 3 to 5-minute narrative fiction film- One 3 to 5-minute documentary film- One 4 to 6-minute “challenge” film (either documentary or fiction)- One 30-second commercial with special effects- One 8 to12 minute thesis movie in any genre and:- Crew with professionals on a feature-length motion picture
Students learn the art and craft of filmmaking and work in a variety of genres – fiction, commercials and documentary. The class is structured around small production teams in which students produce their own movies and crew on team member projects. In this way, students get personalized instruction, maximum experience with the equipment, and create material for their demo reels.
SFSDF is proud to be a small school, with only two new class starts a year, in March and September. Unlike other film schools that have a “conveyor belt” mentality and start a new class every month, our class sizes are limited in order to offer students maximum access to both equipment and instructors. Our mission is not to turn out large numbers of students with little knowledge – it is to train a small group of passionate students and prepare them for entering the professional world of filmmaking.
SFSDF student movie projects are strategically designed to allow students to build their skills in an organic and increasingly challenging way. After completing their first own film projects movies and crewing on as many as 25 of their teammates movies, student have the skills and confidence necessary to crew on a feature-length digital motion picture. SFSDF is the only film school in the country offering students this valuable and unique experience.
On the movie set, students fill in key crew positions and continue to develop their craft by working side-by-side with professional crew members from San Francisco and LA. During the course of filming, students rotate through two feature production departments and receive credit on the finished film. This on-set experience allows students to gain critical real-world knowledge and invaluable contacts in the movie business.
Students that successfully complete this Program receive the three essential tools for launching their career--a demo reel built from their best work, motion picture credits including work on a feature film, and contacts in the industry. Students enter the filmmaking program at SFSDF as students and leave as professionals"
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Tell me what you think...
I was at a dinner party last week and the topic of my acceptance in to film school came up which seguewayed into working in film in general. We talked about the father of one of our dinner hosts who happens to be a screenwriter. While he wasn't at the dinner, she did have one of his screenplays which she handed to me and said, "tell me what you think." I have to admit, it was kinda cool that someone handed me a screenplay as somewhat of an authority in the field but let's not shit ourselves, at this point in my life I have no business doling out advice on screenplays. I am just a regular joe with an unhealthy obsession with film. How unhealthy you may ask? Today is August 3rd. Since January 1st I have watched 207 films. 207!!?!?! Moderately ridiculous. Granted I have read screenplays and books on screenplays and filmmaking in the past but still, just a guy who is interested in the industry. And everything I've read about people handing you screenplays without going through proper channels (i.e. agent, production company, etc.) says to not accept them. I'm sure it boils down to preventing further lawsuits dealing with the misappropriation of ideas. That's the way the industry works. Also, if I ever refer to myself as "working in the industry," please take me out back and shoot me. So what about the screenplay that I was handed? I was so jet lagged from vacation that I left it sitting on their counter. I am a boob.
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