The first week of December brought us one night of lecture and then production starts on our first documentary. Our class was setting up and shooting B-Roll footage on our doc. The class was led by Stephen. We took a table and put a bunch of personal artifacts on it trying to make it as aesthetically pleasing as possible. We then lit the table, set up the camera, and then set up a monitor. The new piece of equipment we used for this lesson was the slider. The slider is essentially a 2-3 foot bar that you set the camera on and it acts like a dolly. This is what it looks like. Very cool little tool. Makes your shots a little more dynamic.
Before we jumped headfirst into production the school organized a Mixer/Lecture on Thursday the 4th. The speaker was James Savoca, filmmaker and instructor at school, and he discussed making indie films and financing. According to Christopher, SFSDF Marketing Director, the Mixer was a huge success. There was turnout of over 100 people and I think they were expecting between 30-50. The above pic was from the lecture. It was great to make some contacts which is incredibly vital to the industry. It was also cool to have some of my friends come out and see what I've been up to. I am in the process of creating a Film Society/lecture series out at school where we will bring in Bay Area Filmmakers, let them screen their project, and then have a Q & A where we discuss the specifics of their career and getting the movie made. The group is called the Friends of Alfred Film Society and I presented it at the Mixer. We are trying to have our first meeting in Jan. or Feb. '09!
With production underway I ran camera for Adi and Nitin and then did lighting for Ephantus. Docs are interesting and a lot of times you are at the mercy of the set or the subject. We filmed on location and that was a first for us. It actually all worked out well. My documentary subject is Sue Pemberton. She is a friend who does whale and seal rescue up and down the coast and then is involved in the animal's rehabat the Marine Mammal Center. The center is closed to the public but we were allowed to film there. We sat down with her and did a one hour interview and then got some great B-Roll of her working with the animals in their tanks. it was great being that close and filming the animals.
My other B-Roll I captured was animals in their natural environment and then pics that Sue gave me. The pics are "graduation" photos of the animals that are successfully rehabbed and then released in to the wild. My day filming the animals at the beach was one of my favorite days so far. Jen and I loaded up the car and drove down the coast. We captured most of our footage at Moss Beach during low tide. They have a lot of Harbor Seals there. I did most of the shooting using a Figg Rig and a tri-pod. Driving up and down the coast, stopping at beaches, filming, eating and drinking good food.... it was indeed a good day.
The last day before Winter Break was classroom work with William. We had a test! Crazy... It was actually a little weird being tested. i know this is school, but in the months since school started we have yet to have a test. Viva La Art School! haha. Our test was a one-on-one with William where he tried to stump us using Final Cut Pro commands... I did pretty well.
Now I am off for a few weeks! Happy Holidays!!
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