Soon after the interesting experience that was the 48-hour film festival I begun to work on another film for a schoolmate. This is his capstone project so it was a bigger deal than other shorts that I’ve worked on. For definition’s sake, the capstone project is the final project made by ASU Film students meant to show that the last 4 years haven’t been a complete waste. It is usually a large collaboration between many students and local talent. I had only worked on one before this one and that one was a blast to be a part of. The movie is aptly titled Capstone and is a satirical piece about the nature of our film program and the students and professors that are a part of it. The script is incredibly funny although I’m not sure how much of a hit the jokes will be to people outside of our film program. Regardless, I’m glad to be a part of the project.
We shot a total of five days over a couple of weeks late in the summer, and it was a great deal of fun. I finally got the chance to work with a lot of people that I had not been able to in the past. Everybody that was being satirized in the movie was great sports about it and played their roles hilariously. There were a few tense moments on set when some of us couldn’t come to agreements about creative choices, but it was nothing to get bent out of shape about. Overall, the project went very smoothly and I can’t wait to see the finished product. I’ll update the blog with links if they ever become available.
One of the people that I worked with on the project that I was happy to get a chance to work with was Dan Dredger. He’s somewhat of a character in the film program for both positive and negative reasons. I have worked with him on a few other projects and have established a strong rapport with him. We have very similar philosophies in the way we work and the things we want to accomplish. There is nothing short of great respect between us. For that reason, I was sad to say goodbye to this friend last month as he completed his move from the U.S. to South Korea. He has moved to be an English teacher over there as well as continue his filmmaking career in a country and a culture that he enjoys. Though it’s a bummer that he won’t be around for us to hang out or make movies, I am glad that he has started this next stage of his life and I wish him the best. He is doing now what I hope to be able to do in a few years by moving away to pursue his goals. Thankfully we spent a few days of his last week in town going out with friends and saying our proper goodbyes.
About three weeks ago I came into some money and wanted to treat myself to a new toy. So I did, and it is precisely the toy I am using to assemble this very post. I marched down the Apple store and purchased a brand new 15” Macbook Pro.
Here it is sitting on my lap (click to enlarge):
I said I marched down, but it was more like I marched down, then to the bank, then back down there, then back to the bank, and finally back to the store when I got the laptop. There was some problem with me using my bank debit card, so I ended up having to make a withdrawal to make the purchase. I have a picture of that withdrawal to remind me of how much this thing cost me, but I thought it would be in poor taste to put it up here. I think it will be worth it in the long run. I will put plenty of use into it by editing future films I make with it. It’s also real great to kill time between classes with. If that wasn’t enough, it came with a free iPod Touch.
Here’s the iPod (click to enlarge):
So school started a couple of weeks ago. This semester should be fairly easy for me considering I have a light 12-credit schedule. I am very happy with the courses I am taking, specifically two of them. I am starting to learn French finally. It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a while, but never got around to signing up for the class. This time I’m going to do it and stick with it. My teacher is really nice and cool and she’s also young and kind of cute so it makes going to class easier. The language is very similar to Spanish, my native tongue, so I feel I will be able to pick it up with minimal effort.
The other class that I am excited for is Cinematography. I am learning from a very experienced filmmaker and a great woman, Crystal Griffith. We’ve only had two classes so far but I am really impressed with her mastery of the art and with her ability to relay her experiences to us. In short, this is the class I have been waiting six years to take. I will be able to refine my filmmaking methods and will finally be able to master the tools I need to make a style of my own.
Well I’m glad I can write a positive blog with hardly any complaints. I have other stuff to write about, but I’ll leave that for another post. I’ll leave now with an optimist outlook on the next few months and whatever life may bring.
Au revoir.
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