A New Way to Rent Gear!

As a student filmmaker, you typically only have so much gear at your disposal. Yeah, you probably have your DSLR, a few lenses, and a DIY soft box, but sometimes this isn't enough for your creative needs. As Ithaca College students, we are very lucky to have PPECS, but soon after we graduate we will just be poor college graduates who won't be able to afford the prices of large rental houses without a proper budget. HAVE NO FEAR! There is a new online rental house that may just be your saving grace.

http://kitsplit.com/

KitSplit is a new rental company based out of New York City that functions very similar to Air BnB. Just like Air BnB, the site focuses around a specific area and the resources, in this case camera gear, available. On the site you can create a profile and list the gear that you own and are willing to rent. Other users can look at your gear posted and have the option to rent it from you. This is perfect for students to make a bit of cash on the side. Not only can you make the money back on your gear but this allows you to save up for future gear.

The delivery option is quite unique. You can either arrange a pick-up through KitSplit or directly from the owner of the gear. This option opens numerous opportunities for networking. Each time you would use this service you have potential to make new business connections, you could even get work because of the rental you were picking up for another gig.

This rental service is revolutionary. While it is only in New York currently, they plan to expand to the west coast as well, which is where I think it will do very well. However, the niche market they truly need to target is smaller cities throughout the country. Mainly cities with colleges and universities that have strong communication programs. My thinking is that if this company expanded to Central New York, this would be used as a rental service for colleges like Ithaca, Syracuse, and many more, when the rentals at their school could not provide what they needed.

Overall, I'm looking forward to watching this business grow and expand, hopefully in a direction that benefits, students and filmmakers a like.

Music in Short Films

Growing up I had numerous influences of music in my life. From playing the saxophone from 4th-12th grade, to listening to my classically trained sister sing in concert. Music has always been prevalent and I have found that melodies are what drives my mind. For the life me I couldn't remember lyrics without studying a printed piece of sheet music. But the way music progressed was something I could always follow and even predict.

I've always wanted a good musical accompaniment with any video work I've done. For the video below I had found a song I enjoyed the melody to and from there all I needed was something to put on screen. With a little help from a friend, I was able to make one of my favorite pieces of work.

Air from Skyler Bocciolatt on Vimeo.

Using both the hits of the choreography and the music I had a blast editing and the possibilties of which direction  I took the short were endless. While this was just a small project I shot on a whim. I applied the same idea of music being a character in the film with my Junior level film "Before Your Eyes." 

"Before Your Eyes" follows a young man who is given the opportunity to look back on his life. Drawing upon the strong bond that can exist between father and son, this story looks at the actions we make when pushed to our greatest limits. Throughout the film there are only two scenes with written dialogue. Music was able to fill this space and help evoke any emotion from the film that typically would be exposed through dialogue. 

Last night I also began to watch "Walt Disney's Animations Studios Short Films Collection." Each short animation was introduced with interviews of the creators of the short. They talked about how music inspired them and that for a specific short "Lorenzo" they searched hundreds of tango scenes just to find a song to use, and in the end it was the first one they had listened to. The trailer can be scene below and all of the shorts are available on Netflix.

It was so interesting to me that the creators were able to make a story out of music they found. Even if there aren't lyrics the melody and progression of any song is a story. For me, I want to continue to find these stories and provide a moving image for as many as I can. The ways music and film complement each other is like no other thing in this world. These mediums are what people turn to to escape there problems and worries; they are necessary for society to function and I want to create them for the rest of my life.

Tokina 11-16mm Lens Review

Your always looking for that next beautiful landscape shot, or the perfect astrophotography time lapse, but what the lens do you have by your side to capture these amazing scenes. While there are so many options and each lens have it's perks, there is not one perfect lens for any given scenario. It is up to you as the operator to compose the picture how you see fit. however, I recently picked up the Tokina 11-16mm for landscape and time lapse photography due to the amazing wide angle it provided, because I think in this type of photography this is going to help you gather the most interesting shots available.

(Due to uploading to blogger, the quality is quite poor.)

                 (Captured with the Sony a7s with the Tokina 11-16mm and Glidecam HD 4000)

This past Sunday I took to the football field to gather some B-roll of the stadium, I put together this teaser as a test video of the footage gathered. All material is shot in 60FPS conformed in post.

In the first shot you can see one huge problem right off the bat. The lens flare. While I love a good lens flare, it can be a bit much sometimes. I had no lens hood on while I shot because I was observing the flares and how they compared to my other lenses. But it would be interesting to see how it worked against preventing them. One interesting effect that occurs due to the full frame sensor, is that when completely wide at 11mm a picture will result like this.

The huge vignette is quite unflattering thus making the lens primarily fixed at 16mm. The great
APC-S feature of the camera turns this 11-16mm into a 17-24mm which is a handy trick to get a bit more punch as well as helps with the vignetting.

The football teaser above also demonstrates the issue with the ND filter. Due to the sunny weather we had this past Sunday, the ND was necessary to be able to shoot at an appropriate F-stop. The filter is variable up to 8 stops, but getting close to 6 is when the black streak in the top right corner of the image occurs, in some images it is more noticeable, but is very noticeable in the time lapse below.

While those two issues occurred in the video, the lens overall is very useful. First off the field of view is amazing. Paired with the full frame, even when punched in to the 17-24 APS-C mode, the lens is so wide and if you want that extra wideness, the 16mm is more than useable, however filters do come in to frame so indoors might be the best option for that. But this wide lens is great to make your shot extra smooth with the Glidecam, as well as capturing a a large canvas with time lapse. 

(The vertical capability is also a feature which needs exploring.)

A feature I neglected to touch upon until this point is the speed of this lens. With f2.8, this is amazing for night time photography. I've been meaning to test out the low light monster that is the a7s, combined with this lens, because I think it would have amazing results. Now just to get to somewhere that lacks light pollution. 

The final picture is one testing long exposure with the ND filter. While in the corners, the vignette is present, the ability to do a 30 sec exposure really made the water quite milky. 

Overall, testing new gear is stressful but enjoyable and you learn that ever piece of equipment has its pros and cons. In the end you just have to decide what you want to put up with more and if its worth the resulting image.

A Revolutionary Gimbal For Now

As filmmakers we are always trying to get the shot no one else can get, the smoothest footage, the money shot. Recently, numerous 3-axis gimbal stabilizers have been released which have thought to be the replacement of the Steadicam. While there is a lot of controversy about this topic, a new piece of equipment has been released that might throw all we know about stabilizers out the window.

As you see in the video, Sachtler has combined the brilliant gimbal benefits, that are available through use of devices like the DJI Ronin and the Movi, and the steadicam, which has long been the go to method of tracking shots. The movie "Goodfellas" has a historic tacking sequence all thanks to our beloved steadicam. This amazing idea provides a whole new style of filmmaking. As mentioned in the video above one shot that has been created through this system is being able to peak around corners with the camera. This could be great for giving a shot the feeling that someone is watching a character in a film. Being able to invert the camera as well makes this tool that much more versatile. Low angle shots were not attainable with former steadicams. Due to this item being brand new, there are limited visuals of real world applications so far, but by combining both of these amazing stabilization systems, the world of filmmaking just got a little crazier.

(GlideCam)

Having used the DJI Ronin quite extensively, as well as owning a Glidecam, I have experience advantages and disadvantages of both systems. First off the Ronin is electric and must be calibrated for the specific weight load that it is carrying. This is frustrating because with my Glidecam and many other traditional Steadicams, all weight adjustments are done through physical weight distribution adjustments. With my Glidecam the weight distribution does not have to be perfect either to still get a smooth shot, this is great for run and gun when you can't always count on a motor holding up for the entire shoot. The motor also is very susceptible to the cold due to the intricate mechanics of the system.

The Ronin however does trump the Glidecam in certain ways though. Getting low angle shots is extremely hard when the weights on the bottom of your Glidecam are hitting the ground. The Ronin is great for these types of shots because you are almost using your body as a crane and you can control the height of the Ronin to a much more specific point. The motor of the ronin, while running haywire occasionally, does however help with any bumpy steps you are taking as well.

Sachtler having combined these two amazing tools is really on to something. As mentioned earlier a new age of filmmaking with emerge from this system, but it is also costs about 15,800 Euros at the moment and the price truly makes it a professional piece of equipment. I previously thought the Movi would be the top stabilizer in the industry for sometime, however this industry changes faster than you can adjust and I'm sure this currently revolutionary equipment will soon be outdated and the bigger and better stabilizer will be running the streets soon.

A look into the night with the Sony A7s (Part 1)

Recently I was able to make a huge investment for myself as a filmmaker. I introduced myself to a new camera, the A7s. I have had my eye on this Sony product for quite sometime now. I have been blown away by it's dynamic range and high ISO capabilities displayed online and now I finally get a chance to use this in a real world setting.

(A still from the A7s, Sigma Art 35mm 1.4)

So where to start? The Sony A7s has so many favorable traits its hard distinguish a starting point. I'll start with my three favorite features and move on throughout each blog post, addressing individual features as we move along. For myself there were a few things that I found desirable about the camera that swayed me to switch from Canon to Sony. First off, variable frame rates. I previously shot on the Canon T3i as it was my starter camera and boy did it get me through some times. However, the highest frame rate you can go is 60fps at 1280x720. This is universal through most Canon DSLRs.

 (Tokina 11-16mm 2.8)

The 5DmkIII, which previously ruled the DSLR world, couldn't compete. The A7s can also be boosted to 120 fps with the downgrade to 1280x720. It can't compete with the Phantom or RED, but for a Full-Frame DSLR, this variability will get the job done. The video posted below is shot completely in 60fps.  All footage is played back in realtime until brought into post to be altered. 

While the variable frame rates are so much fun to play with, thats not all there is to this beast. The ISO is off the charts. Most of the footage above, besides what was indoors, was filmed at upwards of 30,000 ISO. This was my first day with the camera and I really was enjoying this party trick. Grain in the image began to increase as I went up, however it is quite clean around 20,000. Some 50,000 iso footage can even be salvageable. Once you increase upwards of this threshold you will need to use plug-ins like Neat Video to decrease grain levels.

 (Sigma Art 35mm 1.4)

Many filmmakers have highlighted in reviews this outstanding feature, and I hope to learn how to take advantage of this feature and really get some outstanding footage. Once difference I noticed is that the Video ISO is much cleaner at much higher ISOs than the photos. This is due to the sensor only having 12.2mp, thus the pictures suffer loss of quality in order for the video to prevail. Although the resolution is not quite up to par with Cameras like the 5D or even the A7s older brothers the A7 and A7r, the pictures produced still look very nice when paired with the right glass.

While these two capabilities are useful and help with more advanced shooting, you can never forget the little things. The live recording punch in feature is so handy and is something I've been looking forward to for quite some time. Paranoia strikes at the strangest times, especially when conducting interviews. The everlasting battle of not being able to tell if you have something in your eye or if your shot is soft. Being able to punch in and check focus is an amazing feature especially when it comes to doc work, not only in interview settings but out in the field too. The back tilt able LCD screen paired with an amazing EVF makes this camera very diverse. 

(Sigma Art 35mm 1.4)

Using the EVF paired with the punch in focus feature will be great when recording in the field and you need that extra assurance that the subject of your shot, whether that be an animal, mountain top, you name it, is in focus. There are multiple custom keys on this camera that you can arrange which ever is most comfortable for you. I prefer to have my C1 button (located on the top right corner diagonal from the shutter release) to be my short cut to this handy feature, but to each their own. 

I'm very excited to start using this new investment for personal projects, thesis films, and even try my hand at time-lapses. It feels weird making the next step of your career goal and being faced with new and unique situations. While the learning curve in this industry is always changing, this factor is what drives me to be the best I can be. There will be plenty more reviews to come in regards to the time-lapse capabilities, picture profiles, and much more. Until next time. 

"James Kelly - Burn It Down" and my thesis project.

I had to choose between taking Thesis and Motion Graphics in order to complete my degree. Last Spring when we were choosing classes I went through a long internal debate, but here I am, enrolled in thesis. After graduation I plan on working in rentals in addition to freelance camera assisting. I have little desire to direct/produce/shoot fictional narratives, so I was kind of at a loss for ideas for my thesis. Naturally I turned to skateboarding to fix my problems, and I decided to make a skateboarding film.

Random unrelated skateboarding photo I took

Pulling directly from Arturo's preliminary class email... "for some of you this will be your calling card in the job market you will soon be entering", "...an intellectual proposition you can defend" were just some excerpts that pushed me more towards doing a skateboarding film. Just as I have spent the past three years studying film, I have also spent the past three years learning the ins and outs of downhill skateboarding, the industry, and the culture, and I cannot think of a better way to tie the two together.

Arbor Skateboards :: James Kelly - Burn It Down from Arbor Collective on Vimeo.

This is by far the most impressive downhill skateboarding video I have seen in both terms of skating and production quality. This is the video I am taking inspiration from for my thesis film. I do not have access to the Sierra mountains or unique run down houses like Jack Boston, the creator of this film, does. However I do have access to a numerous amount of Ithaca hills and waterfalls, which will make this video unique in its own way. My knowledge of both video production and the Ithaca skate scene will be able to create a video in a way that no one else would.

Another unrelated skateboarding photo I took

My good friend and Ithaca local, Edward Kiefer, is currently ranked the number 1 junior (under 18) downhill skateboarder in the world by the Internation Downhill Federation. He's agreed to be the subject of my video. Matt Shalkoski is going to shoot it, and I have a slew of other talented individuals working on the production and I am excited to make a film that both season skateboarders and average viewers will enjoy.

Nightfire: Filming in Verona, Italy

While many of you may have either seen the trailer, or even the full film, Nightfire is probably a talking point you've heard about when hanging out in the Park School. I was lucky enough to travel to Verona, Italy this past January to work as the 1st Camera Assistant for this thesis film. It was a great opportunity to work on a professional run set with amazing actors, crew, and of course gear. Oh, how I miss that gear.

Now as demonstrated in the trailer above there were some quite intricate scenes that occurred throughout the film. From bike chase scenes to explosions, every day was an adventure to say the least. But you must know that this film wasn't made over night, well yes we constantly shot through the night, however, the production lasted 3 weeks and most days we worked for 16 hours with the occasional all nighter shoot. Well choreographed shots and blocking was the name of the game, because when explosions and special effects come into play there are only so many takes you get before you must move to the next shot.

(16mm ARRI Ultra Prime used with the Red Dragon.)

As 1st AC I was in charge of everything from making sure batteries were charged before we went on set(or right before the next big explosion), calibrating our DJI Ronin, even making sure the DP was out of bed in the morning. Now while I look back fondly on this trip, there were some serious road bumps we ran into across the way. 

(View from the watchtower located on the set of the military base.)

First off, the weather. We were filming in the middle of winter in northern Italy, seeing the Alps as we drove to set became a normal part of our day and it was a clear reminder of the winter cold. Not only did you have to bundle up before venturing to set, but we had to make sure the electronics would work properly. 

(Director of Photography, Garret Nicholson, preparing a shot on the Jib)

The entire film was shot on the Red Dragon which had quirks we constantly had to deal with. The first thing to know about Red cameras is that to have a clean image at higher ISOs you must perform what is called "Black shading". Black shading is the process of obtaining the functioning temperature of the Red. Typically this rests around a 45/65 split. There are two temperatures of the camera as you can see in the picture below.

To perform a black shade you will wrap the camera in a sound blanket or jacket, whatever is around really, and ensure that no light is getting to the sensor. It takes about 20 minutes but this will eliminate any grain obtained through high ISOs. However, after the one black shade is run, the camera needs to stay at that temperature of 65/45 (a few degrees off doesn't hurt). With the cold affecting the camera we would always have to have the Red otherwise the camera would drop below operating temp and the grain would trickle back into the shot.

Battery life was short lived and like most sets we needed a charging station. Sometimes it was a room indoors located on set, other times it was out of the back of a van or running off a generator.

(DJI Ronin)

Due to the calibration needed for the DJI Ronin's 3-axis gimbal we were forced to used RED volt batteries. To ensure smooth movement from the rig we had to have perfect balance and the larger batteries would not cut it. These RED volt bricks only last about 30 minutes when the weather is warm,  so when the cold was added it was cut down to 15 minutes at best. To keep the volts warm we resorted to holding onto batteries beneath our long johns and armpits. 

When using a tripod the larger Anton Bauer V-mount batteries were able to be used, but the majority of the film was shot on the Ronin so we had to troubleshoot this problem. When we were constantly running around I would carry the V-mount adapter. After we completed a shot we would set the Ronin on it's stand and plug the AC power adapter in and prepare for the next shot. This was a huge stressor of the trip, since the responsibility of battery master fell upon myself. However, having the AC power truly helped our situation.

Another issue we ran into was difficulties with the wireless follow focus. Due to the cold and issues with the receiver the follow focus would not deliver it's signal. We tried everyday to get the follow focus to work but still struggled to find the solution. In the end we had to just close our iris, cross our fingers, and keep our distance. The follow focus would have been an extreme help, especially for the long tracking shots the movie had. It just goes to show you never know what will happen on set, but you better be damn ready to work around anything that gets in your way. 

(Paul Wolter getting Wild)

Overall, I had the time of my life. Being able to travel across the world for film is something I want to continue to do for the rest of my life. I met amazing people, learned so much about the filmmaking process and how to become a better DP, and the wine made up for any sort of mishaps we had on set during the day. There is so much that I took away from this project but I'd have to write a book to do explain it all, so until then this will suffice. Until next time.

Genna Davis at IC

Genna Davis an Academy Award Winning Actor and Founder of the Genna Davis Institute on Gender in the Media. She recently visited the beautiful Ithaca College on Tuesday, March 31, where she addressed Gender Equality in the Media.

Genna Davis Institute for Gender in Media is a non-profit program which engages film and television creators to dramatically increase the percentage of female characters---and reduce danger stereotyping --in the media made for children 11 and under.

In her speech she addressed that in almost all her roles she plays is a strong women.  This is true through her part of the first female President on ABCs hit show Commander in Chief.  Currently, Davis plays Dr.Nicole Herman on Grey's Anatomy.

Some of her other films included Toostsie, The Fly, Beetlejuice, Earth Girls Are Easy, Angie, The Long Kiss Goodnight, Stuart Little and A League of Their Own. <----- My TWO FAVS!

Some very interesting points that I feel were valid in her speech are:

• Males outnumber females 3 to 1 in family films. In contrast, females comprise just over 50% of the population in the United States. Even more staggering is the fact that this ratio, as seen in family films, is the same as it was in 1946.
• Females are almost four times as likely as males to be shown in sexy attire. Further, females are nearly twice as likely as males to be shown with a diminutive waistline. Generally unrealistic figures are more likely to be seen on females than males.
• Females are also underrepresented behind the camera. Across 1,565 content creators, only 7% of directors, 13% of writers, and 20% of producers are female. This translates to 4.8 males working behind-the-scenes to every one female.
• From 2006 to 2009, not one female character was depicted in G-rated family films in the field of medical science, as a business leader, in law, or politics. In these films, 80.5% of all working characters are male and 19.5% are female, which is a contrast to real world statistics, where women comprise 50% of the workforce.

(http://seejane.org/research-informs-empowers)

Boys of 213

I will be taking a break from writing about the usual juicy drama's that catch my eye on television and focus on a show that's a little more close to home.  Over the past semester I have been hard at work producing my very own ICTV show: Boys of 213.  Even though filming only began January 29th 2013 the show has been in the works since over a year ago.  (March 2012 to be specific) and has literally been my baby over the past year.

My co-producer and I were driving back from Connecticut to Ithaca, when we started discussing ICTV and what kind of show we would want to produce if we could.  I had already been thinking about this and came up with an idea to write about our lives.  I'm always told to "write what you know" so I figured it was only the smart way to go.  After discussing a few characters, more interesting plot lines, and a central theme....we had a show.  The next day we sat down and wrote 10 pages of episode 1.  The creative juices started flowing and before we knew it we were casting.

The show is about 3 very unique boys who, due to a housing mixup, end up living together in a 2 person dorm room their freshman year of college.  The boys are: sarcastic and playful Noah, snobby and dim-witted Wesley, and quirky socially awkward Liam.  The three boys get into trouble and find themselves among a crazy cast of characters.  The show is a single camera sitcom, which we use a Cannon 5D Mark 2 to shoot.  A unique feature of our show is that it's shot in a mocumentary style similar to The Office and Modern Family.  We thought this popular format would work well to create the realistic, and intimate comedic feeling you will get with our characters.

Another feature of our show is the dorm room set.  My co-producer lives very close to Ithaca and was able to pull together his resources over the winter break to construct our very own set that we put together each week in studio A of Park.  Luckily we have a dedicated and hardworking cast and crew to help us every week not only construct the set but decorate it as well.  We shoot it very similarly to a multi-camera sitcom because we don't include the 4th wall of the set - so it's like we're really peering into the dorm room of the three boys.

This semester has been a most difficult one but will prove most rewarding.  After many issues with scheduling and actor's outside conflicts, lighting corrections, music recordings, etc. I have learned to love producing. I think audiences will really enjoy the characters and stories we tell, and can really relate to the situations.

Boys of 213 will premiere in the Park School Auditorium on April 26th at 8:00PM an then every day on ICTV of that week at 10PM.

Thoughts on the media policy

Back in the beginning of October, there was a lot of noise made by both students and staff when President Rochon implemented the new media policy; lately, I haven't heard much about it.  It kind of reminded me of how everyone exploded over a thing like Kony (a little late to the party, it's been happening for years): there was the initial flare of interest, particularly on social networks, but it died down quickly.

Just recently, the Ithacan published an article stating that this policy has since been rescinded, thanks to the collaborative effort of many groups on campus to communicate with the president of the school on the topic.  Check out the full article here.

A quote that stood out to me from this article goes as follows:

"It really has been amazing to see the community rally around this topic and shows that students, faculty and staff can have an impact, and I hope that this spirit doesn’t go away now that the media policy has been rescinded"

It is impressive to see the impact of this campus community, but do we have the endurance to keep it going now?  Maybe it's just me, but it seemed that, as with many causes people tend to rally around, support dwindled with time, making it appear to lose steam regardless of whether there was still action or not (in this case, there was some definite success for those who stuck it out).  Does anyone else have this feeling about it, or am I just out of the loop?

Open 24 Hours

There is so much talent in the Park School of Communications at Ithaca College. The number of fantastic productions that come out of the school is amazing. I have personally worked on five ICTV shows and one senior film thesis in my short time here so far. This weekend I'll be helping out on another film. This one is a CP2 (Cinema Production II) film, Open 24 Hours. 

The basic plot is as follows: a man and his long-time girlfriend go to the store to get a morning-after pill, but after a meeting some interesting people they begin to think that this might be the perfect time to forget the pill and start a family. (disclaimer: I haven't read the entirety of the script. I read the treatment and that's pretty much the gist of it)

Even though I'm only boom op for the film, I am still really excited. We are filming in the Tops here in Ithaca (the one down past Wegmans). Because we are, y'know, filming in a supermarket, there are a bunch of things that need to be taken into account. One thing is that we can only do stuff when the store off of peak hours. Hooray for overnight shoots! The rough schedule of filming is 9pm-7am on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 

Other things that I've thought of that could be intriguing: 

• We are probably going to have to move some food packaging around so we do not see any logos. EDIT: Apparently we aren't worrying about that
• Continuity would be a b!%&# over the course of filming three separate days. Customers or employees could move things around on Saturday that will mess up Sunday. 
• What kind of security/supervision will there be? I hardly think a supermarket will trust 20 college kids to roam in their store. EDIT: The Tops night crew is small, about seven people.
• Almost all of the crew knows each other, and I predict lots of distraction. Everything is nice and organized, however, so there's hope!
• I've never been to a shoot that has been shot on actual film, so it will be neat to see that happen.

So yeah, I am excited. It will be an interesting weekend to say the least. I wonder how much sleep I'll get...

Ithaca College's Park School...

and it's lack of classes devoted to how the industry and business works.

I first thought of this when we watched that video in class on Wednesday.  Now, I know Arturo has told us certain things about the industry and how production is the best way to get into the business but it was interesting to watch the video and see the vast number of positions available in just one department on set.  I was really amazed that I had never really thought about that kind of stuff because knowing the business and its positions are extremely important as well as how the hierarchy works on a set.  A lot of times, we only learn production type things in park and I think because of this, we forget that learning about the industry we get into and how many of the different things work is extremely important.  I really wish the school would create a class or two other than the intro media industries class that students could take to learn in depth about how the industry works in different aspects.  Some things they could talk about would be how to get investors for films, going through all the production jobs on set of a movie or television show (field, live, sports, scripted, ect.), all about the different studios and how to get in contact with them, and even the different areas in the country and around the world that are hidden hotbeds for video other than LA and NYC.   I think this would be extremely beneficial for students to really fully understand the business other than only knowing how to produce things.


-Tyler Chadwick

Info in Ithaca

Already into my second year here, I was shocked by our presentation in class regarding the library on Wednesday. I mean, sure, I know that we have a library with plenty of resources, but nobody has ever shown me the online capabilities and resources as well. Maybe it's something you can find out in the actual library...I guess I wouldn't really know, having gone into the building perhaps three times since being here (it just isn't the right workspace for me). The website, however...that's accessible anywhere with an Internet connection.  Suddenly, it's as if a million new doors were just unlocked in front of me, and I've got full access to all of their hidden treasures with the click of a button.

Not having noticed this feature until now, I certainly felt ignorant.  I expected more people to know about this, considering the work most students do and the amount we pay to do it...yet, upon asking around to some friends, they were just as amazed as I was at the amount of useful information that we could call up without leaving the room. In retrospect, I really wish someone had shown me this sooner; having taken a number of theater design and Park classes, along with helping several ICTV shows, it would've made all of my projects and performances so much more believable. It's the little details that make things memorable, too, so why not use the library's website to find and perfect them right away?  The college should absolutely make this a more well-known resource for students, because anybody could benefit from the enormous span of information available, regardless of their majors. Plus, it never hurts to learn something new now and then from a reliable source. I don't know about the rest of you, but I've always got an unanswered and random question in my head, and sometimes, Google just can't come up with an answer that satisfies me. Thus, having the library's online sources is a bit of a gift in that I can find information on most subjects with relative ease, in a multitude of formats. Some queries are better answered in words, others in pictures or videos; this college seems to know how to connect its students to any of that, if they know how to look for it.

So, Ithaca College, here's my suggestion to you: introduce the library as a resource both on campus and online within the first few days of a student's career here, in an intro level class of any sort. It would take perhaps a twenty minute demonstration, at most, by the professor to open students' eyes to this, and it's not something I'm likely to forget in the near future.  You'll know the ones who see this as an opportunity to grow by the spark in their eyes, and it will without a doubt start improving the quality of work across campus of those who want to succeed.

And We're Back

I love Ithaca.

This summer I decided to stay in Ithaca. My summer days were filled with giving tours to prospective families and my nights were filled with friends, some old (but how old can they really be?) and some new. Probably the most important thing I did this summer was explore. I went into town, I met people that live here, I went on hikes and runs, but more importantly I broke out of the South Hill Bubble in which we live. I now see this town not just as a college town, but as one of the most beautiful places I've been. Ithaca really is different without students. I'm not saying one is better than the other because both are amazing- but they're just different.

Everyone is back in Ithaca and excited for the semester to start. As excited as I am, a part of me is going to miss this summer, not just because its the summer and the weathers warm, but because of everything I learned here while not being in class.

These first few days of classes have helped me snap back into "school mode." I thought it was going to be a rough transition but it's going pretty smooth so far. I'm more excited than ever to dive into all of the projects that I'll have but I'm going to miss some of the free time this summer gave me. This semester I'm really going to focus on putting my all into everything and producing a quality product. I'll be putting my best foot forward whether it be in Fiction Field or Intro to Business.

I know this doesn't have a tremendous amount related to our class in it, but I'll get there eventually.

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

And so we end up back on campus for another year at Ithaca. I must say, I am very excited for this class. Even the six word exercise got me excited because it was something I never would have thought to try and do in order to accomplish the task of telling a story. I was very interested in this because it was so out of the box. So yes, I am very excited for this class.

Anyway, the title of this blog post is in reference to internships. There are good ones, bad ones, and then just the plain ugly ones. I'm sure you can figure out which ones are good and the others, well, not so much. But I'm going to tell you anyway how my summer went:

I start my summer really excited because I got an internship at the Jeremy Kyle Show in Manhattan. I had to say, I was the most excited I could be because it was my first internship in college as a production intern. I got there super early because I was so excited because I knew that I would be able to take something away from it and have a great experience. Well, let me tell you: I got an experience alright, but not exactly the one you are thinking of. I ended up pretty much becoming a slave. I had to build cabinets, chairs, paint rooms that were rarely used, go on runs, go on extra runs to get a receipt, etc. The list goes on but I'm not going to get too into detail. So like I said before, I ended up a slave. I got nothing out of this internship that I was able to use in the future, except for the fact that I had to make approximately 1000 phone calls over the course of 2 months. So I guess that may have helped with the being on the phone fear that I never had.

It was possibly one of the worst experiences I have ever had. The part that made me the most angry was that I saw posts on Facebook about all of my friends interning elsewhere talking about how great their internships were and how they got to work in the control room and how they got to work on the set and work with someone that actually worked there. Yeah, not me; I had to build cabinets and go all the way to the other side of Manhattan to go buy a lamp.

So I would think that it is obvious that all of my friends got "The Good" internships and I got "The Bad" AND "The Ugly."

Hopefully, if I'm lucky that is, I will be able to intern at a place that will actually let me experience something worth while and help me in the future.

Autumn

I don't know if anyone remembers, but earlier this year Arturo mentioned filming one of the waterfalls around here in the fall. This water fall, at lower Buttermilk, is at the same location our cabin from our previous film is at. So last week I went down and shot some video. The last part of the video has some clips from fall break, incase your wondering. I'm always making little videos like this, but mainly check it out for the waterfall stuff!

do able FX

so i've seen this once or twice before on youtube and i thought it was kinda cool so i thought i'd share it on the blog. Its a youtube channel called indiemogel and it has a lot of film making tips for our level of film making. They teach some after effect and real physical effects which i found pretty cool most of the effects they show cost around 60 dollars and i think they really add something to the scenes they are in, check them out.

this one teaches you how to smash a wall


this one shows you how to make a scott pilgram punch effect





and lastly this one shows how to get a real cut throat shot

Almost Summer

I'm just realizing now how little time we have until the end of the semester. Seems crazy, it feels like we just got back from Christmas Break. But nonetheless, I'm excited for some time off from classes and such. Anyone else staying in Ithaca over the summer??

Forms, Legal, and Shenanigans

Everyone planning to film on city property, you may want to pay attention. So, we all know that to film on city property, we need to submit a form to the Department of Public Works at least two weeks in advance (see the form on the Field Production research guide on the IC Library site, or go here. But, what about the insurance form (item number 2 on the form)? Well, as IC students filming in the city, we are covered by the college through the Office of Risk Management, but the office need to get a form at least 10 days before the shoot (and I would recommend getting this paperwork in before submitting the form for the Department of Public Works). Click here to get to the page you need for the Risk Management forms.

Also, I realized that I haven't been doing these entries for the past month or so, so I'll try to get one down every day for the next week or two (personal goal).

Location Scouting

For those of you scouting for locations, it occurred to me that one of the best resources would be a local realtor. True, you do not want to rent a location, however they know all the available spaces for rent or for sale and they can give you the contact information to get a permit. They also know each other well and some specialize in residential, or business or industrial etc. So take some time to explore that option. I suggest you do a face to face as opposed to simply give them a call.

You can also search the rental listings yourself. Here is one of many resources: LINK

Another resource would be constructors, since they usually have houses or locales in different states of completion. My landlord, Bruno Schickel is such case. Check his website. He is a really great and helpful guy. You can tell him that you are my student. I know he has various houses in construction and other types of places as well. Here is his SITE

He has built or renovated homes, offices, clinics, restaurants, you name it.