Looking to the future

In the last hour, I've made two decent-sized leaps at nudging myself into the future: I set the foundations of starting a summer internship, and began the rough drafts of pre-producing a music video for an up-and-coming band over winter break.  Now I'm hoping that you guys will have some input.

First, the internship.  Over the summer, Andrew Jenks will be holding an annual film festival in New York City, which has been running for a decade now and has brought in keynote speakers like James Earl Jones (if that guy could narrate my life, I'd be one happy girl).  Though it's geared more towards high school age filmmakers, the opportunity to work as even a production assistant on something with Jenks is a step in the right direction.  He's been at this since a very young age and has made quite a name for himself (check out the linked bio, or just Google him), so I'm looking forward to this chance.  Also, he's looking for people to keep up a blog regarding the festival I believe; looks like Arturo knows what he's doing in making us write these every week.  If you want more information, let me know and I'll help you get in contact with the right people for a shot at this.

Next, the music video.  I've always had a love for music, especially because of the way it always sparks a montage in my mind as I listen.  Thus, I was asked to create More Than True's first music video of their career, and have already begun pre-production.  At the moment, I'm quite thankful for the links on this blog to necessary documents (ex: talent release forms), and I'd be interested to hear what anyone has to say about things to think of for production.  I'm also making an attempt at covering the majority of positions myself on this one, but I do have an entire week to shoot and more time to edit, so any and all advice is more than welcome.

Advice From Joseph Gordon-Levitt

I recently started watching interviews on makingof.com, a website I didn't know about until Arturo mentioned it in class. In an interview with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, he is asked about his company hitrecord.com and gives advice that I believe is the main focus and goal for Park students and should be my mindset. JGL says his advice starting at the 2:50 mark. He basically says that in order to be known, you don't have to move to LA, get an agent, and know people. He believes that you need to create an idea, go out and make something, and try to get it out to people. He uses the example of someone who had no agents, created a film, and was able to show it at Sundance. I think this interview with JGL is extremely valuable in terms of advice and insight into the movie industry. I've been saving up for a camera, possibly the Canon T2i, and I've been writing short skits and stories that I plan to create. Honestly, I've been slacking and like Arturo said, there's no reason why we shouldn't be creating something new every week or so. I'm also working on a script for a mockumentary that I want to film over Thanksgiving or Winter break. I used to make movies every week when I was younger with my friend Jason, a BU communications student, and we're collaborating again and hope to create the mockumentary.

CLICK THIS LINK TO WATCH JGL'S MAKINGOF.COM INTERVIEW


Also, check out www.hitrecord.org; JGL's website that features work from artists, filmmakers, and beyond. Maybe you can sign up and share your work there.
(P.S: Go out and see Looper. It's one of the better movies I've seen in years.)