End-of-semester Reflection

As the semester comes to a close, I have a lot to think about and a lot to reflect upon; mainly, the new-found appreciation I have for the field of film production. Before this class, I can confidently say that I already knew much more about the industry than the vast majority of my friends. I've always had an appreciation for the film industry and for those who work in it, but not to this level.

Last year, I took an intro to field production course, and I certainly learned a lot from it, but my overall opinion of film production was not at all affected through the experience. Fiction Field Production 1--through the semester-long project we had to complete--taught me a whole lot more about the industry than I ever would have thought possible.

What was so different about this class was the fact that, for the first time since I've gotten to this school, we were assigned a legitimate project that really put everyone's skills to the test. The project was simple (or so I thought): make a film that's based off a news story. The story can cover any topic and can be from any time period. Everyone in the class brought in a story, we voted on the two we liked best, and then we split ourselves into two groups.

With two groups of seven students, everyone was able to have their own crew position, instead of having everyone split the work evenly like in the intro class. The most exciting part was that we, for the most part, chose the group and position we would stick with for the entirety of the semester. As one who has never been particularly fond of preproduction work, I was ecstatic to be able to step aside and let someone else take care of it.

Now, while this was an especially exciting part of the project for me, it was also one of the more nerve-wracking aspects of the process. While it was no longer my responsibility to write, schedule, direct, or shoot the film (I was given the position of editor), it also meant that a whole lot of things were out of my control. Sure, I could give my input on whatever I wanted--and it was often well-regarded--but for the most part, the final decision on most things was not mine.

My point is that while it's nice to not have to bother myself with certain aspects of the project, it also meant that I had to have faith in my fellow group members. As one who tends to take control in a group setting, this was something I had to quickly learn to get over. From the very start, I had to constantly remind myself not to intervene in others' work and to trust them more than I usually would have in the past.

With everyone working on their own portion of the film, a whole lot more effort could be put into each aspect of the project, as opposed to when everyone had to split their efforts amongst everything. With every student putting forth a whole new level of effort into their work than I've ever seen before, I was able to really watch and admire everyone's talent while also taking the time to appreciate the amount of work they were each completing.

Yes, my job as editor had a lot of work that came with it as well, but to truly be able to see the amount of work that goes into the entire process of a film's production and the high level of skill that's required to make a quality product is unbelievable. I used to think we simply weren't using the proper equipment to make a good film, but it turns out that what it really takes is a group of talented students who are willing to put forth the effort. Duh.

Thank you, Arturo Sinclair, for a brand-new experience and for passing your knowledge onto all of us.

Here's the Facebook event for the screening this upcoming Saturday!

The Real World: Life After College

After watching the video about The Hobbit today in class, and working with people on our final project, I got to thinking...what's the future going to be like?  We're all struggling these last few weeks with finals, but what's going to happen once we step out beyond the Park School and actually have to do this for a living?  Instead of having classes to deal with on top of our productions, we'll have real life issues like families, mortgages, and all of that fun stuff. Is that going to be easier to balance, or more difficult?  Will we manage those two day run and guns?  Can we complete a feature film with only four days until the premiere?  Are we ever going to get adequate sleep again in our lives?

Noon...eight hours into a shoot...and I'm not even
on the actual makeup department.

The fact of the matter is, despite the kind of semi-insanity it takes to put in the hours in either pre-, post-, or regular production, the dedication is one of the most important parts.  You can't make a quality film without genuinely caring about the final outcome; when you make something truly good, you feel as if you've put a part of yourself into it.  It's like all of your time and annoyance at the entire thing has finally paid off, and will, with some skill (and maybe some luck), make this a really worthwhile production.  It's something you have to feel for yourself to wholly understand, I think, and from what I've known of the sensation, it's an awesome payoff.

You've also got to be flexible if you're going to work on any kind of shoot; your title might be "camera 2," but if someone asks you to, you can jump in and work as a boom op, extra, gaffer, or anything, especially on smaller productions akin to what we'll more than likely all be starting in.  Again, it goes back to your dedication; when you really want something to come out well, it shows in the work that's put in, even when it isn't technically your job to do something.  Being an extra hand never hurts on most shoots, so hopping in on little things to make the entire production go smoother.

So, the question: what's the better life choice, to get the necessary amount of sleep each night to function properly at a mediocre job that you mildly like, or to stretch every last minute with work you're passionate about despite its slight impact on your health?

As much as I love my naps (and I really love naps), I'd totally go into this field of frenzy and film in a heartbeat.  The years ahead working with this sort of thing will without a doubt be spontaneous and full of late nights, but for the enjoyment I get out of putting in the time and effort with a group of like-minded people, it's worth it.

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