January 13, 2013: Let's Get This Ball A-Rollin'!

   Throughout my life, I have garnered quite a boat-load of exposure to filmmaking.  My first experience with film began in high school with a fictional war film entitled Anatoliy The Ghost.  A year later came Job Well Done, my senior year final project.  The short crime drama was screened at my school's film festival where it won best cinematography, editing, and supporting actor. 

   After completing my freshman year in college, I dedicated the following summer to creating a post-apocalyptic/psychological-horror short film entitled DREAM HoME. The next two semesters (which were spent in a different school) were used to learn a good amount about the technical side of filmmaking.  I was able to write and direct another short film entitled Children of the Moon.  The mockumentary on a vampire offspring was an exercise for me in working with artificial lighting.  Though my lighting skills were not the best in the rushed film, I was able to learn the importance of proper light setting and the basic three-point lighting set up.

   This being a film course and me being obsessed with filmmaking, I hope to learn as much from this course as humanly possible.  But what I'd love to focus more on are how to continue building up my directing and screenwriting skills, as well as how to manage time between film production and all the other goodies in life (classes, work, procrastination).  I have a fascination with creating stories on paper and bringing them to life with bringing said vision to life comes dedicating a huge portion of the day to make sure everything is done according to plan (because if there is one thing your typical ADD college sophomore is amazing at, then that means I missed Grey's Anatomy).  The "limited amount of time" dilemma also makes me worried about rushing what could potentially be a good idea for a short film.

   In ten years, I hope to be highly skilled in writing and directing films with compelling stories.  I've noticed many Hollywood movies today are made to thrive on star power, CGI overkill, or exploitation.  I will admit, some movies I enjoy can be considered exploitation (and there is a time and place for that), but the films I remember the most are those that had a well thought-out story with brilliantly written characters.  It wouldn't hurt to have some CGI or a little shock value here and there, but when a movie relies solely on those qualities, then what lies in front of you is a movie that does not know the importance of moderation.