The End of NYFA

It's been just one day since I got home, and tomorrow I start school all over again.

This will be the last post on this blog.

New York Film Academy was amazing.

It taught me so much. Not just about filmmaking, but about life in general.

I would go into that...
but that would be the world's longest blog entry.

So....

goodbye New York Film Academy, hello East High.

Last Day of Class

Today was the last day of class.

There will definitely be tears shed tomorrow.

We all had class with Eric Conner today, and we chatted about options for our film studies/careers.

Then we had editing... we had from 2 pm to 9 pm.

I used the whole time.

All in all, I really like what I have now.

My package still isn't here. Ugh.

Directing is Magical.

Here's a more detailed description of the big climactic scene, and how we shot it:

I sat with my actress, Elizabeth, and reassured her that if she couldn't cry, it would be fine.
She sat there, frustrated, unable to get tears, and I shushed all my crew and had them leave so I could do some one-on-one chatting with her.

I told her that emotional recall was one way she could go about it, or she could do body recall (in which you make your body think you're crying and tears will come). Neither worked. She asked for my iPod to get in the mood. She listened to The Beatles' Blackbird.

I told her we needed to go ahead and do a take, and that she could take all the time she needed, but we needed to go ahead and roll it.

She went through the motions, but couldn't get it.

I went back over to her, and finally hit my directing stride:

"You're the character. You ARE Teresa. You are her. You've lost your brother. He's dead. You thought your best friend had left you. You have no one. You're grieving. You HAVE to let it loose. You HAVE to cry. There's no way that you can move on without letting these tears flow."

I told her that we were gonna do another take, and she could take as long as she wanted again.

She didn't enter the frame for about 3 or 4 minutes. I was worried. I told her to go ahead and enter, and build up more emotions in the frame. She sat down in the frame. She leaned over to the other actress, and sobbed.

It was perfection. We did all the takes while she was crying, and it was magical.

It took nearly 45 minutes to do, but we got perfection from that actress, who I also call my friend.

We all applauded, gave her hugs, and sent her off for about a 15 to 20 minute break.

And that's the magic of movies.

Shooting Day 2, Being Sick, and Sadness

Today, I was a director. However, I had to make it through someone else's shoot first.

Only problem: I was very sick.

I had about every cold symptom there could be.

I staggered through the first shoot, eyes half shut (literally).

I got very hungry, but couldn't eat.

Finally, it was my turn to shoot.

I started off crazily, trying to get everything done properly, but quickly. I had four hours to shoot 30 shots. It was crazy.

We moved through the first half, and still had 2.5 hours left.

We took a break.

I got my actress prepared for the big climactic scene, where she's supposed to cry.

It took a while, but we worked through it and talked about it and she got tears out... bawling, sobbing tears. We hurried through the shots we wanted, then had another break. It was intense.

We finished the shoot, then went back for dinner. I wasn't hungry then, either.

I went to see if my package was there yet. It wasn't.

I came back to the apartment, took a shower, and ate a bagel.

Now I am typing this.

I am going to sleep soon, after we watch a movie: The Prestige (SO GOOD).

So good night! See you all soon.

-Jennifer

P.S. - It's kind of weird, but I've yet to be home sick.

Magic Mountain and Shot Lists

So, we went to Magic Mountain yesterday.

In all truthfulness, not much happened. We waited 3 hours in line for X2, which was scary, but kind of a let down for 3 hours in line.

We then went to Scream! which was really fun and probably better than X2. Sadness. Hahaha.

Then it was time to go. I am very serious.

We got back, had some dinner, and talked about our movies.

We watched Ed Wood as we worked on our scripts and shot lists.

Then we went to bed.

Today I slept in until 11:00 (1:00pm Wichita time), and it was beautiful.

I have rehearsals with my actors at 2:00 and I'm free the rest of the day.

Today will be devoted to cleaning the apartment, doing laundry, and working on my scripts and shot lists and storyboards.

Yay!

Also, I am sick... I don't know why. But I have a sore throat, the sneezeles, and no voice. Yay.

See everyone soon... camp's nearly over. =[

Mass Mayhem and Minor Breakdowns (?)

Part 1: Perfection

It was the perfect script. Fun, happy, romantic, sappy, cute, fluffy... everything I wanted in my romance. All I needed were the perfect actors.

Part 2: Casting

I sat through casting already knowing who I wanted for my film. More importantly, though, I needed a male. Without a male, my film was not possible... was not do-able, was not anything. I would not do a lesbian love fest or a BFF snooze and lose fest. No, I wanted my male lead to be strong, but also like the boy next door.

Part 3: Casting Results

I read the list: Elizabeth and Sam. This should be funny to me, because Elizabeth was my lead in my first film, and Sam is the name of my other actress in my first film (but she isn't the same one).

It wasn't funny though. It filled me with dread. I wasn't worried about Sam or Elizabeth giving bad performances or anything.... I had no male actor. No one to fill the part. I immediately thought of the only male crew member that I had. Oh, wait... he would be out of town that day.

I had no way to get a male lead. None at all. Later some people would suggest I use some other guy on another crew... but this is my baby. No way would I let someone who has no experience in acting be my male lead who needs to be cute & funny, but dark & moody at the same time.

I was doomed.

Part 4: Screwed

When I found out I had no male actor, I gave my name and number to my actresses and ran. I ran back to the apartment and threw myself on my computer. I was probably the worst roommate at this time, but I was in despair. My script wouldn't work. It wasn't working. My vision of perfection and beauty and wonder and the thing I had worked on for many months wasn't do-able anymore. It was down the tubes with that idea, and time to think of another one.

My roomies came in to console me, but I wouldn't hear any of it. They gave me ideas, but this was my baby. My pride. My joy.

Eventually they all left to go visit another room. I stayed in the apartment, trying to think of ideas. None came.

I stared at blank pages for many hours. I emailed my teachers. No response.

I called my mom. All she could say was "It will work out." This was the worst thing to say to me at the time. I was still upset. I was crying, desperate for hope. But there was none. The project I had nursed for months was dead... at least at this camp. It won't ever happen now (at NYFA).

Part 5: New Surroundings

I gave up on working in the apartment and decided to go outside. It was a bit chilly, so I decided to go to the clubhouse. It didn't work.

Part 6: Giving Up

I gave up around 9:30. I decided to go find the rest of my roommates. They were all by the pool. A drunk(ish) guy was talking to them about film producing. It was weird. He left, and we sat there.

I got bored easily.

I went back up to the room and sat down. The roomies came back. I was aggravated. I still had no idea, and it was 10:30 pm. No idea that late is a bad thing.

I went into my room and sat there.

Part 7: Hope

I had a vision all night of a shot for a film... a close up on someone's eyes as they cried. What movie could give me that?

I decided on a story about a girl consoling another girl. And thus... the script "Pain" was born. It is a drama.

Synopsis: A girl is dealing with the death of a boyfriend, or a brother - some sort of close personal relation - and a friend tries to help her out, but it's gotten to be the point where nothing works.

So now I have a script... it's good, and I'm happy about it.

I'm sad I can't do my original idea, but I almost think this one will be better... at least, I hope it will.

The End.

And mom, if you dare say "I told you so" I will be so angry at you. =]

Back to Class

Shooting has ended! It is a sad day.

We had writing today with Crickett, where we discussed our stories, and how to introduce protagonists and then keep them interesting.

We then had "Directing the Actor", which was a new (but only one time) class. It was hard! They gave us all a monologue and an actor and said "Have us know what their location is, who they are, and what their relationship with the person they're talking to us is." We only had 15 to 20 minutes to get the actors ready. It was crazy and very hard!!

We also had to do that for our Filmmaking class. That time, though, I was not a director, which was fun. I got to be an actor. We did a scene from Tootsie. Worst direction note of my life, though: "Act like Dustin Hoffman."

How do I do that?

Did not like it at all.

Anywho...

I edit my film tomorrow, so I get to see how my footage turned out. =] YAY!


A bunch of friends came to our apartment and we partied and dyed a couple peoples' hair.

Fun day!

The more I get into the camp, there is less to say... because classes aren't new anymore, it's just building details.

However...

Highlights of the day:

-being "socially awkward" (inside joke) with las amigas. =]
-Michael saying "I didn't recognize you there in the pool."
-laughing so hard I almost peed myself while walking back to the apartment.
-telling stories.
-watching Moulin Rouge

=]

Night!

Post

Today there's not much to say.

It was a long day of shooting, and has been rough... so we'll see how it turns out.

Who knows?

Ughh.

Tired.

Good night.

Freaking Out, Directing, and Relaxation

Today I woke up at 7:00 am. I start every blog with that type of sentence. Hahaha.

I woke up to the sound of an alarm clock, but the pain of a really bad sunburn. It was painful getting out of bed, getting dressed... everything. Everything hurt. And when I say that, I really, truthfully, mean that. It was like needles piercing into my back.

So, I got ready, and started to make a bagel.

Small problem.

The bagels were all moldy. Fear hit me: How many times had I eaten a moldy bagel?

I don't think I had, actually, but it was still scary.

Chloe and I headed down to the parking lot at 7:45.

I've never really touched on how long it takes to get there, but it can take from as short as about 12 to 15 minutes, to about 15 to 20 minutes. It sucks. It involves walking down a very steep hill, down a street for a while, crossing three crosswalks, and then using our awesome photo ID badges to get into the Universal backlot parking lot. I'm so legit.

We waited for the vans, got shuttled away to the theme park location, and then sat around for a while. When they started calling for crews, I got nervous, because it was just me and one actor. Slowly another actor showed up and two other crew members, so I was missing my Director of Photography and lead actress.

My DP showed up, but I was still missing my lead, so I was still freaking out! I eventually just went out onto location, leaving my DP to wait for my lead, so we could get the location I needed. She showed up, but then my DP didn't show up. So I changed my AC (Camera Assistant) to my DP. We got going, and then the original DP showed up.

She came over and found out she wasn't DP anymore, and then she just... disappeared. I don't know where she went... who knows?

Oh well.

My DP was now Becky, and she was rocking that camera!

We did a very complicated camera move, which was wide shot to close up while circling the actor, pushing down to a close up of feet and purse.

I was very impressed. =]

We spent about half an hour just rehearsing the first shot. It went really well! I loved it!

We had some minor skirmishes when actors disappeared randomly to go buy ice cream, but overall everything went super awesome.

So my final film will be available... who knows when? Hahahaha.

We edit on Thursday.

So, that's about it.

I'm sitting in the apartment listening to Chloe's iTunes music and chatting about our days. When Jasmine gets back we're going to finish watching Moulin Rouge.

So now THAT'S it!

Ta-ta!

Filming, Getting Lost, and Exhaustion

Today I woke up a 7:30 am to go to film at the Universal Studios Theme Park.

We got there around 8:45 and began filming around 9:30. We filmed until noon.

The director I was with had an odd plot (which is so weird that I think I'll skip putting it on here), and what seemed like too little shots.

But it's her style, so who am I to judge?

Jasmine and I got separated from the group in the theme park and ended up wandering around aimlessly looking for people for about 2 to 2.5 hours. It was long and exhausting. We didn't have any of our stuff because we had given it to the other people to hold for us. However, we couldn't find them again. So we were very thirsty.

I was a it sick with heat exhaustion, but otherwise we were okay.

We got back to the apartment, had dinner, watched movies, worked on our films, and now we are lazying around waiting for room checks.

My camera is broken, so I can't upload anymore pictures for a while. Which is sad.

Highlights of the day:

• Seeing an actor in a Teletubbie suit. Priceless.
• A director dressing up as a clown (with full makeup) because he didn't have an actor to do it. =D
• Goofing around on set with Becky.
• Riding the Simpson's Ride at Universal Theme Park.
• Riding The Mummy ride with Becky. Oh. My. Goodness. CRAZY.

That's about it.

A lot longer update to come because tomorrow I am the director. Get excited. =D

Right now, however, I am very tired (it's been a long day) and I feel like sleeping in water due to my sunburn.

Oh well. Night all!

Beaches, Sunburns, and Laundry Rooms

Today I went to the beach!

It was super exciting!

We went out into the ocean and swam with the waves and stuff, probably for about an hour.

I then went to the pier and bought a beach towel because I forgot mine at the apartment.

After that, we all went to the promenade and had lunch and then went shopping.

Jasmine and I went to Barnes and Noble and I bought two books: "Filmmaking for Teens" and "Finding LOST".

Then we went to 7-Eleven and I got flowers for my second film! =D YAY.

We got back and did our laundry (which was really confusing).

Now I sit here.

Not much happened today... Sorry!