Today I woke up at 7:00 AM. I took a shower, got ready, and then my roommates all walked up to the "car wash" and hiked back DOWN the hill to the camp.
The question was: Where was breakfast? It had been rumored that we were going to get it the night before... but we hadn't received any? We were all hungry, and one of us even ate cold pizza. (No, it wasn't me.)
So, we showed up at Universal Studios... the office building. Where they were doing post-production on famous upcoming movies... (which ones? I can't tell ya.)
So, yes... THAT Universal Studios.
Breakfast
We finally figured out that the first breakfast would be served at Universal Studios... so we enjoyed a lot of bagels. I love bagels. And cream cheese. I think that's the thing to to eat on the coast cities... in NYC all we had for breakfast was bagels... in LA all we have for breakfast is bagels. Haha! So we had bagels, and then we went to our first class:
Hands-On Camera
This class taught us how to use the Panasonic DX100, which is a high-tech digital camera. It is SUPER awesome. Just saying. Haha. We learned all there was to do with it, and then some rules: the rule of thirds, the 180 rule, and others.
The rule of thirds:
Essentially, the screen on which a film appears is a box. This box is divided into thirds vertically and horizontally. You want your eye lines to be on the top line horizontally, and either the far left or far right line vertically. Awesomeness.
The 180 rule has to do with eye lines as well, and camera placement. Essentially, don't cross that line. It's a little hard to explain... well, I guess I can try.
When a character looks at another character, they create an eye line between each other. The camera must stay on one side of the line, or else it looks like the characters are switching places and changing sides, and overall it gets really confusing. The only way to "break" this line without breaking the rule is to dolly behind the actor. Essentially. You can break the line to cause confusion within the audience, though.
Anywho, this guy, Kirill, taught us a bunch about shots as well, but then we just had "share your favorite _____" time. Which was cool.
Kirill has worked on movies with Jim Carrey - has met him personally - and a lot of other famous peoples. A LOT. His sister is really good friends with Paris Hilton. Apparently, she is not as dumb as she makes herself out to be... according to Kirill.
Backlot Tour
Next, we went on a tour of the Universal backlot. Which was awesome, but really short. It took about 15 minutes, but I got to see Wisteria Lane (Desperate Housewives, for all you fans), Jaws Lake (I can film there, too! EE!), Europe, Western, and others. It was super cool. Elm Street is being used for production, so we can't film there. Sad.
Lunch
Then, we had lunch. It was good - chicken, salad, rice, pita bread, hummus, and cookies. Yummy stuff.
After that, was...
Filmmaking
Filmmaking was super cool, because we had the most awesome teacher. His name is Dave Nelson, but he was only subbing for our actual teacher, Eric. Eric had to pitch a show to FOX TV, so he couldn't be there today. But Dave was awesome.
He knew a lot. Which was so cool. He showed us clips from JAWS, and helped us figure out why the shots that were in there were used. He also showed us how to choose sets and scenery and the like - a production designer's job.
We went through a bajillion shots. I knew a lot of them, so I felt awesome. Hahaha.
He taught us how to make our stories relate-able to the audience. I really liked this section. I took a lot of notes. He went over the 180 rule with us in more detail, and the like. He also related our favorite movies to what he was teaching. It was super awesome.
Dave is a teacher at NYFA (New York Film Academy), so I really felt like I was in a college class... and it really was taught like one. I loved loved loved this class. If this is what film school is like, I am definitely going to be there.
Writing
Writing started with the usual: Name, where you're from, and your favorite movies.
I was happy with my list, I wrote: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Edward Scissorhands, Moulin Rouge!, and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.
Next, our teacher had us write down a powerful event that we had witnessed. I wrote about rescuing my dad from his plane accident (see his blog for the full story). I got to tell the story to the class, and they seemed to like it well enough, and the teacher got really into it. Then, they evaluated the story for what would be good for a screenplay. The teacher, Crickett, said I should make it in to a real movie one day.
Maybe I will. =]
There was another example that was really cool. One guy in our class has some chemical imbalance thing that makes his dreams become real... like legitly real. So he told us about a time when he thought someone was about to kill him, but it was just a hallucination. This doesn't happen in a dream, it happens when he's awake. Wow, that would be scary.
Dinner
We had spaghetti. The noodles were a tad cold, but otherwise it was good. Very tasty.
After dinner, my roommates and I picked up our food from our counselor: Waffles, bagels with cream cheese (!!), bread, peanut butter, jelly, syrup, granola bars, cereal, milk, orange juice. Tasty stuff.
We settled down at computer central (haha) and checked facebook, then headed to the convenience store... which is WAY on the other side of the apartment complex. It's like a mile away... or so it feels. We bought a bunch of stuff... cake mix, chips, frosting, candy, cookies, pop, and other stuff.
We're gonna make the cake later this week.
So now I am updating this... one of my roommates is in the bedroom, one is watching House, and one is sitting next to me on her computer.
It's been a great day! =]
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