Hi Everyone, Nina here with a (hopefully) special treat. HAHA! When I found out that our favorite UK correspondent Dougie was going off to film school, I thought that it might be interesting for him to post his perspectives on it as he progresses his way through the program. I thought this might serve as inspiration (or warning) to anyone who was also considering film school. This would also help to keep Dougie honest, because if he drops out, we can all publicly chastize him.
So, without further ado, Part 1 of Film School Confidential!
Film School Confidential
Episode 1: Andromed-ia
Just under a month ago, the gorgeous Miss Nina Kincaid suggested that I do her work for her by writing updates for the site. And because I'm a sucker for librarian, I agreed. She thought it might be interesting if I share my experiences of film school, which I started at the beginning of September. As it happens, I never actually got round to finishing anything I started writing for her. Truth be told, there hasn't been all that much to talk about.
Despite the course being called Digital Film Making, for the first part, we are grouped with the students on the audio course, on a general media course, incorporating graphic design, web design, sound editing, and video editing. I've been kicking ass so far, as I've been doing web and graphic design for almost ten years, self taught. Although this part of the course can be a bit boring, it is giving real qualifications for my C.V. (resume for all you Americans) instead of a foot note explaining I taught myself how to use Dreamweaver efficiently.
Things are about to get interesting though, as we're about to be assigned our video project. Working in a group of 3 to 5 people, we can create anything we want, ranging from a 30 second commercial, to a 5 minute short film. After a tough year where many aspects of my life have caused a great deal of unhappiness, a project like this really lifts my spirits. I only have one real problem. I'm working in a team.
Now, I want to say first and foremost, I don't dislike my classmates, far from it. Sometimes, I'm not the most sociable of people, and for the most part, I just flat out don't care about the other people in my class. I barely know the names of anyone, and I'm okay with that. The few names I do remember are down to some very obvious unique feature. For example, Rachel, the only girl in a class of 22. She's one of the half dozen students going into the Digital Film Making course after Christmas.
I understand, and fully accept, that in life we must sometimes work with people we don't get on with. But I sometimes worry that the project I do may fall apart due to lack of teamwork on my part. I don't want anyone else, let alone myself, to fail this course because I sometimes struggle to meet new people. Like I said, it's not as if I dislike my classmates.
Over the next month and a half, with Nina's permission of course, you'll be able to follow my progress on the video editing aspect of the course, and hopefully into the new year, as the digital film making course starts up.
