Category: Film
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Lessons on Directing for Camera
I chose one of my actors for my senior film thesis because I reveled in the challenge of directing him. Perhaps this was an act of hubris but this is all meant to be a learning experience, so fight me. As I am quickly discovering, there are many challenges to…
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Experiential Education, Etiquette on Set
In my Montessori school, growing up, we used to have lessons on courtesy and etiquette. This practice is part of the history of the Montessori education strategy, as Dr. Maria Montessori first started her schools by teaching orphaned and homeless children off the street how to polish silverware, eat…
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Producing is like Backpacking
There’s something funny about the way film students inherently neglect the role of sound in their films. I had a professor tell me once that the difference between a great film and a decent one was the quality of the audio — and as I have grown into a cynical…
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Tazewell’s Introduction
Jess reflects on the opportunity presented in “Making the Feature Film, Part 1,” especially how it connects to her life. Professor Jon Tazewell will probably never see this blog post, so I feel pretty confident being very honest here. I am overjoyed at the opportunity to produce a feature film with him.…
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Writing a Character Death
I spent the majority of my day Monday sitting in Wiggins Street Coffee killing-off a good friend of mine. That’s right, I was writing a character death. It’s interesting to me, most of the student short films I’ve seen don’t deal with the topic of death in the physical –…
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Things to Come
As of Fall of 2018 I am enrolled in a science fiction in cinema genre course. Occasionally I may write about films we have viewed and concepts that have stuck with me. Why was “Things to Come” so brutally attacked in our class discussion? For a 1936 film, this picture…
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Shortsighted
This week I spent a good stretch of time trying to get my thesis partner to work on our script, only to realize that I am struggling with some of the same problems that are plaguing him. I am a perfectionist, and that makes me good at my job. People…
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The Ride & Die
Recently, I’ve learned a few hard life lessons. 1) Never finish a whole pineapple and jalapeño pizza on your own in one sitting and 2) It’s about time we broke down the dominance hierarchy within the performing arts community. I’ll admit it, I have benefitted from nepotism — especially within…
Jesseca Kusher 