As Christmas slowly approaches us, I realised that I have not done a first year film school reflection post. Here’s one now. This also happens to be my 1,000th post (totally didn't plan that on purpose
)
This year has got to be the best year of my life. Why? It was the year I broke out of my comfort zone, took on many responsibilities, tackled challenges and learnt more about myself. It’s so funny looking back on my earlier entries in my journal because I really was doubting pursuing a film degree. Would I be able to fit in? Would other people like me? Will my art be good enough? And to that- after a rollercoaster of a year, I’m glad to say that I survived everything. I survived all the confusing assignments, powering through production block and rising up from my problems.
Here’s an overview of my subjects:
Screen Business:
Spoiler
I found an interest in Screen Business class. I hadn’t thought about becoming a producer before going to film school. Fast forward to now, I would love to be one in the future. Wished that I paid a bit more attention in lectures and workshop as important producer related matters such paper agreements, festivals and copyrights are significant. It would’ve helped with production as well since I wasn’t too sure about Chain of Title documents and distribution forms. I look forward to Year 2 Screen Business and what else is in store.
Final mark: 76 (Distinction)
Story (Screenwriting):
Spoiler
I found my passion in Story class. Screenwriting is an art and allows me to express stories. This had to be my favourite subject of all since each lecture and workshop was engaging. It helps that my tutor was absolutely brilliant and had superb connections and just knew her shit. I was inspired by her to really push myself and write the best script that I could. And I did. My first ever fully written script got me my first high distinction (and only HD hehe) and really helped boost my confidence. I learned how to pitch my ideas to a group of people, how to improve my creative writing and how to make good creative decisions.
Final mark: 79 (Distinction)
Image (Cinematography):
Spoiler
I found home in Image. This was a class that felt like I was back in Visual Arts class and I found a sense of familiarity. In this class, we observe all the different planes of cinematography (ie; symmetry, rule of thirds, production design etc.) I enjoyed learning all the theoretical aspects of this class though I really wished I had paid attention to the technical parts of it (ie; aperture, lighting, noise, etc.) At first I was a bit intimidated by the people in my class because there were so little females (it was like a 3:1 male to female ratio I swear). However, I could never forget the workshop when our tutor (who also happened to be the head of Image) only let the females direct and operate the camera. I owe it all to my tutor who is so encouraging and so helpful and so kind and inspired me to really build upon my ideas in this class.
Final mark: 78 (Distinction)
Character & Performance (Directing):
Spoiler
I found clarification in Character & Performance. It was the subject that I was worried about the most because I knew directing was never my thing and I thought that directing was just bossing people around on set. I could never forget what our lecturer said- and that was ‘directing is a discipline that places actors within a space and a time’. It made so much sense. The whole point of the director was to bridge the gap between the actor and your vision of their character on screen. You have to give them a goal and a motivation in order to reach that vision. My tutor for this subject was an absolute gem and was so precious- bless her beautiful soul. She started every workshop with a warm up game and she would always take time to listen to our class rant and answer every single one of our burning questions. I really wished I had worked a bit harder on my assignments for this subject though.
Final mark: 72 (Credit)
Rhythm & Juxtaposition (Editing):
Spoiler
I found disappointment in Rhythm & Juxtaposition. I still remember the last day of Orientation Week where I had told my orientation tutor (who also happened to be the head of Rhythm & Juxtaposition and also ended up becoming my tutor for the subject) ‘I’m so excited for Rhythm & Juxtaposition!’. Though I found myself a bit disappointed with it when we finally got taught the subject in Semester two. All we did was edit in class (wow what a surprise) and that was it. I expected more. I expected how to colour grade. I expected to learn more about the theoretical side of editing. I really expected big things. The class felt very basic- to me anyways. I have to keep remembering that everyone has different experience levels when it came to editing. I already knew how to cut stuff and how to pick the right shots- so I’m hoping that Year 2 R&J would be a lot more interesting and challenging. Because of this, this really put me off the subject and it bit me in the ass because Rhythm & Juxtaposition became my poorest performing subject ever. It really didn’t help much since I came into film school with the intentions of wanting to become an editor in the future. I had let my ego and my reputation get in the way. I need to learn to really get into the grit of things rather than putting things off. I need to make goals for myself beyond the classroom context.
Final mark: 66 (Credit)
Sound:
Spoiler
I found … honestly not sure if I really found anything in Sound. It was such a boring class that it put me off big time and I started to skip out on lectures, workshops and screenings because of it. It got too technical at times (sound frequencies, waves and whatnot) and I was like helll to the nooo. Though I must say that I do regret not going to some of my lectures and workshops because I realise that sound is so important in film. Like my close friend had once said ‘so I’m basically 50% of your film?’. That’s what he said after I had hired him to be in a film I’m directing soon (will discuss more about this below). And I was like ‘what do you mean 50% of my film? You’re just sound’. He then said ‘sound makes up for 50% of the film. Without me, your story will not look good on the screen’. And he was right. I remember watching our end of semester two films during our screenings and some of the films had terrible sound quality and it really draws you out of the film. The plot, the production design, the cinematography etc. can be good, but if the sound is shit- you’ll just be brought back into the real world. Sound allows you to immerse within the world of the content you’re watching. Despite not attending most of my Sound lectures and workshops, I am honestly so gobsmacked to say that Sound ended up being my best performing subject for Semester 2 (what in tarnation). I’m gonna try and add in more effort next year since Sound correlates with Editing so much.
Final mark: 78 (Distinction) (I still think that I don’t deserve this mark)
Production:
Spoiler
I found valuable life lessons and experiences on set during production. I have seriously learnt more in the month of production combined than I have in my six months of lectures and workshops altogether. Makes sense though because we’re actually putting what we’ve learnt in class into practice. Production blocks are reflective of what’s the industry is like and what’s to come in the future. Being on set allows you to grow as a filmmaker. Semester 1’s production allowed us to experience all significant crew roles. While semester 2 production gave us the freedom to pick whatever role we wanted. I’ve learnt not to over commit to a lot of film projects or else I will suffer. For example, I had signed myself up to work and act in films in semester one that I got so so so physically sick that I couldn’t leave my house for a week. While in semester two, I worked on a lot of films and spread myself too thin that the quality of my work for each work that I had worked on wasn’t up to par. Friendships were tested and my work ethic was questioned by many. I had lost motivation in semester two’s production due to bad experiences with certain people in all pre, production and post. I really wished I hadn’t overcommitted because that burnt me out and I feel bad that I had done a shit job on all the films I worked on- especially the one I was editing. I’ve learnt not to work on films for the sake of helping out your friends. Yes I do want to help my friends but I also have to make sure that I’m genuinely interested in the project. My friends’ approval shouldn’t be my motivation- rather the project itself needs to be my main motivation. I’ll stick to only two films max next production. Also I really need to learn how to be confident on set because that will set the mood
Final marks:
Visual Storytelling (Sem 1): 76 (Distinction)
Short Form (Sem 2): 72 (Credit)
So here’s a ranking of my subjects:
Spoiler
Story: 79 (D)
Image: 78 (D)
Sound: 78 (D)
Screen Business: 76 (D)
Visual Storytelling: 76 (D)
Short Form: 72 (C)
Character & Performance: 72 (C)
Rhythm & Juxtaposition: 66 (C)
Technically first year does not count towards our WAM/GPA (woohoo!) I know all our assessments had different weightings and whatnot- but I calculated that my WAM/GPA is 75 (technically it’s 74.6 but I wanted to round it up to the nearest number *coughs* to get a distinction). I know grades don’t really matter in the film industry but I still would like to improve on my marks and really challenge myself to be a better student.
Besides my subjects- I’m still proud to say that I’ve managed to step out of my shell a bit and believe in myself (cheesy I know but it’s true). I had so much fun learning about film this year and I really really can’t wait for Year 2. However, I don’t start until 2nd week of March which is so far away oh my god. But I do have plans for myself in the upcoming months that will keep me busy- such as...
* Directing a short film (see my updates in my other thread ‘Bea’s Films’)
* Editing my friend’s short film (which I got picture lock for! Just waiting for the sound edit and the screen music to be sent in before final submission)
* Volunteering at a film festival
* Some AN related things
* Working my butt off at Priceline aha
* Figuring out a documentary topic to direct for production in semester one.
Not only have I learnt to step out of my shell at film school, I’ve learnt to step out of my shell in the real world. I’ve made new friends and unfortunately had lost some as well. I’ve learnt to get in touch with my emotions and let my heart be vulnerable. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve had the time of my life. I’ve tried new things. And I’ve created and embarked on opportunities that will help me grow. If there really is one thing I would like to do in the new year- that would be to simply, just be confident. I can’t even tell you how many times I have been told to be confident by a certain amount of people- all ranging from my tutors to my friends to my co-workers to my parents and even myself. I’m still working on it but I can’t wait to meet this confident version of myself soon. She’ll be fantastic.
I guess that's 1/3 of my degree done. Still figuring out where I would like to pursue my master's degree. I was originally leaning towards University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) due to their immense connections within the American screen industry. But they don't have a masters in editing. I'm trying to look for a British institution that offers a Masters in Editing since I would like work in the British screen industry in the future. I probably won't pursue my master's degree until I'm ~25 years old as I would like to gain some experience in the industry first before doing my master's.
See you guys in the new year