Opening Day

Aside from two editing classes, the last month of NYFA’s three month filmmaking course didn’t include any instruction.  We were broken into groups of four and each member of the group was given a weekend to shoot their final 5-10 minute film.  When it wasn’t your weekend to shoot, you were part of the crew for the rest of your group.  My group stayed local except for me.  I decided to pack everything up and head three hours north into the Catskill Mountains.  

Given the location and need to spend two nights, my entire crew couldn’t make the trip. So I pieced together a cast and crew from other groups and some friends.  I was never crazy about the script to begin with but time was running out and I was forced to work with what I had.  In fact, I still hadn’t come up with an ending until it was time for an ending.  After hours of back and forth, somebody noticed a chainsaw on the garage shelf and I thought…. “Done. Let’s use it.”  

That weekend was a great learning experience from a director and a cinematographer’s stand point.  This was the shit I signed up for.  And it was a good thing I had such a good time because when I got my 6 rolls of film processed everyone single one of them was underexposed and unusable.  The came out completely black.  Turns out, my DP set my light meter to reflective mode and my inexperienced self never noticed.  I shot the entire film taking readings with a meter on the wrong setting.  Basically, I did the equivalent of filming the entire movie with the lens cap on.

Two weeks later and one week before the final screening, everyone agreed to give me another weekend, make the trip and reshoot.  I’ve been much prouder of other things and I could go on for hours about things I don’t like about this goofy project, but the bottom line is that up until two months ago I never even held a movie camera or knew what an F stop was.  My evening class is over but it’s time to start writing some stuff I like, digest what I’ve learned and focus on perfecting the craft.