A new challenge: writing a feature film script

I've been wanting to try it out for a while now, and just recently, I simply decided to go for it: develop a feature film screenplay. It's a huge challenge for me because it's my very first time writing a feature-length fiction piece, but I am determined enough to give it a shot and see where this new journey takes me.

So far, it's been quite the ride. I've lost some sleep over it for sure, but I admit the process has also filled me with inspiration. It has also given me a solid dose of new confidence and excitement, and even though I know for a fact that it will also cause me a lot of stress and probably some confusion and anger, I'm ready to proceed.

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First impressions: Editing natively in Premiere Pro 5

As an avid DSRL shooter and passionate editor, I got overly excited when I first heard Adobe's Premiere Pro CS5 would offer a workflow to edit DSLR footage natively without the slightest problems. The big day of the new production suite's release arrived recently, and since then, I've played with it for a while to get a feeling of what it's like to tackle these H.264 files without having to convert them to ProRes or something else.

I never used Premiere Pro before, so I considered myself to be a newbie to the platform. That said, I was happy to realize that it pretty easy to learn as someone who mainly uses Final Cut Studio. The interface is very similar and so are the workflows, and the only thing that takes getting used to are the different shortcuts, although those can of course be adjusted.

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Diary of a film school student - Second Project

This is long overdue, but here it is: my second film school project. It's a short fiction piece I wrote, directed and edited last December. We did have several weeks of pre-production, but we had to shoot the entire thing in one day. Even though it was a big challenge, I admit my shoot went very well.

If I remember correctly, we were on set for 12 straight hours. We did run into some troubles with sound, which explains why audio in this one is not optimal. That said, I am proud of this film, especially because I had zero budget, not much time to shoot, and no time to rehearse or plan anything in greater detail.

About the story: the film follows Brad, a young screenwriter with total writer's block. In an attempt to break free from his struggle to come up with an idea for a script, Brad invents a character to help him out. Alas, that character suddenly appears before him, ready to teach Brad a lesson he will never forget.

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Diary of a film school student - Shooting a doc

It's been a while since I last posted an entry on this filmmaking blog, so I decided it would be a good time now to share the recent experience I had shooting my first short documentary. Granted, shooting a short doc doesn't necessarily require too much preparation, but the endless possibilities of organizing footage can be challenging.

Anyway, let me back up a little. As part of my year at the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking, I had to head out and shoot a short documentary. Because time is limited and we basically only have one or two days to shoot the whole thing, I decided to do mine on Anne-Sophie Dutoit (pictured in the ungraded still above), a young filmmaker who directed and starred in her first feature film at the age of 16.

Though very busy, Anne-Sophie agreed to be the main subject of my doc, and I really appreciate it. Considering she lives in the Los Angeles area right now, I had to head down there for the shoot, and to be honest, I've been wanting to travel for a shoot for quite a while now.

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Diary of a film school student - First Project

The rules for my first project at the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking were quite clear: create a short film that runs less than 3 minutes, evokes an emotion and doesn't use any text or sync sound. This may sound very easy at first, but creating something innovative within these limitations was quite a challenge.

Luckily, it was a great challenge, and also one that taught me a lot. Once again, I learned that respecting the camera is the best way to succeed in the field and in post-production. Additionally, this exercice forced me to put a hold on my 'big' ideas and keep things incredibly simple.

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Diary of a film school student - Week 3

Week 3 of my year at the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking was incredibly intense. I say that in a good way though, because I took home a massive dose of crucial tips and tricks about properly lighting a film. Our instructor Stephen is a true lighting guru, and he sure knows what he's talking about.

Anyway, we covered everything from color temperatures to correction gels, party gels and the aspects of hard and soft light. We talked about the numerous ways to soften and cut light, and we were pulled into the fascinating world of three-point lighting as well. It truly was an exhausting, yet highly engaging week.

The most interesting part for me personally was our introduction to the six basic lighting patterns: Rembrandt, Short and Broad Loop, Split, Rim and Paramount. Each of these patterns really make a difference when it comes to setting up your shots, and they obviously each have their own rules.

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Diary of a film school student - Week 2

Again, I apologize for posting this late, but many things are going on at the moment, and when I'm not shooting or sitting in class, I'm sitting in a movie theater or typing up some movie stuff. But let's cut to the chase: Week 2 of my year at the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking.

What I really like about this school is that they slowly introduce you to the craft of filmmaking but at the same time make sure that you as the student are getting as much first-hand experience as possible. The second week introduced us to using filters to our advantage and grapsing the pros and cons of using natural light.

So, rather than having us start with artificial lighting, our intructor first made us go out and experiment with sunlight. Of course, sunlight is not always ideal, but it's important to know how natural light works if you plan to shoot outside and you don't have an entire lighting kit with you.

What we also talked about during week two was depth of field, a tool I particularly love to use already. With this you can control the area in front of and behind your subject, which is in focus. It looks great and is pretty easy to handle as well. The rest of the week we spent prepping our first project, which I will describe in detail in a separate entry.

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Diary of a film school student - Week 1

Maintaining a film blog and being a full-time student pretty much keeps me busy all day every day, so I apologize for not getting to launch this online diary earlier. That said, it's definitely time for me to start sharing my thoughts and experiences here at the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking.

So, why not start at the very beginning? Things moved along a little slower at SFSDF the first week, which is obvious, considering everything still feels a little new, you need some time to meet the fellow students, and the instructors need some time to introduce you to the program, schedule and rules.

That said, it's not like we didn't get a chance to be creative during week one. On the contrary, our first assignment consisted out of grabbing our point-and-shoot camera and exploring the neighborhood, taking pictures of whatever we wanted and picking the two we liked best.

The following day, our instructor Stephen would critique our picks fairly, before sending us out a second time with a bunch of tips on how to shoot some interesting pictures. I truly loved this first mission, and I admit I was happy we immediately got to go out and do something, which this program is all about.

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Welcome to The Screening Log's Filmmaking Blog!

Welcome to The Screening Log's official Filmmaking blog, a new section I will mainly use to rant about my adventure at the San Francisco School of Digital Filmmaking and what all I will be learning and working on over there during the next year.

As this section grows, I will also start to add photos of shootings I'm involved in, Final Cut Studio tutorials and tricks, film equipment reviews and pretty much anything related to the world of filmmaking. I always welcome any tips and feedback, so drop me a comment or shoot me an email.

By the way, if you are a filmmaker and would like to share your experiences, ideas or anything else related to the process of making films, feel free to jump on board and post your entries. To join the team, send me an email right here.

I hope I can turn this section into an interesting part of the site, and I'm looking forward to share what I'll be learning and working on with the rest of you.