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.

That's one of the things I also love about this school. With each assignment, the instructors push us, forcing us to create films with limited resources and in the shortest period of time possible. I understand where they're coming from; they want to prepare us for work in tough conditions with specific deadlines.

But back to this project. Even though we were not allowed to use any text, we could use people in our films, which is why I seeked the help of my girlfriend Emily, who has some experience acting on stage. She also told me she could pretty much cry on command, so I didn't think twice before asking her for assistance.

The emotion I went for here was sadness, or sorrow. I wanted to create a depressing world in which a person struggles heavily to overcome the loss of a loved one. Hence, the idea to have the protagonist in my film take her own life. The final version of this short is open-ended, and viewers can interpret it the way they want.

Again, this project was not really supposed to tell a story. The emotion is what counts, our instructors told us from the beginning. That said, I think Emily did a great job in this piece. She has a very expressive face, and I 'feel' with her character every time I watch it, even though I'm the one who also shot it.

I ran into some challenges filming "Dear Me," which is the title of this short. Number one was the weather. I decided I wanted to shoot at Stinson Beach in the Bay area, primarily because the open field I wanted to use is often incredibly foggy. But the week I had to shoot there, I found no fog at all. It was cloudless most of the time, and to be honest with you, I wasn't happy.

Weather is something I can't control, however, so we waited for some clouds to show up two hours later and really rushed to get the footage I needed. Thus, I had to change my plans and do this without fog, which would have given the whole thing a much more isolated, depressing feeling.

The beginning and end of the film were shot in an alley in San Francisco's Mission District, and wow, it sure was creepy over there. We sure did shoot during the day, but that didn't stop a bunch of druggies to shoot up right next to each other while the camera was rolling. It's a crazy world, folks!

The rest of the shooting went well, and the editing process flowed rather smoothly. I took home a lot of new tricks, and I decided that camera and editing are definitely the things I am most passionate about in film. Editing in particular makes me a happy person. So, if you haven't already, check out the film below and let me know what you think. As a very first film school project, I think it turned out pretty well.