Hey everyone.
We finished the rough edit of our film yesterday... It turned out alright. Ya'll shall be seeing it soon.
So I got a marvelous package from my mother yesterday. It was full of many goodies that reminded me of a few of the things that I miss back in the states.
1) My friends and family. This is an obvious one. I missed out on the Minneapolis May Day Parade a couple days ago (although I heard it snowed!?!?!? ouch...), but there will be many other days to spend with friends.
And family. My mother was awesome and sent me the necessities for traveling (my razor/blades, plastic bags, a new set of earbuds because I broke my other ones). Also, she packed...
2) Kraft Macaroni and Cheese! She packed me two packages of it and I made one yesterday already. While I ate my macaroni and cheese, I also watched the White House Correspondent Dinner (it was the most American that I had felt in a while). I also made my Slovak Michal try a little bit of mac and cheese... He loved it:
3) Reeses Peanut Butter Cups... So I got the package yesterday, and I already ate four out of the six packages of Peanut Butter Cups.. Enough said.
4) My favorite restaurants: Chipotle, True Thai, and Hard Times (all found within a walking distance of Augsburg). Chipotle will probably be the first place I eat when I get back to the states... It's not that the food is bad here (I'm actually enjoying it a lot), but I need my comfort food that reminds me of home.
5) My grandma Kern's cooking. I could really go for some cheesey potatoes, chicken, and dressing.... I miss her and her house a lot. Every once in a while I also have a feeling of wanting to beat my uncle Kevin at 'Risk.'
6) My grandma Spanier and her beach... I also want to give golfing another try... Hopefully she won't beat me as bad as she did last time.
7) Augsburg/Minneapolis.
8) Minneapolis music. I often find myself listening to Atmosphere, Caroline Smith, Dustin Thomas, Gayngs, Bon Iver, and other Minneapolis music to remind me of home/memories.
9) My siblings, Emily, and Katie. I have spent the last couple days watching Planet Earth on my computer and thinking about how cool Mitchell would think it is... Also, every time I pass movie posters for 'Thor' in the metro, I think about how I would like to take Mitch to go see it.
10) Triple Rock Tuesday nights and Surly Furious Beer. Being at the Triple Rock Bar on a Tuesday night when I have a lot of homework is still one of the best feelings in the world... And yes, Prague beer is some of the best beer I've ever had, but every once in a while I could use some spice.
11) Having a MN Twins game on in the background while not actually watching it... It reminds me of my grandpa.
12) Eavesdropping on random people's conversations. While being in a foreign country, one of the most miniscule things is the inability to overhear what others are saying... However, the moment when you hear a person speaking in English, you can't help but overhear what they are talking about... It's kind of uplifting.
13) Buying things in bulk... Like milk. Or chicken breasts.
14) Biking. Prague is the worst city for biking... Ever.
15) Driving. I've been in a taxi about 5 times, but otherwise I have not driven a car for a few months now.
16) My book collection. I have had to settle for whatever English books are available to me... Mostly I have been lucky though.. Milan Kundera (I have read three of his books now), is now one of my favorite authors. He is awesome.
17) Eli Grobel and Cole Schiffler.
18) Smiling. Unlike Minnesota Nice, people here in Prague don't smile at you as you pass them on the street. I think that it is mostly a city thing, but I miss smiles.
That's all for now. Gotta go to class. Peace homies.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Pre-Productionnnnn
Hey everyone,
Just so ya'll know, my last post was a pathetic attempt at an April Fool's Joke... I am tattoo free (for now).
So some of you may be wondering, "Adam... Why haven't you been enlightening us with your adventures and travels? Why have you only blogged once in the last month?"
Well... Because I have been extremely stressed out. Here's an update:
Our pre-production is this week and part of last week. Although my group was the last group to finalize our idea for our movie, we will be the first group to shoot. Why? Because, according to what our Production Manager told us, "You all seem the most prepared."
Well, that's what being a perfectionist gets you... It may result in people thinking that you are actually prepared (when you're really not).
Anyway, this week we have run into some problems:
1) Our producer is OUT OF THE COUNTRY. Yes, she is in Washington D.C.
2) We have a mandatory field trip from Friday to Sunday. Yes, we have a MANDATORY field trip just a few days before our actual shoot.
3) We also have a camera seminar on Monday and Tuesday. Yes, we only get to look at the camera we're using THE DAY BEFORE OUR ACTUAL SHOOT. And while we do need to look at the camera, they could not have scheduled this at a more inconvenient time.
With everything that is going on, this means that today is the only day that we actually get to work with our producer to cover up some last minute details. Today's agenda:
Go to Barandov studios at noon. We will spend 3-4 hours looking around one of the biggest film studios in Europe for props, costumes, and set decor. This is probably one of the most important aspects of all of our pre-production... we are shooting in a pretty boring apartment and really need to make it look like an old 50 year old woman lives in it.
Meet with our sound prof a little after 4. Then at 5 we are meeting with our editing prof.
After prop search and meetings, we will be working pretty late tonight to finalize EVERYTHING before we have to leave for our trip tomorrow morning.
Wish me luck. And here are some pictures of our set:
Just so ya'll know, my last post was a pathetic attempt at an April Fool's Joke... I am tattoo free (for now).
So some of you may be wondering, "Adam... Why haven't you been enlightening us with your adventures and travels? Why have you only blogged once in the last month?"
Well... Because I have been extremely stressed out. Here's an update:
Our pre-production is this week and part of last week. Although my group was the last group to finalize our idea for our movie, we will be the first group to shoot. Why? Because, according to what our Production Manager told us, "You all seem the most prepared."
Well, that's what being a perfectionist gets you... It may result in people thinking that you are actually prepared (when you're really not).
Anyway, this week we have run into some problems:
1) Our producer is OUT OF THE COUNTRY. Yes, she is in Washington D.C.
2) We have a mandatory field trip from Friday to Sunday. Yes, we have a MANDATORY field trip just a few days before our actual shoot.
3) We also have a camera seminar on Monday and Tuesday. Yes, we only get to look at the camera we're using THE DAY BEFORE OUR ACTUAL SHOOT. And while we do need to look at the camera, they could not have scheduled this at a more inconvenient time.
With everything that is going on, this means that today is the only day that we actually get to work with our producer to cover up some last minute details. Today's agenda:
Go to Barandov studios at noon. We will spend 3-4 hours looking around one of the biggest film studios in Europe for props, costumes, and set decor. This is probably one of the most important aspects of all of our pre-production... we are shooting in a pretty boring apartment and really need to make it look like an old 50 year old woman lives in it.
Meet with our sound prof a little after 4. Then at 5 we are meeting with our editing prof.
After prop search and meetings, we will be working pretty late tonight to finalize EVERYTHING before we have to leave for our trip tomorrow morning.
Wish me luck. And here are some pictures of our set:
Friday, April 1, 2011
Update
Hey everybody,
Quick update. Today I went hiking up to an old castle outside of Prague and it was awesome to be outside in the wilderness. I will have pictures soon.
Also, the other day my group (Andy, Jenna and I) decided to get tattoos. I have been thinking about doing this for a while now, so I was easily persuaded to get matching tattoos with them. We decided to get tattoos of 35mm cameras. Here's a quick picture of it, I will tell you about it later:
Quick update. Today I went hiking up to an old castle outside of Prague and it was awesome to be outside in the wilderness. I will have pictures soon.
Also, the other day my group (Andy, Jenna and I) decided to get tattoos. I have been thinking about doing this for a while now, so I was easily persuaded to get matching tattoos with them. We decided to get tattoos of 35mm cameras. Here's a quick picture of it, I will tell you about it later:
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Productive Day
My only goal of today was to be productive.
1) I woke up at 8am (naturally... looks like I was off to a good start). I woke up and made myself some eggs, bread with strawberry jam, strawberry yogurt, and a banana (see grandma. I am eating well).
2) While eating breakfast, I watched last night's episode of the Daily Show. Frustration of the day: Fox News spent a lot of time and frustration on the supposed 7.5 million dollars it took to clean up after protesters inside the Madison, WI capital... On Monday, they (very briefly) stated that they were wrong and that the actual cost will be closer to $325,000... Now that's a major fuck-up (and I don't usually swear).
3) I went for a 2.5 mile run with J-No (Jenna). It felt good, although Prague isn't a very run-friendly city.
4) I studied for today's Czech test for about an hour.
5) A bunch of us had lunch with two of the heads of the program for our monthly "Culture Discussions." The topic of this discussion was "Czech Holidays, Dining, and Differences." They allowed us each to spend 200 Crown (about 10 bucks) on lunch. And what does 10 bucks get you for lunch in the Czech Republic? A big Chicken-Curry Pizza, an appetizer of broccoli covered in 4 different types of cheese, and a very tall beer.
6)Czech Class/Test... It didn't go as well as I hoped, but I'm satisfied with my learning of the language.
7) Came back to my apartment. Made dinner (a salad with red cabbage, red peppers, other healthy veggies). Watched the extended interview with Jon Stewart and Republican Senator Rand Paul. Then I wrote an article about my disappoint with Augsburg Student Government, which I will e-mail to the Augsburg Newspaper tonight (and then get paid 20 bucks for writing it.... awesome).
8) I have class in 20 minutes: Visual Theory I. This class is awesome. Although my professor, Beth Lazroe, one of the most intimidating (at least, initially intimidating) women I have met, but she is an amazing professor.
9) Off to the pub. Andy, Jenna, and I have to discuss our movie. Scripts are due next Friday, so we have a lot of work to do.
10) Skype with my favorite Abbey Ehling tonight at 9:30.
11) Read, and then bedtime.
1) I woke up at 8am (naturally... looks like I was off to a good start). I woke up and made myself some eggs, bread with strawberry jam, strawberry yogurt, and a banana (see grandma. I am eating well).
2) While eating breakfast, I watched last night's episode of the Daily Show. Frustration of the day: Fox News spent a lot of time and frustration on the supposed 7.5 million dollars it took to clean up after protesters inside the Madison, WI capital... On Monday, they (very briefly) stated that they were wrong and that the actual cost will be closer to $325,000... Now that's a major fuck-up (and I don't usually swear).
3) I went for a 2.5 mile run with J-No (Jenna). It felt good, although Prague isn't a very run-friendly city.
4) I studied for today's Czech test for about an hour.
5) A bunch of us had lunch with two of the heads of the program for our monthly "Culture Discussions." The topic of this discussion was "Czech Holidays, Dining, and Differences." They allowed us each to spend 200 Crown (about 10 bucks) on lunch. And what does 10 bucks get you for lunch in the Czech Republic? A big Chicken-Curry Pizza, an appetizer of broccoli covered in 4 different types of cheese, and a very tall beer.
6)Czech Class/Test... It didn't go as well as I hoped, but I'm satisfied with my learning of the language.
7) Came back to my apartment. Made dinner (a salad with red cabbage, red peppers, other healthy veggies). Watched the extended interview with Jon Stewart and Republican Senator Rand Paul. Then I wrote an article about my disappoint with Augsburg Student Government, which I will e-mail to the Augsburg Newspaper tonight (and then get paid 20 bucks for writing it.... awesome).
8) I have class in 20 minutes: Visual Theory I. This class is awesome. Although my professor, Beth Lazroe, one of the most intimidating (at least, initially intimidating) women I have met, but she is an amazing professor.
9) Off to the pub. Andy, Jenna, and I have to discuss our movie. Scripts are due next Friday, so we have a lot of work to do.
10) Skype with my favorite Abbey Ehling tonight at 9:30.
11) Read, and then bedtime.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
More Berlin Pics
Yo folks. Michal and I are making Goulash for dinner (a soup with sausage, onion, potato, garlic, special goulash spices...), and while it simmers, I decided to post some more Berlin photos:
Berlin is famous for its Curry-Wurst. It combines really good German sausage with my absolute favorite spice (curry) into one of the best street foods I have EVER had. The curry-wurst comes with curry/spice/salsa sauce stuff on top of it, then they put fries on top of that, and then they put ketchup or mayo on top of that. And then you mix it all together and eat it with a baby fork. It was amazing.
I was feeling brave on this night and ordered an extremely authentic German meal: a "pork knuckle." The pork knuckle is one of the pigs joints in its legs. They served it with sauerkraut, cheesey potatoes, and some other kind of unidentifiable green mixture that had the texture of refried beans... Anyway, you pull back the very thick layers of fat from the top of the meat (some people eat the fat and the skin, but I tried and couldn't handle it). Underneath this layer is some of the best pork meat that you will ever eat. It was great.
Reichstag is the building where the German Parliament resides (like our capital building in Washington D.C.). It is a very cool combination of the old (the traditional architecture of the old building) and the new (the glass dome built on top of it). Usually, you can go up to the top part of the dome and see a 360 degree view of Berlin, but the building was closed at this time to the public.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This was an amazing part of the trip. These stone structures were built to remind people of the horrors that occurred during the Holocaust so that they may never happen again. It is estimated that more than 6 MILLION jews were killed during the Holocaust.
We spent hours inside the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (the museum portion is underneath the stone monuments). One of the most haunting things I have ever seen were the many letters that were posted under glass plates in the floor of the museum. This letter is from a boy the about the age of my little brother (I think he was somewhere between 8 and 12 years old when he wrote this letter home to his father while he was stuck in a concentration camp... He died days later). It says, "Dear Father! I am saying goodbye to you before I die. We would so love to live, but they won't let us and we will die. I am so scared of this death, because the small children are thrown alive into the pit. Goodbye forever. I kiss you tenderly."
This is a portion that is left from the Berlin Wall. I also went to the East Gallery, which is one of the longest stretches of the Berlin Wall remaining, and it remains so that graffiti artists may paint on it.
Museum Island
Hotel where Michael Jackson hung his baby out the window:
While in Berlin, I discovered perhaps one of the most simple, pure, amazing pleasures in life... Drinking in public. In Berlin, every single metro stop has a shop where you can buy food (Chinese stands, sausage stands, and many other things), magazines (including Playboy, which was weird), and also beer. Lots of beer. The night life in Berlin doesn't start until midnight, so the metro systems operate 24 hours a day during the weekend and EVERYBODY is walking around with a beer in their hand... Even on metro. It was one of the craziest feelings in the world to see people drinking and singing songs on public transit.
And here is the hostel room that we stayed at. It was very nice and we met a few cool people. The main room had beds for 30 people to stay in, but all of us FAMU kids got put together into the 20 person room.
Berlin is famous for its Curry-Wurst. It combines really good German sausage with my absolute favorite spice (curry) into one of the best street foods I have EVER had. The curry-wurst comes with curry/spice/salsa sauce stuff on top of it, then they put fries on top of that, and then they put ketchup or mayo on top of that. And then you mix it all together and eat it with a baby fork. It was amazing.
I was feeling brave on this night and ordered an extremely authentic German meal: a "pork knuckle." The pork knuckle is one of the pigs joints in its legs. They served it with sauerkraut, cheesey potatoes, and some other kind of unidentifiable green mixture that had the texture of refried beans... Anyway, you pull back the very thick layers of fat from the top of the meat (some people eat the fat and the skin, but I tried and couldn't handle it). Underneath this layer is some of the best pork meat that you will ever eat. It was great.
Reichstag is the building where the German Parliament resides (like our capital building in Washington D.C.). It is a very cool combination of the old (the traditional architecture of the old building) and the new (the glass dome built on top of it). Usually, you can go up to the top part of the dome and see a 360 degree view of Berlin, but the building was closed at this time to the public.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. This was an amazing part of the trip. These stone structures were built to remind people of the horrors that occurred during the Holocaust so that they may never happen again. It is estimated that more than 6 MILLION jews were killed during the Holocaust.
We spent hours inside the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (the museum portion is underneath the stone monuments). One of the most haunting things I have ever seen were the many letters that were posted under glass plates in the floor of the museum. This letter is from a boy the about the age of my little brother (I think he was somewhere between 8 and 12 years old when he wrote this letter home to his father while he was stuck in a concentration camp... He died days later). It says, "Dear Father! I am saying goodbye to you before I die. We would so love to live, but they won't let us and we will die. I am so scared of this death, because the small children are thrown alive into the pit. Goodbye forever. I kiss you tenderly."
This is a portion that is left from the Berlin Wall. I also went to the East Gallery, which is one of the longest stretches of the Berlin Wall remaining, and it remains so that graffiti artists may paint on it.
Museum Island
Hotel where Michael Jackson hung his baby out the window:
While in Berlin, I discovered perhaps one of the most simple, pure, amazing pleasures in life... Drinking in public. In Berlin, every single metro stop has a shop where you can buy food (Chinese stands, sausage stands, and many other things), magazines (including Playboy, which was weird), and also beer. Lots of beer. The night life in Berlin doesn't start until midnight, so the metro systems operate 24 hours a day during the weekend and EVERYBODY is walking around with a beer in their hand... Even on metro. It was one of the craziest feelings in the world to see people drinking and singing songs on public transit.
And here is the hostel room that we stayed at. It was very nice and we met a few cool people. The main room had beds for 30 people to stay in, but all of us FAMU kids got put together into the 20 person room.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Berlin Film Fest
So two weeks ago, a bunch of us took a 4-hour train ride to Berlin, Germany.
It was great. Our hostel was amazing and we got to spend a few days exploring Germany's capital. Pictures are below.
It cost about 80 dollars to take a round-trip train to/from Berlin. The train trip lasted about 4 hours and was really nice. I have a very hard time falling asleep on trains/buses/planes, but my roommate John and I found an empty cabin and laid across all of the seats on the way there.
Picture of The Brandenburg Gate, one of Berlin's most famous landmarks. It used to be the main entrance into Berlin.
This is from inside the movie theater (I have never been in a theater so big). We saw "Coriolanus" a modern Shakespeare adaptation and the directorial debut of Ralph Fiennes. It was a good (not great) film.
This is us posing on the red carpet.
The theater:
Buying tickets:
It was great. Our hostel was amazing and we got to spend a few days exploring Germany's capital. Pictures are below.
It cost about 80 dollars to take a round-trip train to/from Berlin. The train trip lasted about 4 hours and was really nice. I have a very hard time falling asleep on trains/buses/planes, but my roommate John and I found an empty cabin and laid across all of the seats on the way there.
Picture of The Brandenburg Gate, one of Berlin's most famous landmarks. It used to be the main entrance into Berlin.
This is from inside the movie theater (I have never been in a theater so big). We saw "Coriolanus" a modern Shakespeare adaptation and the directorial debut of Ralph Fiennes. It was a good (not great) film.
This is us posing on the red carpet.
The theater:
Buying tickets:
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
I Can't Write Happy Endings
Hello all.
Today was a rough day.
1) I spent 20 minutes in the supermarket today looking for earplugs. While I was successful in finding the cheapest shaving cream and blades that I could (the electric shaver I brought with doesn't hold a charge from these European outlets), I was unable to find the ear plugs. After some mistakes in translation, I had people bring me cotton balls and q-tips... And then I gave up.
2) Why the ear plugs? Well, I am a light sleeper and my dad forgot to accomplish the single task I gave him (bringing me ear plugs from his work that I could bring to Europe). At first I thought I would be fine, but last night was the kicker: I volunteered to sleep in the living room last night on the futon (irony: the futon I slept on is THE EXACT SAME FUTON that I avoided sleeping on in my apartment in Minneapolis... And it is uncomfortable) because Michal was having a certain lady friend over... Which meant him and her staying up all night and talking/listening to music... I got 5 hours of sleep.
3) I got 5 hours of sleep.
4) I am getting frustrated with my script. Last night, Andy, Jenna, and I spent 2 hours in a pub talking about our movie. I am the screenwriter, and it's A LOT of pressure. The script has come a long way over the last few days, but it still has some problems and we are desperately trying to figure it out.
I also realized that I have a hard time writing happy endings for my screenplay... For some reason, every idea I come up with in my screenplay ends up with the main character dying. This was a depressing realization.
5) I did not get accepted as a Noble Peace Scholar... Which ruined my day. It has been a long time since I have wanted something so badly--I even gave up my McNair scholarship so that I would have the chance to study in Norway. Also, I figured out that the other applicants got to go in for interviews, while I was not even contacted for a phone call or skype conference (there is of course the likelyhood that I was not a strong enough candidate to even be considered for an interview, which would make me even more sad).
6) I have class in 12 minutes. See you later :)
Today was a rough day.
1) I spent 20 minutes in the supermarket today looking for earplugs. While I was successful in finding the cheapest shaving cream and blades that I could (the electric shaver I brought with doesn't hold a charge from these European outlets), I was unable to find the ear plugs. After some mistakes in translation, I had people bring me cotton balls and q-tips... And then I gave up.
2) Why the ear plugs? Well, I am a light sleeper and my dad forgot to accomplish the single task I gave him (bringing me ear plugs from his work that I could bring to Europe). At first I thought I would be fine, but last night was the kicker: I volunteered to sleep in the living room last night on the futon (irony: the futon I slept on is THE EXACT SAME FUTON that I avoided sleeping on in my apartment in Minneapolis... And it is uncomfortable) because Michal was having a certain lady friend over... Which meant him and her staying up all night and talking/listening to music... I got 5 hours of sleep.
3) I got 5 hours of sleep.
4) I am getting frustrated with my script. Last night, Andy, Jenna, and I spent 2 hours in a pub talking about our movie. I am the screenwriter, and it's A LOT of pressure. The script has come a long way over the last few days, but it still has some problems and we are desperately trying to figure it out.
I also realized that I have a hard time writing happy endings for my screenplay... For some reason, every idea I come up with in my screenplay ends up with the main character dying. This was a depressing realization.
5) I did not get accepted as a Noble Peace Scholar... Which ruined my day. It has been a long time since I have wanted something so badly--I even gave up my McNair scholarship so that I would have the chance to study in Norway. Also, I figured out that the other applicants got to go in for interviews, while I was not even contacted for a phone call or skype conference (there is of course the likelyhood that I was not a strong enough candidate to even be considered for an interview, which would make me even more sad).
6) I have class in 12 minutes. See you later :)
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Class
Howdy folks.
A lot has gone on in the last week.
This week I started my classes:
MONDAY
10:40-11:25 SCREENWRITING - My professor Pepi is one of the kindest old men I have met. He (like nearly every other prof here at FAMU), is pounding Aristotle's "Poetics" into our head. After taking this class for two days, I feel like I am attending FAMU at the perfect moment in my life and that becoming an English major was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It has really helped my story telling abilities and has allowed me to develop useful critiques in the classroom.
12:20-1:55 CAMERA AND FILM - I actually haven't had this class yet... Pepi (the screenwriting prof) will teach us Screenwriting for 3 hours and 55 minutes instead for the first couple weeks.
3:40-6 GUEST FILMMAKER SERIOUS (OPTIONAL) - This is one of the many screenings that I will force myself to attend all semester. FAMU will bring in a different director every week to show a film, and then the director will talk about it and answer questions.
6:10-7:45 CINEMATOGRAPHY - The prof for this class is intimidating. He asks the most complex questions regarding light/color/cinematography and then gets slightly upset that nobody in the class knows the answer. After the first class, I felt somewhat angry that Augsburg did not prepare me for this class, so I will just have a lot more work to do in order to catch up.
TUESDAY
2:50-4:25 CZECH LANGUAGE - It's hard, but I'm learning.
4:30-6 CONSULTATION - Pepi (screenwriting prof) wants us to come in and talk to him at least every other week about our scripts and shooting specifics.
7:50-9:25 VISUAL THEORY 1 - The prof for this class is one of the most intimidating women I have ever met. Her #1 rule: "If your cell phone goes off in my class, I will kick you out." In this class, we will study the aesthetics of art, almost entirely regarding still photography. I have a feeling that this class will teach me A LOT about the framing/composition of my motion pictures and still photography.
WEDNESDAY
9:50-11:25 ACTING - I have already taken an acting class at Augsburg (and both classes are very heavy on the Stanislavski method), but this class is much more about acting in relation to the camera. Should be very helpful.
11:30-1:05 EDITING - A theory course (which is unfortunate, I need to catch up to many of the other students regarding my Final Cut skills... but then again, I can do that on my own time) where we will discuss basic montage theories.
2:50-5:15 DIRECTING - For the first few weeks, our directing class will be primarily about story telling. I pitched my script in this class on Wednesday and the prof absolutely tore it apart. I went from feeling very good about it, to wanting to completely change my idea... Fortunately, the script has changed a lot over the last couple days (for the better... I think), and I am willing to try another pitch this week. Hopefully he will have some positive comments to say...
6:10-7:45 SCRIPT ANALYSIS - The dean of FAMU teaches this course. On the very first day, he quoted James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" and I knew that I would like this course. We will watch a different film every other week and then discuss it the next week. Once again, I think that it will be helpful for me and my storytelling.
7:50-9:25 VISUAL THEORY 2 - Same prof, but more advanced.
THURSDAY
2-3:35 SOUND - Should be awesome. I think that sound is EXTREMELY important in movies and I think that this class will be very beneficial.
3:40-5:15 SCREENWRITING - Same prof, same stuff.
7-8:35 SCRIPT ANALYSIS 2 - Same prof, but more advanced. Different movies (focusing primarily on New Hollywood: Harold and Maude, Midnight Cowboy, Annie Hall). The only thing that I am slightly disappointed about is the fact that I have seen about 7 of the 10 movies that we are watching for my script analysis class. It will be interesting to learn about them though.
And then on Friday = NO CLASS!!!
Overall, I have realized that this semester will be INTENSE. Unless I calculated incorrectly, I have 21 hours and 20 minutes of class per week (at Augsburg, I would only have 12 hours of class per week)... That's a lot of class. And then, throw in my consultation sessions and a couple film screenings every week... On top of the basic class stuff, I also have to come up with a script and create a final 7-10 minute 16mm color film at the end of the semester... It's a lot of pressure. Wish me luck.
A lot has gone on in the last week.
This week I started my classes:
MONDAY
10:40-11:25 SCREENWRITING - My professor Pepi is one of the kindest old men I have met. He (like nearly every other prof here at FAMU), is pounding Aristotle's "Poetics" into our head. After taking this class for two days, I feel like I am attending FAMU at the perfect moment in my life and that becoming an English major was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It has really helped my story telling abilities and has allowed me to develop useful critiques in the classroom.
12:20-1:55 CAMERA AND FILM - I actually haven't had this class yet... Pepi (the screenwriting prof) will teach us Screenwriting for 3 hours and 55 minutes instead for the first couple weeks.
3:40-6 GUEST FILMMAKER SERIOUS (OPTIONAL) - This is one of the many screenings that I will force myself to attend all semester. FAMU will bring in a different director every week to show a film, and then the director will talk about it and answer questions.
6:10-7:45 CINEMATOGRAPHY - The prof for this class is intimidating. He asks the most complex questions regarding light/color/cinematography and then gets slightly upset that nobody in the class knows the answer. After the first class, I felt somewhat angry that Augsburg did not prepare me for this class, so I will just have a lot more work to do in order to catch up.
TUESDAY
2:50-4:25 CZECH LANGUAGE - It's hard, but I'm learning.
4:30-6 CONSULTATION - Pepi (screenwriting prof) wants us to come in and talk to him at least every other week about our scripts and shooting specifics.
7:50-9:25 VISUAL THEORY 1 - The prof for this class is one of the most intimidating women I have ever met. Her #1 rule: "If your cell phone goes off in my class, I will kick you out." In this class, we will study the aesthetics of art, almost entirely regarding still photography. I have a feeling that this class will teach me A LOT about the framing/composition of my motion pictures and still photography.
WEDNESDAY
9:50-11:25 ACTING - I have already taken an acting class at Augsburg (and both classes are very heavy on the Stanislavski method), but this class is much more about acting in relation to the camera. Should be very helpful.
11:30-1:05 EDITING - A theory course (which is unfortunate, I need to catch up to many of the other students regarding my Final Cut skills... but then again, I can do that on my own time) where we will discuss basic montage theories.
2:50-5:15 DIRECTING - For the first few weeks, our directing class will be primarily about story telling. I pitched my script in this class on Wednesday and the prof absolutely tore it apart. I went from feeling very good about it, to wanting to completely change my idea... Fortunately, the script has changed a lot over the last couple days (for the better... I think), and I am willing to try another pitch this week. Hopefully he will have some positive comments to say...
6:10-7:45 SCRIPT ANALYSIS - The dean of FAMU teaches this course. On the very first day, he quoted James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" and I knew that I would like this course. We will watch a different film every other week and then discuss it the next week. Once again, I think that it will be helpful for me and my storytelling.
7:50-9:25 VISUAL THEORY 2 - Same prof, but more advanced.
THURSDAY
2-3:35 SOUND - Should be awesome. I think that sound is EXTREMELY important in movies and I think that this class will be very beneficial.
3:40-5:15 SCREENWRITING - Same prof, same stuff.
7-8:35 SCRIPT ANALYSIS 2 - Same prof, but more advanced. Different movies (focusing primarily on New Hollywood: Harold and Maude, Midnight Cowboy, Annie Hall). The only thing that I am slightly disappointed about is the fact that I have seen about 7 of the 10 movies that we are watching for my script analysis class. It will be interesting to learn about them though.
And then on Friday = NO CLASS!!!
Overall, I have realized that this semester will be INTENSE. Unless I calculated incorrectly, I have 21 hours and 20 minutes of class per week (at Augsburg, I would only have 12 hours of class per week)... That's a lot of class. And then, throw in my consultation sessions and a couple film screenings every week... On top of the basic class stuff, I also have to come up with a script and create a final 7-10 minute 16mm color film at the end of the semester... It's a lot of pressure. Wish me luck.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Jay's awesome video
Hello peeps.
My buddy Jay made an awesome video of the night we went to Charles Bridge and the pub. Check it out:
My buddy Jay made an awesome video of the night we went to Charles Bridge and the pub. Check it out:
01/31/11 - Charles Bridge (Night) from Jay Harris Gard on Vimeo.
Friday, February 4, 2011
zombie zombie
Yo folks.
I have been busy.
Tonight I'm going to see the band "Zombie Zombie." Frano (one of the Czech students) has been talking about it forever, so all of us Americans are going to go out together. From what I've heard, it's mostly techno-esque music played to crazy music videos and animation... Supposedly, they reuse old horror movie theme music with horror movie footage as well... I will let you know. There are a very large amount of people in the FAMU program this year who are seriously interested in animation, and they are all very excited.
Here's a taste:
I also went to the grocery store for the second time today... By now, I have learned all the basic Czech words for milk/cheese/eggs/bread/etc, but it is very hard to go to the grocery store and find EXACTLY what you're looking for. For example, there are a million different types of milk... I know what the Czech word for milk is, but how do I know that I'm not buying whole milk or other crazy stuff? Or how do I know what kind of cheese or meat I am buying?
It gets quite difficult (yet, admittedly, quite exciting at the same time... like some kind of weird challenge). Like I mentioned earlier, my tactic is to find the youngest people I can (hopefully a gorgeous woman), and then ask them if they speak English (Mluvite anglicky?) Usually I get pretty lucky and someone points me in the right direction.
Today however, we had to go out on a scavenger hunt at a flee market... I found a VERY cool Czech mug that I was thinking about buying, but the SECOND my finger even graced the mug, a man came and yelled at me... Like,really yelled. I couldn't even think of the word for "I'm sorry" (prominte), so I just slowly walked away as he continued to give me an angry stare...
Also at the flee market, we had to find a krizkova hadanka... Eventually after asking many people, we found out that it was a crossword puzzle. Soooo, my roommate John walked up to the nearest newspaper-looking-store that we could find and asked for a crossword puzzle. However, he was completely unaware (while I almost died from laughing) that he had wondered in to a "specialty store" that sold only pornography... They obviously did not have a crossword puzzle.
Well I'm off to the concert. Have a good night.
P.S. Tonight I find out if I will be awarded the Peace Scholar Scholarship to study in Norway for 6 weeks (for free)... I am crossing my fingers. I probably won't find out until midnight-ish tonight, but when I do find out, there will be a party (or a very sad boy).
I have been busy.
Tonight I'm going to see the band "Zombie Zombie." Frano (one of the Czech students) has been talking about it forever, so all of us Americans are going to go out together. From what I've heard, it's mostly techno-esque music played to crazy music videos and animation... Supposedly, they reuse old horror movie theme music with horror movie footage as well... I will let you know. There are a very large amount of people in the FAMU program this year who are seriously interested in animation, and they are all very excited.
Here's a taste:
I also went to the grocery store for the second time today... By now, I have learned all the basic Czech words for milk/cheese/eggs/bread/etc, but it is very hard to go to the grocery store and find EXACTLY what you're looking for. For example, there are a million different types of milk... I know what the Czech word for milk is, but how do I know that I'm not buying whole milk or other crazy stuff? Or how do I know what kind of cheese or meat I am buying?
It gets quite difficult (yet, admittedly, quite exciting at the same time... like some kind of weird challenge). Like I mentioned earlier, my tactic is to find the youngest people I can (hopefully a gorgeous woman), and then ask them if they speak English (Mluvite anglicky?) Usually I get pretty lucky and someone points me in the right direction.
Today however, we had to go out on a scavenger hunt at a flee market... I found a VERY cool Czech mug that I was thinking about buying, but the SECOND my finger even graced the mug, a man came and yelled at me... Like,really yelled. I couldn't even think of the word for "I'm sorry" (prominte), so I just slowly walked away as he continued to give me an angry stare...
Also at the flee market, we had to find a krizkova hadanka... Eventually after asking many people, we found out that it was a crossword puzzle. Soooo, my roommate John walked up to the nearest newspaper-looking-store that we could find and asked for a crossword puzzle. However, he was completely unaware (while I almost died from laughing) that he had wondered in to a "specialty store" that sold only pornography... They obviously did not have a crossword puzzle.
Well I'm off to the concert. Have a good night.
P.S. Tonight I find out if I will be awarded the Peace Scholar Scholarship to study in Norway for 6 weeks (for free)... I am crossing my fingers. I probably won't find out until midnight-ish tonight, but when I do find out, there will be a party (or a very sad boy).
Monday, January 31, 2011
Hello Prague
Day One.
I got to the airport at 7:30am on Tuesday. Luckily, I managed to make my luggage weigh exactly 50 pounds, thus avoiding a hefty fee—this was a very good sign, hopefully signifying that the next 16 hours of traveling would go well.
While waiting to board my flight to Toronto, I met a film/television professor from Chicago. He had some great words of wisdom for me and I really enjoyed chatting with him—another good sign.
The flight to Toronto was short (hour and a half?), but I had to spend about 4 hours in the Toronto airport waiting for my next flight… I spent the time organizing the music on my computer and watching about half of Lost in Translation (which I deemed to be somewhat appropriate for the occasion).
Finally, I boarded the plain to Frankfurt. It was about a 7 hour flight (I think), so I was lucky enough to get a seat on the plane with leg-room (which happened on 2 of my 3 flights… And nobody was sitting directly next to me, which also happened on 2 of my 3 flights... It seems that the prior signs hinting at good travels came true). I sat in the same row as an extremely friendly Romanian man who was going back to Romania to visit his family. We talked about nearly everything—family, women, work, and whatever else there is to talk about. He also proceeded to get me slightly drunk on the plane (free wine on international flights?!?) which led to wayyyyy too many trips to the bathroom. After trying to sleep unsuccessfully (some asshole behind me got mad when I tried to recline my seat and the seat hit his computer), I watched The American (terrible movie), and then the documentary Catfish (decent movie). As we neared Frankfurt, I tied up my shoes so that I would be prepared for the run to my next flight. While I only had an hour to check in to my flight and find my gate in one of the biggest airports ever, I arrived—smelly and gross—to my gate only to realize that the flight had been delayed a half an hour. It wasn’t bad, I was able to stretch out and relax.
After a brief 45 minute flight (in which I sat next to a very friendly Saudi Arabian teenager who was touring Germany/Czech Republic… He was somewhat impressed that I knew where Saudi Arabia is located, which I found to be very funny), I had finally arrived in Prague.
By the time I arrived at my new apartment, I had been awake/traveling for a little under 24 hours. I was too exhausted to really converse with other students, but everyone was very understanding of this (and also very exhausted).
I met my roommate Michal, a 20 year old Slovak majoring in film at Charles University. I also have two other flatmates (they sleep in a different room), John (from Washington D.C. and attends school at Columbia in New York), and Ben (from Texas, and goes to school at Austin University Texas).
There was no time for us to rest however—Michal would not let us: “You HAVE to come out to the pub with me and let me buy you a beer.”
Soooo, he brought us to a pub that happens to be UNDER MY SCHOOL. Yes, underneath all of the classrooms and such, there is a pub in the basement of my school. Michal says that it is where a lot of students and professors get lunch during the week and talk about film and such. I knew that I was in heaven when 1) a beer cost me about 2 dollars, and when 2) Anna, a Prague native, brought up the movie Enter the Void in a casual conversation. In a moment of self-realization, I had the weirdest feeling that I picked the ABSOLUTE perfect place to study and I probably had the biggest smile ever stretched across my face.
After quite a few beers, I went to take a nap at my place. For dinner that night, we all went out to an old building that seemed to be a ballroom or something… There was A LOT of Czech food and it was the weirdest feeling to grab a plate of food despite not knowing what we were grabbing, or what it tasted like. Overall, it was good—a lot of pork, several sauces, rice, bread, and such… Afterward about 10 of us went to a pub. The first pub didn’t have enough room and the backroom was reserved for a private party. The second one also didn’t have enough room. The third pub finally had enough room (we had to crunch together, which probably was a good way to break the ice). Each pub has only one or two types of beer (because, according to my Czech language professor, “The beer is so good that you only need one or two kinds”).
The Czech system of serving was also slightly confusing at first. For example, when I ordered my first beer at the bar under FAMU (my school), I tried to order in Czech and then paid. The bartender took my money, put it in the cash register, and then walked away, thus leaving me without a beer. It turns out that you are supposed to ask for beer at your table, they will bring you your beer, and then at the end of the night you tell them how much you have had to drink and pay for it. This may take some getting used to because I fear that I will have too much to drink one night and forget how many drinks I have had (or forget to pay altogether).
I also had absinth for the first time. It smells like black licorice or jagameister (but way lighter and with more of a vodka-esque bite to it). Michel taught us how to dip a spoon fool of sugar in the glass, light the spoon full on fire, and then put it in the glass… I also learned that Michel really likes tequila, which may or may not be a bad thing. John, my other roommate, and I decided that Michel may be the death of us. He was really disappointed when we left the pub at 11:30pm (he rolled in at night at 2am).
Day Two
On day two, I woke up at 9am and went to orientation. We talked about things like safety, where to find the hospital, how to use public transportation and such. After a few hours, we had pizza for lunch, and then we split into groups and were shown around the cities by local FAMU students.
Prague is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. I’m sure that I stick out like an obvious tourist because I am always looking up and gawking over the beautiful architecture… I will have pictures soon.
After a lot of orientation stuff and a pretty long nap, all of the American students went out to a 5-story Club (because we wouldn’t have fit in most of the pubs, where they expect people to all sit down and drink their beer). The club was insane and had a different kind of music on each level (including a “Disco Floor” and a “Black Music Floor”—yup, I’m not even kidding). After too much absinth and just enough disco music, our group left the club. Somehow, one of the American girls and I made friends with three German kids. The Germans led us to a supposedly exclusive pub in the middle of the city, but we didn’t stay long—we were too exhausted. So, a German woman called a cab for us so that we could go home… Unfortunately, Mimi and I couldn’t remember the name of the street that we lived on (I blame it on the absinth), and the cab driver didn’t speak English. Luckily, he knew a little bit of French, and Mimi told him to drive near the Charles Bridge and we found our way home. I crawled into bed at 3 in the morning… I was dead tired.
Day Three (Today)
The next day was more orientation and we started learning Czech. We also had to go on a scavenger hunt and we were required to travel through the city all by ourselves. The final destination of the scavenger hunt was a brewery where we had dinner with two Czech professors and the dean of FAMU. The food was excellent (beef with gravy and a special type of bread that you dip in the gravy), and one of the Czech professors even paid for our beer. Afterwards, we walked around the city together for a couple hours, chilled in our apartment, and then I went to bed at 10:30pm because I was still exhausted from the traveling.
This morning, my third day in Prague, we had Czech class for 3 hours and 15 minutes, picked up our student ID cards, and we’re about to go walk around the city again. I have been busy, but I will soon have pictures and video posted.
Peace and love,
-Adam
I got to the airport at 7:30am on Tuesday. Luckily, I managed to make my luggage weigh exactly 50 pounds, thus avoiding a hefty fee—this was a very good sign, hopefully signifying that the next 16 hours of traveling would go well.
While waiting to board my flight to Toronto, I met a film/television professor from Chicago. He had some great words of wisdom for me and I really enjoyed chatting with him—another good sign.
The flight to Toronto was short (hour and a half?), but I had to spend about 4 hours in the Toronto airport waiting for my next flight… I spent the time organizing the music on my computer and watching about half of Lost in Translation (which I deemed to be somewhat appropriate for the occasion).
Finally, I boarded the plain to Frankfurt. It was about a 7 hour flight (I think), so I was lucky enough to get a seat on the plane with leg-room (which happened on 2 of my 3 flights… And nobody was sitting directly next to me, which also happened on 2 of my 3 flights... It seems that the prior signs hinting at good travels came true). I sat in the same row as an extremely friendly Romanian man who was going back to Romania to visit his family. We talked about nearly everything—family, women, work, and whatever else there is to talk about. He also proceeded to get me slightly drunk on the plane (free wine on international flights?!?) which led to wayyyyy too many trips to the bathroom. After trying to sleep unsuccessfully (some asshole behind me got mad when I tried to recline my seat and the seat hit his computer), I watched The American (terrible movie), and then the documentary Catfish (decent movie). As we neared Frankfurt, I tied up my shoes so that I would be prepared for the run to my next flight. While I only had an hour to check in to my flight and find my gate in one of the biggest airports ever, I arrived—smelly and gross—to my gate only to realize that the flight had been delayed a half an hour. It wasn’t bad, I was able to stretch out and relax.
After a brief 45 minute flight (in which I sat next to a very friendly Saudi Arabian teenager who was touring Germany/Czech Republic… He was somewhat impressed that I knew where Saudi Arabia is located, which I found to be very funny), I had finally arrived in Prague.
By the time I arrived at my new apartment, I had been awake/traveling for a little under 24 hours. I was too exhausted to really converse with other students, but everyone was very understanding of this (and also very exhausted).
I met my roommate Michal, a 20 year old Slovak majoring in film at Charles University. I also have two other flatmates (they sleep in a different room), John (from Washington D.C. and attends school at Columbia in New York), and Ben (from Texas, and goes to school at Austin University Texas).
There was no time for us to rest however—Michal would not let us: “You HAVE to come out to the pub with me and let me buy you a beer.”
Soooo, he brought us to a pub that happens to be UNDER MY SCHOOL. Yes, underneath all of the classrooms and such, there is a pub in the basement of my school. Michal says that it is where a lot of students and professors get lunch during the week and talk about film and such. I knew that I was in heaven when 1) a beer cost me about 2 dollars, and when 2) Anna, a Prague native, brought up the movie Enter the Void in a casual conversation. In a moment of self-realization, I had the weirdest feeling that I picked the ABSOLUTE perfect place to study and I probably had the biggest smile ever stretched across my face.
After quite a few beers, I went to take a nap at my place. For dinner that night, we all went out to an old building that seemed to be a ballroom or something… There was A LOT of Czech food and it was the weirdest feeling to grab a plate of food despite not knowing what we were grabbing, or what it tasted like. Overall, it was good—a lot of pork, several sauces, rice, bread, and such… Afterward about 10 of us went to a pub. The first pub didn’t have enough room and the backroom was reserved for a private party. The second one also didn’t have enough room. The third pub finally had enough room (we had to crunch together, which probably was a good way to break the ice). Each pub has only one or two types of beer (because, according to my Czech language professor, “The beer is so good that you only need one or two kinds”).
The Czech system of serving was also slightly confusing at first. For example, when I ordered my first beer at the bar under FAMU (my school), I tried to order in Czech and then paid. The bartender took my money, put it in the cash register, and then walked away, thus leaving me without a beer. It turns out that you are supposed to ask for beer at your table, they will bring you your beer, and then at the end of the night you tell them how much you have had to drink and pay for it. This may take some getting used to because I fear that I will have too much to drink one night and forget how many drinks I have had (or forget to pay altogether).
I also had absinth for the first time. It smells like black licorice or jagameister (but way lighter and with more of a vodka-esque bite to it). Michel taught us how to dip a spoon fool of sugar in the glass, light the spoon full on fire, and then put it in the glass… I also learned that Michel really likes tequila, which may or may not be a bad thing. John, my other roommate, and I decided that Michel may be the death of us. He was really disappointed when we left the pub at 11:30pm (he rolled in at night at 2am).
Day Two
On day two, I woke up at 9am and went to orientation. We talked about things like safety, where to find the hospital, how to use public transportation and such. After a few hours, we had pizza for lunch, and then we split into groups and were shown around the cities by local FAMU students.
Prague is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. I’m sure that I stick out like an obvious tourist because I am always looking up and gawking over the beautiful architecture… I will have pictures soon.
After a lot of orientation stuff and a pretty long nap, all of the American students went out to a 5-story Club (because we wouldn’t have fit in most of the pubs, where they expect people to all sit down and drink their beer). The club was insane and had a different kind of music on each level (including a “Disco Floor” and a “Black Music Floor”—yup, I’m not even kidding). After too much absinth and just enough disco music, our group left the club. Somehow, one of the American girls and I made friends with three German kids. The Germans led us to a supposedly exclusive pub in the middle of the city, but we didn’t stay long—we were too exhausted. So, a German woman called a cab for us so that we could go home… Unfortunately, Mimi and I couldn’t remember the name of the street that we lived on (I blame it on the absinth), and the cab driver didn’t speak English. Luckily, he knew a little bit of French, and Mimi told him to drive near the Charles Bridge and we found our way home. I crawled into bed at 3 in the morning… I was dead tired.
Day Three (Today)
The next day was more orientation and we started learning Czech. We also had to go on a scavenger hunt and we were required to travel through the city all by ourselves. The final destination of the scavenger hunt was a brewery where we had dinner with two Czech professors and the dean of FAMU. The food was excellent (beef with gravy and a special type of bread that you dip in the gravy), and one of the Czech professors even paid for our beer. Afterwards, we walked around the city together for a couple hours, chilled in our apartment, and then I went to bed at 10:30pm because I was still exhausted from the traveling.
This morning, my third day in Prague, we had Czech class for 3 hours and 15 minutes, picked up our student ID cards, and we’re about to go walk around the city again. I have been busy, but I will soon have pictures and video posted.
Peace and love,
-Adam
Monday, January 3, 2011
Hellooooo
Hey everyone.
So I haven't done this in forever... Mostly because I had the hardest semester of my life and I was stressed out constantly.
Well. That's over.
On January 27th, I leave for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic. You can expect an entry from me nearly every day (mostly because my mom is paranoid and will think that I am dead if she doesn't hear from me).
In the mean time, I may update you on my preparation (but I may also spend all of my time relaxing). Soooo... to keep you slightly busy, I posted most of my 35mm prints from my photography class on my flickr account this morning.
Go check it out, and comment on your faves
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamspanier/
Here's a taste:
So I haven't done this in forever... Mostly because I had the hardest semester of my life and I was stressed out constantly.
Well. That's over.
On January 27th, I leave for the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Czech Republic. You can expect an entry from me nearly every day (mostly because my mom is paranoid and will think that I am dead if she doesn't hear from me).
In the mean time, I may update you on my preparation (but I may also spend all of my time relaxing). Soooo... to keep you slightly busy, I posted most of my 35mm prints from my photography class on my flickr account this morning.
Go check it out, and comment on your faves
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamspanier/
Here's a taste:
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