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.