Last week was orientation, and I must say that I am glad it is over with! We had screenings of past student's films and an alumni panel, a screening with a professor who is a writer and producer for TV, welcomes galore, introductions, boot camps and mixers. The screenings were interesting (albeit, long) and gave us a more solid idea of the types of projects we can expect to complete while we are here. The welcomes gave us overviews of the program and the chance to meet some of our faculty. The boot camps taught us how to use the industry standard equipment and software on which we will be learning our craft. The mixers gave us the chance to meet each other.
Most of our meetings were slightly painful. I ended the week wondering just how so many people got both to and into graduate school without a basic understanding of how either health insurance or internships work. Questions were asked and answered repeatedly, much to the chagrin of those of us who have dealt with these things before. We found that some of the faculty are to be avoided, but most have been nothing but kind and welcoming.
The highlights of the week were most certainly the mixers. It is very difficult to move to a new place where you have no connections and having been able to spend time with my classmates will make walking into classes this week infinitely easier. Faces are familiar, names are coming and, if nothing else, we all have movies in common!
My class schedule is considerably lighter than some (Monday 7-10pm, Tuesday 4-7pm and Wednesday from 9am-4pm) but I believe the work will keep me busy. Not to mention the film I am currently producing, which is already keeping me busy! In addition, I will have weekly projects to be done outside of class and will most likely end up working some crew positions on additional films. Add to that that I am working on getting a part time job (so I can afford to go see all the movies I will need to!) and I think my plate is rather full!
It is not, however, all work and no play here in SoCal. Yesterday I spent the day at Newport Beach, the first time I have been to a beach in over ten years. It was endlessly fascinating to stand in the waves (though I will admit that the taste of the salt water was a bit disconcerting!) and, simply to prove to myself that I could, I swam out about half a mile into the ocean and back! There were a couple of moments when I was sure I would be eaten by a shark, but luckily my lack of knowledge of all things ocean worked in my favor in those moments! I didn't see so much as a fish, and I made it back to shore to sculpt a mermaid around my friend!
Today I will meet with my director and fill up any free time I have this week with location scouting, writing letters to request food donations, calling studio teachers and continuing the attempt to find a taxiermied dog. This evening I have my production class where my introduction video will be watched and forgotten. All in all, it is shaping up to be a busy and productive week. With that being said, I'm going to get to it!
xxx
If you have a way, I would love to see your introduction video....
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