MCC Film Blog

Sitting Around Eating Cheetos ...

Well, it's the end of July and I'm wondering what everyone else has been up to ... I've been working on DVDs, reading, writing, screenwriting and, some days, sitting around eating Cheetos ... well, not really, I'm more of a potato chip fan. The photo above is of a squirrel I saw on my recent journey to Carmel-By-The-Sea. It was foggy and cool ... a welcome break for a Phoenician. We took the famous 17-Mile Drive around the Monterey Peninsula and saw this OBESE SQUIRREL by The Lone Cypress outlook. The fat boy followed tourists around looking for handouts. He could move surprisingly quickly when he heard a wrapper crinkle! If anybody is still checking this, drop a line so we know you're lurking!

The 2005 Sundance Film Festival is January 20 - 30 in Park City, Utah (a picturesque hamlet in the Wasatch Mountains between Provo and Salt Lake City). This year, I'll be going for the full ten days with Alec Hart. Several MCC students, including Mike Montesa, Brandon Marsala, and Mike Luciano will be going for some portion of it.

This creates a bit of a challenge because the first meeting of the Phoenix Final Cut Pro Users Group meets on the 28th. Several of us won't be able to attend. As for potential speakers, the writer/director/editor of The Falls, Paul DeNigris might be a possibility. He edited his film on FCP (I think) and did a lot of AfterEffects work.

Kohl Glass • Monday, December 13, 2004 @ 7PM

Kohl Glass will give a lecture in AC3S on Independent Film Production and the Festival Circuit. As many of you know, Kohl's film, The Promethean has been selected for a number of film festivals and has won several awards (for the film and the actors). His new animated film, DerOstwind is nearing completion and will surely make the festival circuit again. Kohl has insights to share on short filmmaking, getting into festivals and what that means to your career. He's also going to talk about feature film production. While at BYU, Kohl and Chris (his wife), worked on a number of independent features. The producer, director and editor of Napolean Dynamite were at BYU at the same time as Kohl. (He worked on the production of the "extra scene".) He'll share insights on their experiences as well. This talk is the bullet-point list of getting the job done!

Travis Cline • Spring 2005

We are currently in negotiations to get Travis Cline to come to MCC and give a Cinematography Workshop. Travis shoots on film and digital formats. He shot The Promethean, Pride & Prejudice and Avernus. We're looking at a late February date. The workshop will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Watch the MCC Film Blog and CyndiGreening.Com for more information.

Friday, January 28 • Phoenix Final Cut Pro Users Group

Friday?!? Holy cow, Ben ... could you have picked a more challenging night to fill the room. Okay, everyone, beat the bushes and find your friends ... get to the Chandler Apple Store for the FIRST PFCPUG Meeting ... (Looks like Private First Class Pug).

December 6, 2004

Kohl Glass will give a lecture in AC3S on Independent Film Production and the Festival Circuit. As many of you know, Kohl's film, The Promethean has been selected for a number of film festivals and has won several awards (for the film and the actors). His new animated film, DerOstwind is nearing completion and will surely make the festival circuit again. Kohl has insights to share on short filmmaking, getting into festivals and what that means to your career. He's also going to talk about feature film production. While at BYU, Kohl and Chris (his wife), worked on a number of independent features. The producer, director and editor of Napolean Dynamite were at BYU at the same time as Kohl. (He worked on the production of the "extra scene".) He'll share insights on their experiences as well. This talk is the bullet-point list of getting the job done!

Spring 2005

We are currently in negotiations to get Travis Cline to come to MCC and give a Cinematography Workshop. Travis shoots on film and digital formats. He shot The Promethean, Pride & Prejudice and Avernus. We're looking at a late February date. The workshop will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Watch the MCC Film Blog and CyndiGreening.Com for more information.

I'd DEFINITELY like to be part of the FCP Users Group. We're switching over to that now and we're adding Shake and Motion to our repertoire of courses. We'll need to get some new machines to be able to support the technical demands of the software but we're looking forward to it! Sorry to hear you're working so hard, we'd love to have you back in the milleu!

I turned on the titles feature for this blog but have no idea how they're actually going to look. Guess I'll find out after I publish it.

I'm in a bit of a funk this week. I've been working with FOUR other departments on a multi-disciplinary digital filmmaking degree. It's going very well and we're getting quite close. At the same time, I weary of the silly politicking (ironic, don't you think, given how much I like politics?). Crazy things like fighting over bulletin boards and disproportionate allocations just wear me out. Making the program grow and excel takes a significant amount of energy.

Mostly, I try to remember why I'm doing this in the first place. So, when Lindsey posts something GREAT like the previous post, I get back in the saddle and ride out again. (Thanks Linz!) YOU students are inspiring. YOUR futures, your desires, your goals, a chance at helping you get what you want out of life (be all you can be without the Army) helps me keep going. It helps to know that what we're doing at MCC in Media Arts makes a difference for you!

Screenplay Sites

If you want to be a great filmmaker, you can really benefit from reading lots and lots of scripts. Today's links are some of the richest screenwriting sites on the web.

Movie Scripts
Daily Script
Simply Scripts
Script Database
Northern Lights
Lontano
Horror Suspense Scripts
Drew's Script O' Rama
Classic Movies
Screenwriter's Utopia - Ten Best Unproduced Scripts

I like the PDF formats best because they're easier to read on screen. While I hate reading on screen, most scripts are around 120 pages and I don't really want to print them all out.

Where Have All The Filmmakers Gone?

(Sung to the tune of Peter, Paul & Mary's Where Have All The Flowers Gone ... without passion, drive and commitment, films wither and die. I see a whole lot of withering here. Isn't anyone committed to making something?

School Is Back In Session

Nice to see someone finally posting on here! Yes, City of God is excellent! Graphic and violent. Touching, moving and powerful, too. I taped a story on the making of Open Water this morning. There's a bit about it on my blog. Made for $120,000, sold at Sundance for $2 million; it's made $10 million so far. Not bad for miniDV with two actors and a bunch of sharks.

Cinematography & Lighting Class

Don't forget to register for Kohl's class this fall! It's cinematography and lighting for digital film and it meets on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9am until 11:45 ... the course is ART290-0436. The course needs 13 to "make" and is currently stuck at 6 ... so, if you're waiting to register, you'll miss your chance.

Also, there's the AfterEffects class on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7:10 until 9:50pm. That class will focus on motion graphics with the ultimate goal of creating a documentary in the style of The Kid Stays In The Picture. Help keep the digital film program growing! That class is ART290-0448.