Endeavors

I've found that with my 4th year of University trudging along, there hasn't been much time to do much of anything, film-wise. At WUFS, we've been ass-deep in bringing in industry pros to give talks about filmmaking style, but on a personal level, I found that I hadn't done anything towards my film, other than think about it.

Well, finally, it seems that darkness is coming to an end. I recently picked up the trail on a decent opportunity to get good exposure for my work in a charity event that's run in the city's event centre, the JLC (John Labatt Centre). I've only just begun to get involved with the organizer of the event, but a meeting next week should solidify what I'm going to do, and it'll be done relatively soon, as the event it's being shown for is on December 10th. For me, it's a good opportunity to get my work seen by someone, and the project looks to suit me even though it's on a topic that I know next to nothing about.

What is important about the project is the artistic freedom I'm being given. I know very roughly what I'm supposed to film the promotion about - but aside from the topic (which is profiling an organization involved at the charity event), I've got artistic freedom to do whatever I want. For me, this is huge. I've recently found 'art' film to be more interesting (as in, cool shots and techniques, not the out-there art film you're thinking), but couldn't get a topic/story to incorporate it seamlessly. I figure that once I'm clear on what I'm doing, the artistic side of me will come out and I'll have a chance to really see what I can accomplish stylistically.

From there, it'll act as a springboard to my personal in-development project, which is still in the fledgling stages. I've got a rough story mapped out, and I'm working on the characters, but I don't intend on getting to shooting until late-December or January. Given the fact that I've got nearly a month off from school in December, I should have plenty of time to develop everything down to a tee. I've also got a few scant individual professionals I can bounce ideas off of.

Of course, I'll try to keep people updated through the blogging. I know, I know. I've been brutal at it thus far, but my academic career is soon to end and I'll find myself with nothing but my own willpower keeping me from making films. Thus, I intend to keep anyone that visits this blog well-informed, maybe even find help for films.

As things proceed in both areas, I'll do my best to keep you in the loop, with text, images, and videos.

In another news, last weekend our organization held a 48 hour film challenge - essentially, you're given a short script and you've got 2 days to film, edit, and screen it. Of the three groups that participated, two made it to the finish line (us included), while the other missed by only scant minutes. Our rendition of the script involves me cross-dressing. I'll upload it once I get a copy from another group member, so you can see exactly what I've been doing in my silence.

-Mark