Blog #2
Hey everyone! I’m back again to show off even more of what our talented, young and creative filmmakers have been up to during the Cinema Program’s Summer Intensive. With this being one of the most ambitious years for the Cinema department to date, our scholars have been busy like no other creating short films and memories to be remembered for years to come. Without further ado, let’s get right into it!
To start off the week, our group was tasked with creating a short film utilizing specific cinematic techniques such as cinematography, lighting, blocking and set design. Sheree Chen, the person in charge of our sketches class, created the challenge so that every group could create a short film of different substance while still using the same elements. Our group went with an A24 esque horror film that used a vacant ballroom located at the VCU Commons Building.
On week two of four of filming on the set of “Changes” our group finished all planned setups for the first scene! In pictures attached, you can see how diligently and professionally our filmmakers are working to make this one of the greatest short films filmed at the Depot. This week we had a brand new professional helping us with Grip and Electric, that being Christopher Thompson. Chris has been in the Richmond film scene for almost 20 years; with that, he showed us filmmakers how integral and precise Grip and Electric is to the rest of the crew.
On the set of “Changes,” students are to switch positions every setup. What this means is that every student will get a chance to be head of a certain department for a given time period. For example, someone could be in charge of the Art Department with TyRuben Ellingson who is the Director of the Cinema Department and also in charge of the Art Direction. After the setup is complete, they could move on to Camera Operation which is run by Bunt Young and Charlie Harris, industry professionals who are in charge of Photography and Grip respectively. This rotation allows us to try everything out and find out what department we are most interested in working with for the future.
To round off everything we accomplished this week, I wanted to share a quick story involving the fantastic scholars I have the pleasure of working with during the Cinema Program’s
Summer Intensive. After we shoot our short films for Sheree Chen’s sketches class, we are required to edit them. This allows us to get even more experience with film editing, sound design and coloring. Every Friday, we screen the films we all worked so hard on and give each other constructive criticism on how to improve the film in the post production process.
Tomorrow I will be participating in an Instagram takeover on the VCUarts account to share even more pictures, stories and information about what is going on in this year’s Summer Intensive for the incoming freshman. See you all soon!
Lead Image: Blue Team setting up a new scene. Rrom left to right: Cody Saunders, Phoenix Keil, Madelynn Shores, Bryce Woll, Elia Faith Crianza, Camryn Osborn, Bobby Holman, Jacob Duke and Abigail Arthur. Photo from Will Lange.