The Process of Directing

Let me begin by saying I've received awesome news in the past few weeks. First, my USC second semester film "One on One" has been accepted into The San Diego Black Film Festival.

You can check out more info HERE. My film also received an Award of Merit in the African American category of The Accolade Competition. 

You can check out the link HERE. I'm waiting to hear back from other competitions and festivals, but it was amazing to receive good news from these ventures. 

My third semester at USC's School of Cinematic Arts has been focused on cinematography and learning the in and outs of rental houses. I'm taking an intermediate cinematography class with Director of Photography, Linda Brown, while working at Panavision. Outside of class, I've focusing on honing my directing chops. I directed a comedy sketch for the group, Wolf Punch Comedy. 

I directed an episode of the webseries, Black Man Depressed. 

Each of these projects are in post-production. I'll have the chance to show them at the beginning of next year. For now, I'm in the production stage of a webseries I'm directing called "Sassy Batman." 

These past few gigs directing have been immensely rich. I've focused on Uta Hagen's "Six Steps", studying character and structural beats, character arcs, motivation, and the proper usage of verbs to communicate with actors. It's difficult putting these techniques into action, especially on set. When you're in the thick of shooting you're usually thinking on your feet. I've found that sitting down with your actors beforehand, and discussing the intention of their characters leads to a smoother actualization of your ideas. 

Giving them objectives for the scene, conscious and unconscious goals, plus asking them ambiguous and direct questions allows them to create a foundation for their role. The best outcome arrives when an actor formulates a new path for a character you didn't realize based on discussion. It's the intimate relationship between directors and actors which shines through these techniques, questions, discussions, and research. 

The process of directing is arduous. It is commanded by an innumerable amount of ideas, provisions, and strategies. Still, there is a large chunk completely dependent upon chemistry, luck, and physical play. During the Wolf Punch's Daisy's Enfeugo sketch, I repeatedly swooned with one my actors to help her feel "dainty." A few shots later I was jumping/high stepping with my actors right before shouting action. I wanted to ensure their pile-drive into the third character felt authentic. There's a set of guidelines towards bringing the best out of your actors, but there are instances when your instinct serves you best. 

Granted, I'm still learning. I admit this. I'm proud of it. I'm growing. Each time I'm on set working with actors I sense growth, a maturity in my direction. I couldn't ask for more. 

The United Colors of Amani

The semester is in full swing at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. I've started my internship with company, Panavision, as well as picking up a full course load for my third semester in my graduate studies. Hard work does not guarantee success, but success does not come without hard work.

That's why I'm really proud of the latest webseries I worked on, entitled The United Colors of Amani. The United Colors of Amani, created and produced by Amani Starnes, addresses many of the problems facing African-American and multi-cultural actors and actresses in Hollywood. It's been making a big, immediate splash with features on sites such as Jezebel and Tube Filter.

I met Amani during my first year of graduate school at USC. She played one of the leads in my first film at school, and we've been working together ever since. The webseries, directed by Max Faugno, the series gives a refreshingly entertaining look into an industry that oftentimes mishandles their interactions with minorities. I worked as the main cinematographer for the series, with episodes The Tryout, KC Callback, The Wire, and Shakespeare being four I was Director of Photography. I'm really proud of the work the entire cast and crew put together, and you should take out the time to watch every episode! 

Follow The United Colors of Amani HERE, then be sure to give my production page, Que The Lights, a like HERE. 

Summertime Grind: Success is Hard Work

August 26th is the official kickoff date for the beginning of the semester at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. I haven't been lulling away my summer though. Every day represents a new opportunity, so I'd like to share a few of my summer projects before the school year begins.

During the summer I learned about a film competition known as Looking At Democracy. The competition focused on finding creative media pieces which strengthened American democracy. I decided to submit my documentary, Portrait of the Storm: Tuscaloosa, AL, to the competition. I won the title of Emerging Artist in the competition.

This came with a $5000 dollar prize. You can also watch the submission by follow this LINK.

  

During the jury decisions of Looking At Democracy I came across another competition called The New York Television Festival A&E Unscripted Development Pipeline. Filmmakers pitched their reality television show to A&E Television Network for a chance to be produced. I pitched following the lives of black greeks on their prospective campuses. The title simple, The Black Greek. A month later I was chosen as one of twenty-five semi-finalist. You can check out the video I made during undergrad that was the inspiration.

Semi-finalists will also participate in the NYTVF pitch as an Official Artist in the 2013 New York Television Festival this upcoming October. So I'll be in New York a year after choosing to attend USC instead of NYU for my graduate film studies. If my pitch goes becomes top 5 I'll receive 20k to make the pilot. 

I also participated in writing competitions over the summer, though decisions haven't been made for most. I sent in a short script to Slamdance's Writing Competition. The first critique sent back to me was well received. This is a competition I'm not expecting to win, but I need to participate in. Writing is a crucial piece of my development as an artist. The best way to hone this craft is writing as much as possible, then allowing your work to be read.

First Critique Sent from Slamdance

I sent in a feature treatment, lookbook, and short script to Break Media's Prototype Competition. Eight chosen filmmakers will receive 20k to make a 5 - 10 minute short film based on their treatment/short script. One filmmaker will be given a deal to make their short into a feature. It's a long shot, but I'm more than willing to give it a chance!

Finally, I was a semi-finalist for a smaller writing competition sponsored by Dreaming Tree Productions. If I had won I would've received a 1k budget, use of a Red Epic Package, 1 Ton Grip and Lighting Equipment, and free editing and color grading of the film. This would've been an amazing win, but I wasn't chosen. Still, the feedback and collaboration with the production company left me with a very polished short comedy script I'll shoot in the future. 

The majority of the post has been geared towards non-production work, but I have been on the ground running. I decided to take the summer off and focus on honing my cinematography skills. This brought a large amount of pressure off my shoulders to direct anything in a small amount of time, freed me to work more on writing, and made me available to work on colleagues' projects. 

Working as DP and Steadicam Operator on set. 

Lighting the scene for a Kickstarter Video

I worked as The Director of Photography on a sets over the summer, and finally got the chance to steadicam operate again. These are a few of the many endeavors I dived into over the summer. I'm finishing my internship with Spiritclips, Hallmark's film production branch and I'll start with Panavision in early September. I'm working towards a dream, and I'll do whatever it takes to succeed.

Kevin McCall

The semester is approaching its end! In a few weeks I'll be finished with my first year as a graduate student at USC's Film Program. I'm still deciding my path for this summer. I need to make sure I'm being productive. As an undergraduate at Alabama, I quickly learned the majority of my education would not be in the classroom. This is not to say Alabama's TCF department didn't teach me. That is far from the truth. My best experiences were outside of class on projects with classmates, colleagues, and professors.

This is why I'm so adamant about productivity. You should always work on projects outside of your education. You will learn volumes. One of the biggest projects I've done since moving to Los Angeles, CA is my work with artist, Kevin McCall.



Hip-Hop fans will remember K-Mac as one of the featured artist on Chris Brown's "Dueces" music video. K-Mac was the songwriter as well.

Kevin Lamar McCall Jr. was born on July 25, 1985 in, LA Watts, California. He is the 2nd oldest out of 3 sisters and 1 brother. Kevin affectionately known to friends and family as “K-MAC” was introduced to music at a very young age by his family who noticed Kevin’s desire, talent and interest for music early on. Like many artist Kevin’s love of music stemmed from his time singing in the church choir.   

In his short time as a new songwriter and producer in the industry Kevin, has been fortunate to collaborate with both established and up and coming artist such as: Chris Brown, Keri Hilson, Tank, Trey Songz, Pleasure P, Keisha Cole, Kelly Rowland and Rich Girl just to name a few. As a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc, Kevin has created a name for himself on the college circuit from performances of his original songs and also songs he has written for his fraternity.

I was invited into the studio with K-Mac in between producing the first film of the semester and directing the second one. K-Mac was preparing for a show the next day, and his manager wanted a behind the scenes video to use as promotion. We ended up making two.

It's essential as a filmmaker to constantly produce work outside of short films. Everyone wants to be a director, but few are given the opportunity at the beginning of their career. The capability of producing work you may not be accustomed to is beneficial. This isn't my first music related video or promo, but without these previous experiences, I may not have been prepared to produce work for a high-profile artist. 

While you're reading be sure to check out what else I've been doing!

Featured on Blerd Nation. Read HERE

One of my most popular articles on Tumblr HERE

Read up on my Black History Month Spotlight HERE.

I've been busy in California, and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

USC School of Cinematic Arts - 2nd Semester

It has nearly been two months since my last post. It has been an unbelievably stressful time as a graduate student at USC's School of Cinematic Arts.

Currently, I'm working on my second semester graduate film project, Magic.

Actor, Tristan Bailey, plays the lead role of Austin Gray

The second graduate semester at USC's School of Cinematic Arts is considered the hardest semester you'll face during your tenure as a student. It is known as the dreaded, 508 semester. In my follow-up post, I'll go in-depth on the first year graduate student experience at USC's Film School.

I'd like to say another big thanks you to everyone who helped me out so much during the Dr. Pepper Tuition Scholarship Competition. I received such an amazing amount of support.  I also entered a competition to be a part of this year's Oscars recently. I went to the second round, but was not chosen. Still, we ended up making a great mini-commercial explaining why I love cinematography. 

I'm going to try my best to consistently post on Que The Lights from this point forward. I believe a good amount of filmmakers would be interested in learning about my ongoing experience at USC's Film School, especially for those who want to apply sooner than later. 

I Want To Be a Filmmaker

I'm now a little over half-way through my first semester at USC's Cinematic Arts Program. I can't even begin to describe how nerve-wrenching this journey has been. I finished up my first film project at USC  (which I'll post to the website at a later date), and I'm now working on the the second, and final project for the semester. 

Honestly, I've always known working within the industry is perilous. Individuals who consider film to be solely artistically driven or the realm of the idiot savant are sadly mistaken. It is a field with a myriad of technical positions and concerete assignments outside of the role of Director. USC vigorously instills an appreciation for all major positions from pre to post production. 

I'm getting a great education, but it's quite expensive. Tuition alone would render most students incapable of attending, but I've had the blessing of receiving support along with federal loans. I wouldn't want this to be the perpetual state of my existence at USC so I'm constantly scouring for potential scholarship opportunities. I came across the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway Competition through my father. Once I found out the entry asked for a video, I knew I had to participate. Here is my entry, I Want To Be A Filmmaker. 

I Want To Be A Filmmaker from Xavier Burgin on Vimeo.

Let me know what you think of my entry! 

Lenovo Seize The Night - Bronze

First, I'd like to say thank you to everyone who supports the site and the work I've done as a filmmaker. The amount of people who helped me during the Lenovo contest was absolutely overwhelming. Frankly, I've been in numerous view based competitions and it's hard to sustain your film's presence without annoying your virtual community base. There is only so many times you can tweet, post, or message a person with your film before they just don't respond.

Still, the backing I received from Alabama alumni, friends, acquaintances, and film fanatics was astounding. It's amazing feeling when you know people who've seen your work enthusiastically support simply because they believe in you. That's true gratification.

We ended up receiving some great features on other sites as well!

The F-Stoppers feature was huge! Without their support we wouldn't have even placed.

Filmmaking.net also took out the time to feature us on a more educational note. 

Of course I had to mention the competition as a part of my guest post series on The Nu Black

The biggest push definitely came from twitter though. Well known tech master Thomas Clifford was a huge help along with many current undergraduate University of Alabama students. It was a huge effort and I'm happy people willingly supported. 

Unfortunately, we came in 3rd place at the end of the competition. Third place stills nets us a substantial prize, but nothing compares to the $15,000 the first place winners Critical Mass received. I still count this a blessing nonetheless. I was given the privilege to direct a great commercial/film for a well-known company, and work with some of the best film production students in the South. If you haven't seen the Lenovo video check it out now. 

Being a graduate student at USC's film program has not been easy. At this point I'm positive our schedule is set up chaotically to test our endurance as filmmakers and individuals in general. It hasn't been easy, but I've learned you have to sacrifice (especially sleep) to achieve. This will not change! 

Be on the lookout for more updates on films I've worked on soon. Till then be sure to follow us on twitter @QueTheLights! 

New York, New York

New York, New York!

I made it back from The Big Apple last Thursday and I can honestly say it was one of the best experiences I've had in a very long time. I've lived in a few places: Mississippi, Alabama, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles. I've also been able to leave out of country to Belize as well as France for The Cannes Film Festival.

Still, my trip to New York went beyond my expectations. I can honestly say I loved it, even for the small amount of time I was out there. As I stated in my last post, New York University asked me to come out for an interview for their graduate film program. They told me a phone or skype interview would suffice if I couldn't make the trip, but I wanted them to understand how serious I am about this opportunity.

I ended up speaking to the faculty and administrators that helped me raise the money to go to Hollywood for the CampusMovieFest finale. They once again helped me gain the amount necessary for my plane ticket and hotel. Everything was set!

The interview was very interesting. I spoke with the Dean of the program and two current professors. They didn't focus on the technical stills I have. Instead, they focused on my ability to create a story, my background as a African-American from the south, and what kind of stories I wanted to craft. They even put me on the spot, and made me come with an impromptu scene for a feature length film based on my experiences in New York. Overall, the interview wasn't a grill session. They were genuinely interested in my character, the person who I am.

After the interview, I had a day and a half to scour the city and figure out whether I could see myself living there. In this case, I decided against bringing my cameras with me. It would've been an extra bag on the flight, and I didn't want to stand out as a tourist. The last part was negated as I furiously took snapshots with my Iphone to cover my experience.

I'm not going to inundate you with a thousand pictures, but I actually sifted through them and found a few I really like.

To check out the rest of photos check out my FLICKR. Also, be sure to follow me on twitter @QueTheLights