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. 

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.

5 Hour Energy Hero

A few months ago a friend and I decided to partner together for a commercial competition sponsored by 5 Hour Energy Drink. We came up with the idea, 5 Hour Energy Hero, and based our commercial around the concept. It was one day shoot, three day post-production gig, but everything came out smoothly.

Taylor Stephens and I produced the commercial. Taylor directed and acted. I handled cinematography and editing. We didn't win the competition but I'm proud of the work we did.