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. 

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. 

Dr.Pepper and The National Championship

The Dr. Pepper Tuition Throw Competition is finished! I am thankful to say I came in 3rd place and won a $7500 scholarship! It's definitely not $100,000, but I will never allow myself to be ungrateful whenever I receive help. 

I placed fourth in fourth in overall voting. Everyone signed up and voted for me were an invaluable help. I wouldn't have made it to the next step without all of you. 

Dr. Pepper contacted me after the voting competition to inform me I received a $2500 scholarship and an all expense paid trip this year's National Championship between Alabama and Notre Dame. Upon arriving, we competed in the tuition throw. I came in 3rd place, and Dr. Pepper decided to double our scholarships as well! 

As a student and filmmaker, I've learned creativity and monetary gain are synonymous in the struggle towards relevance. We yearn for artistic expression, but find ourselves hampered by the need to survive. We laugh about the characterization of the starving artist, neatly categorized under creative expression vs. realistic living, but it bears truth. 

I understand money is a necessity. More importantly, I realize it is an important, yet secondary piece in the expanding path towards my long-term goals as a filmmaker. This is a step, and I'm already searching for the next ladder to climb. 

If you haven't seen my Dr. Pepper video yet, here it is!

Thank You Dr.Pepper

Click to vote here: http://www.drpeppertuition.com/entry/63

I have great news! Recently, I received a $2500 scholarship from Dr.Pepper. They called me a week ago to congratulate me for my Dr. Pepper Tuition Video, I Want To Be A Filmmaker.

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

Now, I'm in a contest with nine other participants to compete for a $100,000 scholarship. So I need everyone's help who has watched my films or supported me in the past. Please go to this LINK to vote for me. You have to register, but it's easy using a facebook, twitter, or social media account. Once you register just press the "Vote For Me" button and you've helped me!

You can also give me an extra vote by tweeting #TuitionForXavier. You can do both of these once per day. I'm only one step away from competing for another step towards fulfilling my goals. Please support! So vote HERE!

Vote for Xavier at http://www.drpeppertuition.com/entry/63

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! 

Lenovo Seize The Night: DO

It's been quite a hiatus for since my last post. The transition from Alabama to California was pretty grueling. Thirty-six hours and two thousand miles later I made it into Lancaster, CA. I'm staying with family until I can find a suitable apartment in the Los Angeles area. I'll also be driving into LA for my Funny or Die internship interview in a few days. This does not even factor in USC. I may have an opportunity to begin this fall instead of spring semester, but it is still uncertain.

This has been an amazingly, nerve-wracking transition in my life. I'm ready for a new beginning, but the uncertainty of my future always leaves me anxious to create achieve my goals. Good news is on the horizon nonetheless!

The Que The Light's Lenovo Seize The Night Alternative Ending Video is now up!

Screnshot from our Lenovo Seize The Night Alternate Ending Video

Campus Moviefest chose 15 filmmakers from their Distinguished Filmmaker's Network to produce Alternate Endings to Lenovo's Seize The Night Short Film. Lenovo is the 2nd largest PC vendor, and a powerful company rising in the ranks of technological relevance. 

They gave me under two weeks to gather my crew, actors, shoot, and edit the entire film. Thanks to the help of a great cast, crew, and The Telecommunications and Film Department at UA we were able to finish everything with time to spare. Check it out. 

Lenovo Seize The Night Alternative Ending - DO

The concept was inspired by the ongoing debate of Occupy Wall Street and the concept of The 99% and 1%. I wanted to convey the idea of dissemination of information enlightening those who are able to solve our current economic disparity. The original concept was too ambitious to fit into two minutes, so I decided to represent it through the virtual outspread of the word "DO." Do would embody the necessity of change in our society through whatever means possible. The main protagonists would virally spread this message of hope across the world while presenting to the kind of people who could fix it.

The entire video encapsulates the symbolism by highlighting the battery life beginning at 99% at the start of the video and ending at 1%. This would serve two purposes, highlighting the Lenovo Ultrabook laptop and further representing my original inspiration.

Let me know what you think. You can also watch behind the scenes production of the video too!



Be sure to share the video as much as possible! If I get the most views I can win $15,000. Wish us luck!

And Goodbye

This is it everyone. I'm done with one of the biggest goals I've held since the beginning of this blog. I've finished applying to all of the institutions I'd like to go for a graduate degree in Directing or Cinematography.

If you haven't been with me since the beginning take out the time to read one of my firsts posts, The Graduate School Quest. This was the first time I legitimately looked into pursuing film academia after my time at The University of Alabama. I wrote that on July 14, 2010. It's been over a year since that period in my life.

Honestly, it's amazing to be able to look back and have a record of my thoughts concerning a future I'm now consolidating. During the time I had my eyes set on USC, UCLA, and The American Film Conservatory. Now, the list has expanded to include NYU Tisch School of Arts and Columbia University. It's pretty ambitious and I'm nervous. I didn't apply to a safe school so it is all or nothing.

I should've done so, but for the past four years I've complied with being at a University I was not happy with. Now, as I progress forward I want to be somewhere of my own choosing. I've worked hard and I'm ready for the payoff.

Now that everything is done I'd also like to showcase my latest short film, And Goodbye. 

I directed, DP'd, and edited the short film specifically to showcase to my prospective graduate schools. I also sent my short film Portrait of the Storm as my second visual submission. I consider these two the best work I've done so far. Hopefully, they'll see merit in each of them.

I'd also like to say thank you to a few people who helped put this together. My homeboy Kevyn Bryant (of K.Bryant Photography) helped me find the talent in the film. My producer, Matthew Cocozza, put everything together smoothly. I believe this is the first time I knew I didn't have to worry about the logistics.

 My 1st and 2nd camera operators Greg Kubik and Tyler Plemons did a great job as well George Miller (who acted as our main sound operator and helped me shoot the time lapses earlier this year). The music was scored by Michael Maffei and Sundeep Kapur.

Overally, I'm happy with the final product. I'm already looking forward the next project, but I recently got in touch with Mike Gordon, one of the first people who let me touch a camera. It was amazing to hear him say the growth he's seen in my work has been exponential.

That's all I truly want. To keep getting better.

Be sure to follow Que The Lights on TWITTER and like us on FACEBOOK. 

The Graduate School Quest

More cases than not, people tend to consider film an "easy" college major. A route or formula designed for those who are too lazy to participate in real classes. I can recount (a few weeks back) a young girl giving me quite a look of distaste when I informed her my area of expertise rivaled her major (biology) in difficulty.

What many people seem to misunderstand is the amount of work necessary to make a film, even in smaller projects. Many people would consider this thought process ludicrous. How can film be equated to the likes of paths such as biology, pharmacy, mathematics, etc. Well, the path to understanding an area of art is to willingly learn more of it. Promise, if more people were allowed to be on the set of a production, forced to make their own short, or work behind the scenes during pre or post-production they would find a new appreciation behind the art of filmmaking.

Now, excuse my off-topic musings. This conversation leads back to a more finalized idea. For most, even a bachelor's degree in film (or something related) does not prepare them for the level of sophistication necessary to work on indie or high budget films. In this case, individuals who want to focus on the industry have two options

1. Jump in and work
2. Go to graduate school

Interestingly, the second option is the first option (to a degree) while the first option is independent of the second. To go to graduate school means you'll be working in the industry, but working in the industry does not mean you'll go to graduate school. At the moment, I'm staying with family Los Angeles, California. Consider Cali the overwhelming central of mass media (besides New York, and upcoming Atlanta). Thus, the best graduate schools will most likely be centered around where business is most productive. During my time in Cali, I took out the time to check out three of the top schools for film in the nation.

UCLA

UCLA had the privilege of being the closest school to where I was staying. UCLA was also the only school I explored without supervision (in comparison to the other two). I may have missed out on a few things because of this, but I was able to easily get all of the factual information I needed from the front desk of East Melnitz Hall (one of the film department buildings).

The campus is an uphill battle so be prepared to walk. One of the nice things about the campus (which I would find out about all three) was that it was an actual campus, not a series of building stuffed into the city. The department's contribution to the film industry (specifically the films alumni have worked on) was impressive. I thought the department would be much bigger, but it is actually tucked away on the outskirts of campus to itself.

I maybe ignorant of UCLA's main provocation to come to its school, but I thought the film program was the most prominent quality. I may have just been assuming, but it was still a very good visit nonetheless. I wasn't able to truly flesh out the innards of UCLA's grad school, but I believe it is a very appropriate option. Name alone is enough, but I'd highly recommend taking the tour

USC

I am most definitely glad I took out the time to visit USC. This time I did it the right way by going for an actual planned visit. You can find the information you need to visit here.

USC reminds me of the program I'm in at the moment. It's known as New College. It is an interdisciplinary degree program which lets you pull from a plethora of different curriculum throughout the school while maintaining a core class focus (pretty cool). USC allows you to come in on various differing notes (screenwriting, directing, producing, editing, and the list goes on), but what you find out is that you'll be dabbling in a mixture of everything.

The programs emphasizes the necessity of creativity and willingness to delve in the various mediums of film, while strengthening the main process you entered for. I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. If I definitely like the fact USC looks for students based in creativity rather than strictly looking for students who are just film.


Out of the three trips, I can say the AFI tour was the most intimate.   The tours are very small number wise (my tour consisted of only one other individual who had already been accepted).

AFI

From the beginning, I found AFI tremendously interesting, especially its location. Each of the campuses sit atop a mountain or hill of some sort, but AFI is literally etched into the side of a mountain. From the main road, without my GPS, I would have most definitely missed the entrance.

The institute is right beside a high school Catholic institute (interestingly, the Conservatory use to be the Catholic school's college for the graduating girls before being bought out).

AFI's curriculum and methods are far more narrow and specific. You will be helping with every aspect of film, but you will be focused primarily on the specific graduate path you chose. Each of the school's graduate acceptance is extremely small, but AFI stands out with the least amount of applicants who are accepted. This is due AFI's demanding process which forces you to deal with a small, group of students though your two year program. In comparison to the other two school, AFI ONLY has a graduate program. The AFI's program includes a good amount of perks if you are able to make it through, but of the three you can expect this program to be the most demanding of your time.

I consider these three graduate programs probably the best in the entire nation when focusing on film (I've heard NYU has an excellent program so I'll have to do more research). Each has its perks. USC allows you to be more broadened in your horizons while AFI expects you to more keenly hone the skill you came in to cultivate. UCLA's position in a nice community as well as its perks does not slink behind either of these programs, but I'm unable to give as accurate a description since I did trudged the journey by myself.

Hopefully (in a year or two) I'll be at one of these schools. You never know what is in store for the future, but I do know I must be willing to accept any opportunity I am given. Till then, I need to keep striving to make opportunities.

If you have any other film schools you would recommend looking into please inform me via comments.