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.

I Asked...And Received

Two or three months ago I came across a blog known as Ask and Ye Shall Receive.

Needless to say the individuals running the site caught my attention.

Was it the scathing reviews?

Or the methodical craftsmanship constantly on display as each reviewer thoroughly dismantled blogs bold enough to submit?

Maybe it was on those rare occasions when the reviewers, when sifting through the multitude of Mommy Blogs, Indian pseudo-blog/diaries, and flashing templates of doom, found a blog they genuinely enjoyed. 

















Either way, you must be equally foolish and proud of your work to willingly allow someone who may or may not understand your vantage point the opportunity to completely tear apart your online persona...

Apparently, I am. Also, I'm glad I did.

Reviewer, Scorpio Woperchild had a variety of insights towards making my blog better in terms of technical kinks and layouts, but he also took a fair amount of time breaking Que The Lights down piece by piece.

On a positive note, Scorpio commended my work visual work. Summarized, he pointed out my photography best defines itself when I'm capturing people.








Still, he pointed out I need to reduce the amount of photographs I spread on the site or at least post the best pictures and set up a gallery. I've got a photography gallery set up through flickr now, but I believe he means something I can showcase directly on the site.

He also recommended, as a filmmaker, I should focus more closely on my skills as a cinematographer. He admitted he didn't care for alot of the work I've done save my pure filmwork, but noticed my general technical growth.

On the flip-side, Scorpio did not care for the abundance of my work outside of my short films and photography . He also wasn't particularly fond of the name of the site (or more particularly the small amount of time I take to explain. You can find that in my About the Filmmaker section.)

The biggest problem he talked on was my writing, which it seems I've neglected in comparison to the rest of the site. I should write more and think about my word choice.

Overall I received this-

Honesty at it's best. Criticism is never easy, constructive or not, but it would be arrogant on my part to neglect help from an individual who review's blogs on a regular basis.

It doesn't mean his say is final, but it should not be taken for granted.

So I end this update with this little quip. To read the full review of Que The Lights click HERE