Wednesday was an incredible day. It was the first day that we got to actually film a scene with graduate actors in the studio in the basement of the Penthouse Theater. I knew Andrew was bringing in a guest speaker to talk to us CineMedia students and the actors before we began filming, but I never put a name to the face. Boy, was I in for a surprise when I showed up to class and saw Andrew chatting with Richard Karn, aka Al Borland from Home Improvement. That was one of my favorite shows to watch as a kid growing up and now Al Borland was taking his time to sit down and chat with us–a small group of 12 college students. He was a very personable and down to earth fellow. It was fascinating listening to his stories about how he got into acting and working on Home Improvement–the very long road from theater to TV. But all the connections he had made and made sure to keep because he never knew where they could take him was inspiring, and it showed the importance of connecting and networking with everyone possible in this industry. You meet the right person and either at that moment or later on down the road, that person could jump start your career in to what you always dreamed it would be. [Learning Goal 4]. Listening to Andrew and Richard go back and forth on stories from when they worked together on Home Improvement was exciting. I didn’t know Andrew had directed several episodes of the show. It’s incredible that we get to learn under such an experienced and accomplished director. The fact that he was directing in Hollywood on national shows like Home Improvement and now he’s chosen to teach us 5 CineMedia students is incredible. I am very grateful.
Once Richard’s time was up, we got to work on the scene we would be filming that day. Andrew assigned us different crew duties–sound, assistant director, assistant camera, script supervisor, and camera operator. I was camera operator for the day. But I also got to help set up the sound and lighting for the scene. Actually getting to work on a set like this, with the different duties and the equipment is definitely going to help me become comfortable and skilled in all the different duties I might encounter on a typical film set. [Learning Goal 2] I’m a photographer and so getting to work with the camera and set up the camera’s shot as photographically appealing and keeping it that way while the actors moved around set was challenging but definitely fun.
Aside from the technical production side of the day, it was great to finally get to watch Andrew work with the actors and direct the seen. Andrew has an idea of where he wants the story to go and how he would like the actors to stage it, but he works with them with a very open mind. He asks them to run through the scene without any direction from him at first. Then he comes in an asks them questions about how they felt during the scene, what they could do differently to convey how their character would feel or react in the scene, how can they convey more of the story through their actions when there isn’t dialogue. Talking with Nav after class about this, he had a great metaphor for this method. ‘It’s like a rough sketch at first, and then the artist [Andrew] comes in and redraws a line there, erases a line there, adds a shade there until the sketch is molded into a beautiful finished product.’ Being able to observe how Andrew works through the art of story with his actors is a great experience. [Learning Goal 3]
Later that day, I went to Nav’s film club–Spirit Through Film–where we decided to try and film a short film during the club’s meeting time. With so many people in the club, the collaboration process and the production process was a bit chaotic to say the least. But having just finished class with Andrew right before, I was able to use some of Andrew’s methods to gain control over the situation and direct people for certain responsibilities and get a general work flow going smoothly. It felt good being able to take what I was learning in Andrew’s class and apply it directly to a situation on our set in the film club–real world application. I’m definitely gaining more confidence in my on set abilities and my ability to collaborate with actors and crew to produce the end product that we are working toward.
I still can’t believe this is my major and these are my classes. It doesn’t feel like a class. I’m so excited for what’s in store.
All of Us with Richard Karn...aka Al Borland
ericschofhauser 