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Mastery Journal

My original expectations for this course were to first develop a plan for furthering my career in the film business with a strategy of exploring and perfecting short-term and long-term career goals realistically. Next, the plan was to develop my understanding of taking on film festivals with a strategy to supplement my class education with research on the film festival circuit. Lastly, I planned to develop and understand the process for generating high-quality films with a strategy to explore color correction, industry technologies and techniques. This is course is also a great lead into the working world. We were able to hone all our skills through a cohesive vision and brand. We came into this course immediately learning industry business tactics and studying how the film business has been, its current state, and how it may be in the future. We were even given negotiation tactics for business deals and how to handle salary negotiations with potential employers. Much of these skills I find invaluable. Especially since, at the conclusion of this program, I don’t think I will be heading straight into working in the film industry. So receiving techniques that transcend the business of film itself will be crucial to my success upon leaving Full Sail University at the conclusion of this course. Next, we were able to take a comprehensive look at both small and large, domestic and international film festivals. We dove into the festival’s mission, how long it’s been around, what types of films it screens and even how it approves those films. Having gone through the process of researching these topics for a film case study, it opened my eyes to the process of getting my work seen by the masses. I also had my first real test of seeing a direct pipeline of the beginning of the distribution of a project. My mastery journey here at Full Sail has finally come to an end. I didn’t believe everyone in the beginning when they said the year would fly past. It in fact did. However, I have had the opportunity to learn invaluable tools, techniques, and create meaningful relationships with people I hope to work with in the future. I plan to use what I have learned both personally and professionally going forward.

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Inspirational Quote & Photo

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In The Fall from Steve Cutts on Vimeo.

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This class somewhat met my expectation for the class and completely missed in others. I came in expecting to be heavily critiqued on projects or exercises we would be assigned alongside our film. We did spend time each week at least going over the film; But not in nearly enough detail. We did however get to sit in a Dolby Digital mastered dubbing stage; which was a cool experience.

Secondly, I expected to really dive into some of the post production tools and/or software. We were provided with lots of tutorials, however I was expecting to have some in class help as we walked through at least one complete project together. Following some of the tutorials did help, but I was hoping to have some actual time spent introducing software, techniques, and at the very least comprehensive interface walk-troughs. I do understand this is hard in such a short program especially when also taking into account varying levels of software knowledge.

Lastly, I was hoping to gain more understanding of file names, codecs, formats, etc. We were simply introduced to a world of different file types and left to figure them all out on our own. I was hoping to gain more insight on the pros and cons of files in real world scenarios. We did touch on these issues quite briefly.

I can, and will, apply what I have learned through the course of this class and post production process to myself both personally and professionally by continuing to pursue perfection in the entire film process, pre to post, by diligently studying to further understand post production software and tools, and by working to understand industry standard file types, and the post production infrastructure as a whole.

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This class greatly exceeded my expectations. I came in with a generic outlook on what I would get from this course and completely had my mind blown. First I walked into the course expecting to perfect some tools that would equip me with the ability to develop my personal work further. Not only did I learn to pick-out wardrobe, dress a set, and fabricate, to name a few, I got to discover a new area of film I would definitely love to pursue; Production Design. I think that qualifies as more than a mere development of tools to further my personal work. This discovery introduces a new possible career path, which to me is priceless.

Secondly, I expected to learn the importance of techniques and/or tricks to nail down continuity. I learned about the script supervisor and the importance of his job. Our Script Supervisor was seated by DIT and I got to hang out close by during our shoot to see what documents one would see and how there relationship with the rest of the team, especially with the D.P. and the Director, effects the film. I also got to help first hand with maintaining continuity. I was on set helping with blocking the actors and taping off marks for them to hit. This experience was much better than just watching videos about it on Lynda. Although, the course I looked over to supplement the curriculum was insightful and a huge helping aide.

Lastly, in hopes of gaining a role with some form of leadership responsibility, I approached this course expecting to reinforce my skills of communication and team management. Boy did I have a lot of time to practice this. We were constantly tasked with outlines of meetings, calendar dates, prop lists, talent schedules, crew schedules, etc. There was constantly a reason to communicate or collaborate with a member of not just your team but a member of the entire film team. As Production Designer I had to constantly be aware of what was going on all around not only in Pre-Pro, but in Production as well.

I can, and will, apply what I have learned through the course of this class and production process to myself both personally and professionally by always communicating in a clear, concise, and timely manner, constantly working on my relationship with my team, and always showing up prepared and ready to work.

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When I compare my goals for Pre-Production with what I actually learned I would say that my expectations were met. Firstly, I definitely perfected using collaborative roles in the creative process. As the production designer on our thesis film “Surprise P.I.” my entire job is heavily reliant on collaborating with not only classmates but peers outside of our cohort. This also forced me to network and align with what I want to achieve professionally. It has also taught me what I want to avoid having to deal with when it’s time for me to execute my own independent projects. Micromanaging is a big no no!

Secondly, I also honed my abilities in sparking creativity within a group. This is one of my strongest and most comfortable positions to take on when working with others. Completing this course and securing the position as Production Designer on our thesis film has only helped me perfect this skill. I also supplemented the curriculum by applying what I was learning in class on my own personal projects.

Lastly, my goal was to reinforce my film production skills. This was a big one for me. It’s much easier to execute some projects when everyone you work with you already have a working relationship with and you know on a personal level. However, for this film we are forced to hire and network with people we don’t know at all and harness the ability to lead effectively. This process has helped me tremendously. From drafting and responding to group emails and hiring personnel to effectively communicating and executing a well thought out plan.

In conclusion, I would say this course is extensive but very necessary. This course gives you a realistic perspective on what you will not only experience in the field but what you most certainly will face if you plan to create your own independent content.

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When I compare my goals for Entertainment and Communication with what I actually learned I would say that upon completing this course my expectations were met. Firstly, I definitely developed my legal understanding of production and distribution processes. Trying to tackle this subject before entering this class was sort of a crap shoot. I didn’t really know what I didn’t know. After a few lectures, I started to hone in on areas I needed to familiarize myself with more and also learned when in doubt, hire an attorney.

Secondly, and one of the most exciting for me personally, I learned more about negotiations. One class in particular our professor went on in great length several scenarios of different negotiation situations and one happened to be developing terms for a salary. How I wish I could have taken this course, or even heard this lecture, before I decided to take my last job. I knew the pay was too little but having absolutely no experience negotiating a salary, and simply being happy embarking on a new career, I bit the bullet and excepted the position. In the end it was a great learning experience but I now hold the keys to walk into a job and negotiate the salary I know I deserve without feeling like I’m asking too much.

Lastly, my goal was to learn more about copyright. Being a Graphic Designer and now a budding filmmaker, copyright is basically my entire world. I knew this class would be a chance to broaden my knowledge on the subject. I was not disappointed. We covered everything from exclusive rights you have as an owner, moral rights, which are separate and additional to copyright, attribution, and integrity. Which is the right to control the destiny of the work. We even discussed the copyright time scale for individuals and businesses, and why you should register works with the copyright office.

In conclusion, I would say this course is extensive. I love how it caters to everything I would need to know as a filmmaker and also as an individual who plans to create. It’s easy to be sued and almost seems inevitable at some point if you plan to do anything great. I plan to use what I have learned throughout this course both personally and professionally.

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When I compare my goals for Visual Storytelling and what I feel I accomplished at the completion of the course, I believe my expectations were exceeded. Firstly, I definitely learned to enhance scenes with lighting techniques. All this month a group my classmates and I shot a short film together. Throughout production we spent hours setting up and manipulating lighting. We tried several different techniques from key, to cross-key. We also drafted both camera and lighting plots to help lock down scenes and shots. Secondly, I definitely developed my understanding of how to use tools and techniques to evoke specific emotions and also my understanding of how specific genres may use the same processes to execute themes, tones, and reinforce takeaways. I walked into this course expecting to exercise new techniques and methods independently and shoot plenty of films. I was definitely able to accomplish this goal. I spent the entire month shooting my own projects and being the cinematographer on several of my cohorts projects. Through this process I was able to accomplish one of my other expectations for this class. That goal was to strengthen advanced camera techniques. Through my month of shooting, I was able to practice pulling focus, dollying, tracking, panning and tilting. I also was also able to practice more handheld which was something I’ve been wanting to get into. Much like our professor mentioned in the beginning of this class movement is something that should not only be incorporated but understood. I can honestly say I have a better grasp of movement and now rely on it as one of my strengths. In conclusion, this course has met and exceeded my original expectations of learning to enhance scenes with lighting, using new tools and techniques to evoke specific emotions, and I definitely strengthened my arsenal of advanced camera techniques.

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When I compare my goals for Experimental Filmmaking and what I feel I accomplished at the completion of the course, I believe my expectations were greatly met. Firstly, I definitely deepened my understanding of traditional and independent film production methods. Our professor not only introduced us to quite a few traditional and independent film production methods, but he showed films that were themselves quite eye opening and inspiring. I learned how to not only follow through with a solid production plan, but I also learned how to run-and-gun to pick up great footage. Producing work with this production method allowed me to experience different processes of filmmaking.

Secondly, I entered this course expecting to hone my eye for creating interesting shots with a mobile device. I began this course doing just that, but as the curriculum grew in intensity I strayed away from this original goal. I did however return to this method of capturing intriguing video with a mobile device outside of class on independent small projects. So I would say, even though I didn’t hone these skills for the specific assignments in reference to the class specifically, I definitely polished my ability to capture great content using a mobile device shooting my own independent projects.


Lastly, but certainly not least, I walked into this course expecting to strengthen my ability to work effectively in a team. This was exactly the case. Working with a group in this course was the easiest it has been since I started the program. Everyone communicated effectively and we were able to cruise through pre-production, production, and post-production seamlessly. We all established our own roles and we stuck with what were immediately responsible for and covered each others areas only when asked. This system of checks and balances is what I believe made working in a group for this course so effective. 


In conclusion, this course has met and exceeded my original expectations of depending my understanding of traditional and independent film production methods, honing my eye for creating interesting shots using a mobile device, and strengthening my team-working skills. What I have learned through this course’s content will definitely be applied personally as well as professionally.

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When I juxtapose my goals for the Directing Talent course and what I actually walked away with, I would say the course has met my original expectations. I definitely fine tuned not only my pre-production techniques but a system of how to apply those techniques. I found out that story boards can be my best-friend but I should not rely to heavily on them. I definitely became proficient in creating work that met and adhered to constraints. We had a few assignments that had set amounts of time to direct a scene. This alone pushed me to be deeply conscious of the parameters of a given situation when shooting or doing any other project for that matter. I learned a lot of discipline throughout this course. Last but not least I would definitely say I strengthened my collaborative team-working skills. These assignments also required us to cast who we could; which for most of us that meant casting class mates. Pulling off scenes with amateur actors who happen to be classmates, who are also trying to complete the same assignment required a lot of communication and teamwork.

All in all, I would say my goals were met... but not all of them. I definitely walked into this class expecting to get more hands on time working with actual talent or seeing someone work with hired actors a few times. I also expected to have more feedback in the moment for some of our assignments. I would like to have at least one of the scenes done with the help of someone who has worked with talent to set a tone or example I could then follow. That being said, I would chalk this up to being more of a learning style preference than missed opportunities.

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Passcode: WatsonC

SCRIPT PRODUCTION AND ANALYSIS Class Review at Full Sail In this video I consider how this course met my original objective,  what I learned from the course content, what I still need to work on in order to continue to grow, and I discussed how I might apply the class content both personally and professionally.

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Mastery Journey Timeline pt. II

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Mastery Journey Timeline

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Keep Pushing

https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/teach-us-all-documentary-explores-education-inequality/

This video inspired me in many ways. It shows that people are still fighting to make sure that proper education is a right that is executed equally!

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This video was really inspiring! The way the personality of what the product was suppose to convey (breathability) was conveyed through sound alone in the beginning was brilliant! Visual were ridiculously crisp tool. Hopefully one day as a cinematographer I can produce work as vibrant and interesting as The North Face does.

(2017). Ventrix: The Jacket That Works When You [Online video]. United States: The North Face. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObrKyuyaQm4

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