Yeah, Spring Break
I got some exercise outside yesterday when I shoveled the driveway. Four inches of snow on the first day of spring. I love this town.
Lots of stuff going on though. Almost all of the equipment went out on Friday. The doc center was a mad house. Lots of cool projects going on too. Stuff about family, money, health, art, heartbreak, racism, people, places, things... stuff we would love to get comments about. Please let us know about your project.
I know some people were looking for crew, feel free to use the comments on this thread to recruit people. If you are reading this and don't have anything to do, leave a comment and tell us what days you are available. (leave an email address)
If you are in town, the IFP office has put together Doc-U-Mania - March 29-30 and April 5-6 - 8th floor. The passes are expensive for general admission but Columbia students get a great discount and there is a possibility of Viva Doc people to get in for free if they work a little. Please let us know if you are interested in this opportunity. There are going to be a lot of great doc filmmakers there. I'll post details in the comment section of this post.
I know some of you are going out of town too. We had equipment go out to San Francisco, New Orleans, Belize and Wisconsin this week, I hope you can find time to write us a postcard about what you are up to.
Doc Center - Suite 407
1104 S. Wabash Ave.
Chicago, IL 60605 1996
Also, if you happen across this blog and you aren't from Chicago, We'd love to get a postcard from you too.
Anyway, stay safe. Stay out of trouble and make sure you get some great stories to tell when you get back from break.
- Mario
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Portfolio Center Announcement
Reel Impressions | March 19
This Wednesday, March 19 at 4:30PM come get tips about assembling a reel, building a website, and designing materials such as a DVD cover, press kit or business card. During this session we’ll show you examples of good film packages and discuss ways for your work to make a reel good impression. Open to all students. Location: Portfolio Center, 623 S. Wabash, room 307
DVD Cover Design at Design Daze| March 31 & April 4
What’s Design Daze you ask? It’s a chance for juniors, seniors, recent grads & grad students to spend 45 minutes with a graphic designer who will create a DVD cover for your film or reel. You can’t beat the price (it's free, printing not included) and professional quality is guaranteed. Your work is worth it!
To participate Monday, March 30 or Friday, April 4 you MUST RSVP by March 24. Call 312-344-7280 to RSVP. All RSVPs will be asked to submit additional information about their project in order to participate.
Last Design Daze of the semester:
Monday, May 5 and Friday, May 9 – Register by April 28
JUST ANNOUCED! Shoot-A-Spot Call for Filmmakers! Deadline May 2
We’re looking for student producers, directors, cinematographers, editors and all other crew positions to shoot three commercials. The Portfolio Center, Art & Design and Marketing Communication departments held a competition (Get Your Spot Shot) giving opportunity to advertising art and copywriting students to submit their best commercial ideas. Three concepts will be chosen and we’d like to enlist YOU (well, maybe you but definitely production students) to shoot the projects in June. For details and application visit www.colum.edu/spotshot and check out the “Info for Filmmakers” section.
Don’t forget about Short Cuts, your chance to bring in your footage and meet with an editor who can cut a professional reel for you; for FREE. This service is open to film & video, television, and broadcast journalism senior-level students, graduate students and recent graduates ready to assemble their final reels. By appointment only. Contact Keesha Johnson, Production Manager, at kajohnson@colum.edu or 312-344-8624 for details.
Also, did you know that the Portfolio Center offers a free web publishing service for seniors, grad students and recent grads to get their work online? Visit www.colum.edu/portfolio and click the “Portfolio Web” link for details
See what's up with portfolios at www.colum.edu/portfolio
This Wednesday, March 19 at 4:30PM come get tips about assembling a reel, building a website, and designing materials such as a DVD cover, press kit or business card. During this session we’ll show you examples of good film packages and discuss ways for your work to make a reel good impression. Open to all students. Location: Portfolio Center, 623 S. Wabash, room 307
DVD Cover Design at Design Daze| March 31 & April 4
What’s Design Daze you ask? It’s a chance for juniors, seniors, recent grads & grad students to spend 45 minutes with a graphic designer who will create a DVD cover for your film or reel. You can’t beat the price (it's free, printing not included) and professional quality is guaranteed. Your work is worth it!
To participate Monday, March 30 or Friday, April 4 you MUST RSVP by March 24. Call 312-344-7280 to RSVP. All RSVPs will be asked to submit additional information about their project in order to participate.
Last Design Daze of the semester:
Monday, May 5 and Friday, May 9 – Register by April 28
JUST ANNOUCED! Shoot-A-Spot Call for Filmmakers! Deadline May 2
We’re looking for student producers, directors, cinematographers, editors and all other crew positions to shoot three commercials. The Portfolio Center, Art & Design and Marketing Communication departments held a competition (Get Your Spot Shot) giving opportunity to advertising art and copywriting students to submit their best commercial ideas. Three concepts will be chosen and we’d like to enlist YOU (well, maybe you but definitely production students) to shoot the projects in June. For details and application visit www.colum.edu/spotshot and check out the “Info for Filmmakers” section.
Don’t forget about Short Cuts, your chance to bring in your footage and meet with an editor who can cut a professional reel for you; for FREE. This service is open to film & video, television, and broadcast journalism senior-level students, graduate students and recent graduates ready to assemble their final reels. By appointment only. Contact Keesha Johnson, Production Manager, at kajohnson@colum.edu or 312-344-8624 for details.
Also, did you know that the Portfolio Center offers a free web publishing service for seniors, grad students and recent grads to get their work online? Visit www.colum.edu/portfolio and click the “Portfolio Web” link for details
See what's up with portfolios at www.colum.edu/portfolio
Bake Sale and a Movie on Wednesdays
Hey ya'll,
We're starting something new here spearheaded by Nick. Instead of Thursday bake sales, we're going to have Wednesday bake sales and a movie. It will be held in the doc center and the movies will be played throughout the day. Depending on what is brought in, snacks will be sold from $.25-$1. Last time that we had complaints about there not being enough chocolate we brought so much in that enough wasn't eaten, so help us out by letting us know what you would like OR better yet, if you're a baker, feel free to donate something to the sale. Anyway, here the schedule....
This Week is Basketball Docs:
2:00 Hoop Dreams (1984)
5:00 Year of Yao (2004)
6:30 1Love (2003)
8:00 Heart of the Game (2006)
Bring a friend and we can't wait to see you!
~Sarah
P.S.
Everyone should also check out Dave's Bearable films website (on the side bar) now that it's been updated it's wicked cool!
We're starting something new here spearheaded by Nick. Instead of Thursday bake sales, we're going to have Wednesday bake sales and a movie. It will be held in the doc center and the movies will be played throughout the day. Depending on what is brought in, snacks will be sold from $.25-$1. Last time that we had complaints about there not being enough chocolate we brought so much in that enough wasn't eaten, so help us out by letting us know what you would like OR better yet, if you're a baker, feel free to donate something to the sale. Anyway, here the schedule....
This Week is Basketball Docs:
2:00 Hoop Dreams (1984)
5:00 Year of Yao (2004)
6:30 1Love (2003)
8:00 Heart of the Game (2006)
Bring a friend and we can't wait to see you!
~Sarah
P.S.
Everyone should also check out Dave's Bearable films website (on the side bar) now that it's been updated it's wicked cool!
Monday, March 3, 2008
TrueFalse Wrap Up
Hey everyone,
Sorry that I didn't write on Saturday or Sunday. I had a great time down there and got swept up into the shorts world. I loved it. I watched one film on Friday and nine on Saturday. I love short form.
We started with the Oscar shorts. When we arrived at the venue, the door guy said there were two seats left but they were "sketchy." It was really nice of them to squeeze us in. The guy took out two folding chairs and sat us down behind two mannequins that got to sit on a couch. The films were all very good. They opened the program with La Corona a film about a beauty pageant in a woman's penitentary in Bogota, Columbia. The filmmaker, Amanda Micheli was there and she talked about the competition that happens when several documentary crews try to cover one event.
Francisco Bello, director of Salim Baba was also at the screening. His was a beautiful film about a man in India who makes a living by pushing a film projector cart through town and shows reels that he edits together from discarded films. It brings to mind the roots of cinema. Very romantic for film lovers. He suggests keeping up with BBC news if you are interested in international documentary.
I also got to see Freeheld, the Oscar winner. It started a little bumpy but it is extremely emotion. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. It deserved to win.
I got to chat with Karen, the shorts programmer and she suggested some showcases that were happening later in the day. We hit up a showcase called Working Title that had a theme of films that are about working people. I had never been to a screening that treated shorts with such respect and that passion for short doc was reflected by the fact that four filmmakers where invited to attend the festival.
The films were great and the makers were extremely friendly. I got to hang out with them for a bit and they invited Diana and I out to dinner. I think it was comforting for Oscar Perez, from Spain, to get to speak Spanish so we talked for a good couple of hours. There were all really nice and down to Earth. They also get treated very well by the festival. They get into most screenings and they get gift certificates for food and massages.
Sunday was supposed to be Taxi to the Darkside day but we decided to sleep in and treat it like a tourist day. We went around town and took pictures of our little rusty statue and we stopped in town one last time. We ended up running into some of the people from the night before and got some fancy juice with them(their's was free, we had to pay) We had apple, orange, beet, ginger juice and it was the tastiest glass of juice that I had ever had. Diana is determined to get a juicer now.
So we ended up leaving town later than expected but we had fun so it was worth it. We stopped in Mexico, MO and had some Mexican food at El Vaquero and then we finally got to see the towns that we had driven through two nights earlier.
I loved the festival overall. They treat their filmmakers very well and everyone is super-approachable. I got a chance to talk to the makers of just about every film that I saw and I even got to talk to two of their programmers. The best thing about the festival is that it manages to stay friendly even thought it is a huge festival and it gets some serious films. It's not just a festival centered around one or two films, each one seems like a can't miss.
The Q system of getting into screenings without advanced tickets sounds intimidating but if you show up before the film starts, they'll do everything they can to get you a seat. The venues are all fun and unique and the special events are entertaining and insightful. I'm really looking forward to attending the festival next year and hope that some of you all will join me.
thanks for listening,
mario
Sorry that I didn't write on Saturday or Sunday. I had a great time down there and got swept up into the shorts world. I loved it. I watched one film on Friday and nine on Saturday. I love short form.
We started with the Oscar shorts. When we arrived at the venue, the door guy said there were two seats left but they were "sketchy." It was really nice of them to squeeze us in. The guy took out two folding chairs and sat us down behind two mannequins that got to sit on a couch. The films were all very good. They opened the program with La Corona a film about a beauty pageant in a woman's penitentary in Bogota, Columbia. The filmmaker, Amanda Micheli was there and she talked about the competition that happens when several documentary crews try to cover one event.
Francisco Bello, director of Salim Baba was also at the screening. His was a beautiful film about a man in India who makes a living by pushing a film projector cart through town and shows reels that he edits together from discarded films. It brings to mind the roots of cinema. Very romantic for film lovers. He suggests keeping up with BBC news if you are interested in international documentary.
I also got to see Freeheld, the Oscar winner. It started a little bumpy but it is extremely emotion. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. It deserved to win.
I got to chat with Karen, the shorts programmer and she suggested some showcases that were happening later in the day. We hit up a showcase called Working Title that had a theme of films that are about working people. I had never been to a screening that treated shorts with such respect and that passion for short doc was reflected by the fact that four filmmakers where invited to attend the festival.
The films were great and the makers were extremely friendly. I got to hang out with them for a bit and they invited Diana and I out to dinner. I think it was comforting for Oscar Perez, from Spain, to get to speak Spanish so we talked for a good couple of hours. There were all really nice and down to Earth. They also get treated very well by the festival. They get into most screenings and they get gift certificates for food and massages.
Sunday was supposed to be Taxi to the Darkside day but we decided to sleep in and treat it like a tourist day. We went around town and took pictures of our little rusty statue and we stopped in town one last time. We ended up running into some of the people from the night before and got some fancy juice with them(their's was free, we had to pay) We had apple, orange, beet, ginger juice and it was the tastiest glass of juice that I had ever had. Diana is determined to get a juicer now.
So we ended up leaving town later than expected but we had fun so it was worth it. We stopped in Mexico, MO and had some Mexican food at El Vaquero and then we finally got to see the towns that we had driven through two nights earlier.
I loved the festival overall. They treat their filmmakers very well and everyone is super-approachable. I got a chance to talk to the makers of just about every film that I saw and I even got to talk to two of their programmers. The best thing about the festival is that it manages to stay friendly even thought it is a huge festival and it gets some serious films. It's not just a festival centered around one or two films, each one seems like a can't miss.
The Q system of getting into screenings without advanced tickets sounds intimidating but if you show up before the film starts, they'll do everything they can to get you a seat. The venues are all fun and unique and the special events are entertaining and insightful. I'm really looking forward to attending the festival next year and hope that some of you all will join me.
thanks for listening,
mario
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