Please pray

I'm praying for inspiration. I need to come up with a working title for my senior project documentary so we can get fundraising moving on kickstarter.com.

The project is this: an investigation into the effects/results of the community development projects in El Callejon, focusing on the women (i.e. social work site, for those of you who are familiar with Students International). I want to feature a couple of the women in the community and tell their stories about how the women's center has affected their lives.

I need to come up with a catchy way to pitch the project--a phrase or a sentence or two.

And a title. Something interesting and short. I don't mind having something slightly vague because it'll give us a little freedom to see how the project develops in editing.

Any suggestions? Facebook me or call or text me if you have my number.

We need to complete this in just a couple days :/ Grr...this is tough. Please pray!

Meet the crew

It's begun. The wheels are turning. The clock is ticking. Plans are being laid, phone calls made, plane tickets bought, emails sent, budgets outlined, lists written, and I'm nervous.

My senior project is in motion!

I'm nervous because, although I know what I want to shoot (a documentary), where I want to shoot (El Callejon, in the Dominican Republic), and the people I want to include (Daisy, Kimberly and hopefully a woman from the community), I don't yet know what form this project will take or what my exact themes are. And I should know; I'm the director. My May 2012 graduation is riding on this 10-minute documentary piece.

But one thing of which I am very confident is my team. I'm blessed to know some pretty fantastic people through Regent, three of which I asked to join me on this project.

Meet Liz Ebert, producer/sound recorder:

Liz is from Virginia Beach, is a sophomore at Regent, and is a dear friend and confidant. She is also one of the best student film producers I know. We met for the first time this past semester and just clicked. I love her no-nonsense attitude, her dry sense of humor, her mad organizational skills, her serious work ethic, and her crazy ability to just get things done. Need a hard-to-get location? Call Liz. Need someone to keep a crew in line? Call Liz. Having a bad day and need to vent about it? Call Liz, but leave the boy-girl drama back in high school where it belongs. Yup, she's awesome :)

Meet Dan Jeter, director of photography/1st camera operator:

I met Jeter in class the fall of 2010 and only worked with him on a couple of small projects. However, I've seen some of his other work--and it's good! Jeter is a perfect addition to my team because he's not only a skilled filmmaker with a knack for storytelling and a fountain of creative visual ideas, but he's also fluent in Spanish, has a background in cross-cultural missions and has valuable experience in the documentary genre. He made a documentary for his own senior project last year, and it was one of ten projects selected to be shown in the Regent student film showcase. 

Meet Zach Yokum, 2nd camera operator/still photographer:

Zach is a junior at Regent and one of the most experienced cameramen in the undergrad department. I ended up working on camera teams with Zach on several projects this past semester and really liked his work. Zach has a valuable blend of technical know-how and artistic craft, as well as the ability to think on his feet and improvise--all of which are necessary when shooting a documentary because you can catch or miss crucial story elements in the blink of an eye. I knew if Zach was on my team I wouldn't have to worry about the picture, which gives me freedom as a director to focus on content.


So, the four of us will be flying down to the Dominican Republic mid-February to shoot my senior project in four days. Currently there are a lot of logistical kinks to be ironed out, meaning that Liz and I are a little stressed, but I'm truly excited to work with these people. I think the project is going to be a challenging, but good, experience for all of us.

She would laugh so hard if she knew I was writing a post about her.

Last night Breanna Lebsack and I took a break from our respective homework-related activities and jumped in my car for a spontaneous trip to Sandbridge beach, with the mandatory quick stop at Starbucks on the way.

(I only cheat on Moka on Sundays, when we're closed anyway. Don't judge.)

We talked about filmmaking and documentaries and boys and crushes and where we are in life and where we wished we were and about God and what He's been saying lately. We also decided that we were going to spend the next few years after graduation as the best female documentary team ever, trekking through third-world countries with nothing but backpacks and our Canon T3I cameras, making documentaries about...everything. (I'm sure our parents would be thrilled at the idea.)

Breanna is the passionate people-person, the visionary, the adventurous one, the spice in the Captain Morgan. She has a heart of pure gold. And she can paint, too.

She's going to be the Stateside eyes and ears of my senior project documentary next semester. I'm shooting in the Dominican Republic in mid-February and while I desperately wish I could take her with me, the budget only allows for a skeleton crew...as in 4 people, including myself. It really sucks. But she was so wonderfully gracious and selfless about the whole thing. "Do what's best for the story," she said. But she'll be there when we get back and I'm locked in the editing suite for days on end, and she'll let me know when my story isn't working, or when things would be better rearranged this way or that way, or to tie me to my chair when I'm ready to throw the computer (or myself) out the window.

You can't put a price on a friend like that.

Breanna, you're the best! I love you, girl!

This past weekend was simply crazy. But in a good way.

I was first assistant camera (1st AC) on a fellow classmate's senior project shoot. We shot almost 20 pages in four days, meaning four 12hr days plus 2hrs travel time each day. And I was working at Cafe Moka on Thursday and a little on Friday. And, yes, I nearly died.

The question that follows a schedule like that: did we shoot it WELL? I think so, for the most part. Some things changed so we had to change shots around and figure some things out on the fly, but hopefully it edits well. There was one scene where we were supposed to have sunlight coming through the doors but it got dark too quickly so it was practically night. I have no idea how they're going to fix that. But I'm sure they have a plan :)

Ultimately the shoot was a ton of fun. I loved my camera crew! We worked well together and had a great time in spite of stress. My camera operators were Tyler Johnson on camera A and Zach Yokum on camera B and steadicam. Ethan Johnson was my 2nd AC. They were fabulous, and some of the steadicam shots Zach pulled off were incredible! He even let me wear the rig for a bit after we wrapped for the day. It was the weirdest, bulkiest thing ever and weighed about 25 pounds. I'm going to practice and try to get certified for the steadicam before I graduate.

L to R: our lead actor, Dave Meadows; Tyler on camera; Kristen Mehaffey for wardrobe/makeup; Will Allen, our director; Zach wearing the steadicam rig; Jacob Briggs on sound.

We even had the fire department come one day to make it rain :) They shot water over the trees on the left.

Tyler showing Dave and our lead child actor, Jake, the last take. Digital filming is wonderful.

Jake and Kera, our female lead, in front of the 1940s truck we had on set.

Crew L to R: Jillian Sifuentes, our script supervisor; Zach on camera B; Ethan getting ready to slate; Shannah Phillips, our director of photography beside Tyler on camera A. 

Will Allen, our director, working with Jake. 

We shot at this estate in Smithfield, VA, called Windsor Castle. It's simply gorgeous! And apparently everyone else on the planet thinks so too. Our poor producer, Stephen, had to deal with two sets of photographers shooting engagement photos, some random neighbors twice walking on set to see what we were doing (and almost ruining some takes), and also a visit from the cops when another neighbor reported "suspicious activity." But we had our legal paperwork in order so everything worked out fine. There was even a wedding held on the grounds the weekend we shot, which caused some issues, but we worked around it like we had promised we would. Good people skills and common respect are a must in this line of work. They make everyone's lives easier. 

My favorite thing about the weekend, though, was just getting my hands on some great equipment and learning as much as I did. I really want to do a good job and have something to offer. And I want to be the kind of person that other people trust to help capture their visual idea and make it live and breathe. 

I am a filmmaker. 

I tell stories, as God gives me vision to see, hears to ear, and a heart to understand.

Mid-semester musings

I realize it's been several months since I've written. And now I don't know where to start. So much has been going on in my heart and mind since the beginning of this semester; there's no way I can capture it all in a post. Yet I feel I need the therapy of writing right now.

I recently watched the film called The Tree of Life. It left me utterly speechless. I nearly cried several times. It's the most beautiful and moving thing I've ever seen on screen. And that's a true statement. I'm not gushing.

The film is not really a movie; it's a visual poem. It's an experience. The dialogue is minimal, but incredible poignant. The images are more about the movement and feeling of what's on screen, not about composition. The editing is about essence, not about proper cuts, coverage or axis of action.

The story is about humanity and God, about the soul, about Grace vs. Nature. It's motivated by God's conversation with Job. In my opinion, it touches on the most profound questions the soul can ever ask.

I'm not going to say more, except that if you do watch it, there are three requirements:
1) Watch it on the biggest screen you can, in the darkest room you can, with surround sound. Remember, it's about the experience of the film. You can't afford to miss anything.
2) Either watch it by yourself or with people who don't talk during films. Absolute silence is imperative. I'm not kidding.
3) Watch it at least twice.

Then contact me on facebook and let me know what you think.

I spent this past week working on Regent's fall endowed film. It's the semester project that Regent pays for, and students work on it for a practicum credit. We had a fantastic crew! The whole experience was really great. You can check out crew videos and blogs about it on our website: L90regentendowedfilm.com.

I worked on the camera team with the awesome people pictured above (L to R: my close friend and fellow 2nd assistant camera, Heidi Allen; 1st assistant camera, Will Allen; director of photography, Shannah Phillips; camera operator, Ian Miller).

Shannah is the only other female DP I know at Regent, besides my aspiring self. There might be some in the grad program that I just haven't met yet. But I don't know any others in undergrad. It's such a boys' club haha!

Speaking of Shannah, she's also the DP for Will's senior project next weekend. I'm 1st AC for that one, and I'm REALLY excited to get more experience with the Panasonic AF100 cameras we used on the Fall film. And I'm trying to get on the camera crew for a grad shoot in mid-November that is also using the AF-100.

It's funny because at the start of the semester I had a list of experienced DPs I wanted to work with at some point this semester. I was hoping to gain some lighting and camera wisdom to apply to my own senior project in the spring. However, all but one of those connections fell through. But God has been offering me completely different opportunities instead, and I guess He knows what He's doing.

I was the DP for my good friend Jamie's 3-minute short called "Chains." It's a darker project about a girl's addiction to pornography. The piece involves a surreal dream sequence so we got to experiment with different lighting, but we didn't get to do everything we wanted because we ran out of time. I feel like this was the first time I got to push myself to be really creative. The footage doesn't look as nice as I thought it would and there are a million things I would do differently if I had the chance, but I'm still proud of us for what we tried to do and for the things that worked. And I did learn a heck of a lot! Hopefully Jamie can make up for my mistakes with gorgeous editing :-)

I carved my first jack-o-lantern last night! (I made a pretty vine, inspired by Martha Stewart.) The Moka family got together at the store (Sunday, so the store is closed) to watch football, eat food and carve pumpkins. It was fun. More pics on facebook.

By the way, Cafe Moka needs a new website...and I'm supposed to be working on it. I once thought web design would be fun to learn. Now I know better. It's too much detail work for me. Ick. I did find a nice template, though, so now I just need to get some pictures from our media person and start working on those coffee brewing instructional videos! Now that part will be fun! (And I'll get to practice my DP lighting skills again!) I want to do something cool. I need to sit down and think about it.

Home Sweet (Other) Home

I'm back in VA, back to work at the Cafe, back in my room, and just recently set foot on campus again for the first time in two months. In fact, I am at this very moment in the Regent Library. It feels good. Really good :-)

School doesn't start for another two weeks (thank You, God) so I have plenty of time to settle in and gear up for the year ahead of me.

Hmm. I've just discovered that if I hold my phone about sixteen inches to the left of me I get service here in the Mac corner. Cool. I had had it sitting on my right which must be why I haven't been receiving my text messages.

Am I ready for my last year (or technically half-year) of college? Yes and no. Ready to be done, but still feeling terribly unprepared. What's next? I don't know. I plan to be here next summer, working at the coffee shop and hopefully working on projects on the side. I need practice. And after that? Well I have a whole year to figure it out. My biggest concern at the moment is figuring out what to do for my senior project this coming Spring. Yikes.

Do I want to direct? Maybe, but I've only directed a couple of tiny cinematography class projects. DP? Love to, but do I know enough to do well? Edit? No! Produce? I could totally do that, but I'm not too interested in producing as a career.

And what to do? Narrative? Documentary? Music video? Probably not the latter.

Ah, decisions, decisions. The good news is I know a bunch of people also trying to figure out senior projects, so we will probably end up working together on each other's pieces. Yay for peer support!

Well, I'm trying to wrap up my dvd burning session here in the Library in half an hour or so. I'd better get back to work.

Soaking up His Presence

It's my personal retreat day :-) which means I'm spending this lovely Sunday morning with Jesus and a delectable cup of mocha. I call these my "soaking days" when I steep in music, Scripture and spend a lot of time processing, journaling and praying.

In the past few years, I've discovered that God speaks to me a lot through music, and to a slightly lesser extent, stories and visual images. There is a definite spiritual experience involved with taking in art; there are few things that can quiet my soul like good, truthful art.

I was listening to Caedmon's Call cd on the way up here to the coffeeshop this morning. It's an old cd and I've known these songs for years, but a song called "Close of Autumn" that I used to consistently skip over quietly captured my attention today. First the music: the rhythm and interplay of the instruments, each with its own voice--unique and simple but perfectly complementary. Then the lyrics began. They spoke what the music had already begun to say, completing a haunting and beautiful piece of musical craft. I'm not completely sure what this song means; I haven't mulled it over in my mind yet. But something about it stirred my spirit so I figured I needed to pay attention.

Here are the lyrics for you to soak up as well. Don't think too hard, just be receptive.

"When I'm cold and alone all I want is my freedom
A sudden gust of gravity
I stop wailing and kicking just to let this water cover me
Cover me
Only if I rest my arms, rest my mind you'll overcome me
And swell up around me
With my fighting so vain, with my vanity so fought
I'm rolling over

"Cause in just the same way the stream becomes swollen
Swollen with cold up over the ground
When my heart draws close to the close of autumn
Your love abounds

"All this time I've been thinking, wondering how would it be
To breathe in deep
Guess I need to be careful when I ask for a drink
Just might get what I ask for
And I know just what you'd say to me
That's why I don't ask you
What would I ask you
I'm like a bull-headed boy these days crying my toy is gone
You're shiny and new

"Cause in just the same way the stream becomes swollen
Swollen with cold up over the ground
When my heart draws close to the close of autumn
Your love abounds

"Guess I'll drop my anger here before I float away
And the chains around me

An awful lot of talking, I don't leave you much to say
You didn't ever leave me
And my greatest fear was you'd leave me here
A long time back my feet could touch the bottom."