Watching films and being able to watch them in a way that I am no longer a consumer.
I am not just going to the movies to see them, I am actually analyzing them and learning what it takes to make a movie and how to use all of those tools like sound and lighting, set design, cinematography and editing to really evoke a specific emotional response and that is powerful
We are all here to do one thing and that is to make movies and learn how to do that well.
There is a good environment and good people and lots of opportunity
You are going to end up with a lot people who are very realistic about film and very motivated.
There are a lot of hours of dedication to be in the program. You have to be prepared to put those in and to know that it is going to be your life. You are going to live, breathe, and eat, (film) and you are not going to sleep, but I mean you just don't.
There is a very artistic feel to Long Beach and I find that in the people as well.
People there are very friendly, they were warm, they are happy too. They seemed like they knew a lot and the more I got to know a lot of the professors these people have worked in the industry they know what they are doing and they also love teaching students and so they give you opportunities that you probably don't find in other film schools
This department, Film and Electronic Arts, is an outstanding group of individuals.
The faculty are almost all people who have had a career in the industry. When people come and visit our campus they say, "You know what I like about your students?
You can just see in their eyes that they really want to succeed and they really want to have a career." And that is very exciting
A group of us did a music video with one of the teachers and it was really great.
We shot for two days and we shot two music videos in those two days at the school here.
The artist was Kellie Coffey.
(music)
We shot three locations in one day for one of the videos and then we shot one location the second day as a huge piano performance with a steady cam and jib on a crane.
I got to be in the art department which helped me understand what it takes to build a set.
We had free hand so we could create
(Music)
The nice thing about our major is that it has two options in it. The production option which is more technical and more hands on. We only take fifty students a year in to that option because we want them all to become familiar with the equipment, to have adequate classroom space and sound stages and lighting laboratories, and to have adequate close contact on a very intimate basis with the professors. The other option is in Critical Studies which involves the history of film, film theory and that is a little less hands-on and more theoretically oriented
One of the reasons I came to Long Beach was because I researched a lot of other film programs. This seemed to be not only is it close to LA, which is a benefit, but also because we get to work across tracts. So if you are a cinematographer you have someone who can edit your films. We have an editing department. Also you have a writing department so you could write a movie, have it filmed, be a director of it and have it edited by somebody else, which allows for good filming
(Montage)
They told me it really exists.
That beach in L.A.?
No way.
Wouldn't you like to see it?
Every production that you work on is always something new, its always fun especially because you get to know everyone. You get mentored really.
Over the course of last year I must of worked on probably close to like 15 or 16 different projects. Shorts ranging from 30 seconds to 15 minutes long. It is definitely good to have the hands on experience mixed with the in class experience.
I found that LB was really the best fit because their program met my needs the most. They gave me a camera quickly. They allowed me to direct my own film. In other schools you don't necessarily get to do that unless you are a very select few.
There's a very good feeling among the arts on campus. There are 4,000 art majors that is over ten percent of this campus of thirty-seven thousand students. We all have our careers and professionalism in mind and everyone is go to Cal State for a reason.