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diversions
Film
majors prepare to enter reel world
By Joe Licavoli
On-line Forty-Niner
All college students
are faced with stress dealing with papers, exams and everything
else that comes with the territory of higher learning. Film
students, however, have the added stresses of 12-hour days,
recruiting a cast and a crew for their films and, not to mention,
the outrageous costs of making these films.
The cost of working on a film is a dynamic that can make the
film major more difficult than other majors at Cal State Long
Beach. They can range from $5,000 to $10,000.
Senior film major Jeremiah Kent is currently making his film
"Bouncin'." "Bouncin'" tells the story
of a bouncy lad who stirs up all kinds of controversy with
his bouncing. For his film, Kent rented a 35mm camera with
lenses, which cost him approximately $2,000 for one weekend
of shooting the film, said Kent.
"Each project costs roughly $10,000," said Sam Sabzehzar,
another senior film major.
With such high costs for films accompanied by long hours,
a problem occurs to these film students because there is no
time to get a job to help pay for the films. Some students
are forced to turn to student loans, said Sabzehzar.
With all the hours required to complete this class, it is
still only worth three units.
Kent said that he is not taking the class for the units.
"I'm going through the film department to make films,"
said Kent.
Film students follow the film and video production class from
beginning to advanced with the same group of students, creating
a close relationship among students.
"I have been with the same class for two years ... with
the same students and teacher so I have made a lot of connections,"
said Kent.
Through the class, students learn how to become directors,
producers and some even focus on the electrical aspect of
films.
As the director of his film, "Bouncin'," Kent personally
assembled the cast, helped with finding the film's location,
obtained the equipment and organized meetings to keep in contact
with the cast. Since one can play many roles in making a film,
the task of being an actor, director and writer of a film
can be stressful at times, said Kent.
"Being a director is fairly stressful because you have
to do a lot of things," said Kent. "I don't trust
people so I do things myself."
While working on their own films, some students can create
even more stress for themselves by being a part of other students'
films simultaneously with their own.
"I co-produced a film where the director was working
on her film and other films at the same time," said Sabzehzar.
The stress of working on the film can be high but when directing
the vision is not disrupted by the stress.
When directing, Kent envisions things a certain way, but unfortunately
things don't always turn out the way they are planned.
"My focus is cinematography so I see things very visually,"
said Kent. "That's my main focus of the film. The editing
process is a growth and with creative input, it is usually
close to what is envisioned."
Sabzehzar explained that his focus in the class was producing
films but he also did some directing and helped other students
on their films as well.
In the first class, each person directs three films and in
the intermediate class there is one film that is directed
with either 16mm or 35mm film. The advanced class students
focus on their best aspect of the film process, whether directing
of producing a film, said Sabzehzar.
Most of the equipment used in the student films comes from
the CSULB film department, said Sabzehzar.
"We have digital equipment, top-of-the-line post-production
and great sound equipment," said Sabzehzar. "Sharyn
Blumenthal is our chair and she does an excellent job on getting
what we need. We are constantly improving."
One of the main parts of making a film is assembling a cast
and filming crew to help create it. The film class is doing
about seven films this semester so all of the students are
busy doing their own films, said Kent.
The students do work on each others' films and many of the
students in the film class hold casting sessions. Kent used
some of his fellow film students as the film crew but he decided
to pull most of his cast together from the theater department
at CSULB.
"I am very close with the theater department and I have
grown to know the actors so I asked some of them because I
knew they would be good in it," said Kent.
The class can be time consuming and very hard work, but Sabzehzar
said that the students know what they are getting themselves
into.
"Everybody's life has to go on hold," said Sabzehzar.
"People get fired from their jobs, relationships can't
last and other classes are secondary."
Not many other classes at CSULB can provide this hands-on
experience to prepare students for such a highly competitive
career.
Sabzehzar said that the students enrolled in the film program
know that the course will occupy much of their time and energy,
and the people who make it to the advanced level of the class
know that. There may be 150 prospective film students trying
to get into the program and by the end of the class the number
can go down to about 25 students, he said.
"The requirement is minimal compared to the task,"
said Sabzehzar. "It's a heavy program but we all understand
that."
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Christine
Shin/On-line Forty-Niner
Film
majors, from left to right, Yuka Juta, Mike Ocoboc, Jeremiah
Kent, Milan Janicin and Warren Woodward frame a shot from
"Bouncin'."
Camera
assistant Yuka Juta assists operator Mike Ocoboc in measuring
for focus.
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