Sally Peterson - Columbus, Ohio

Sally Peterson
Film Connection Student from Columbus, Ohio

It's Christmas time once again. And I‚m sure that we‚re going to be seeing Christmas classics. Personally, I prefer the Home Alone series. Kinda lame, I know, but it just takes me back to my childhood. It brings back so many good memories. Plus, it‚s really funny. I barely get to watch it now, save for this season, and I end up laughing so hard at the same thing. Despite the fact that I've seen it before.

Sometimes, I even laugh before a funny scene is shown. Knowing it's coming up and remembering how funny it is will just crack me up. And I think I just told the whole world of just how lame I am when it comes to my favorite movies.

Still, aren't these films the greatest. It doesn‚t have to be the Home Alone series, just these films that turn into such classics. They're the kind of films that you could watch over and over again, and you're still going to react to and love it the same way you did when you first show it. And no matter how many times you've watched it, you still want to see it.

This is why I want to be a part of the film-making process. To be a part of something that will last longer than any of us could possibly imagine. And even though I'm still a student and I'm still learning, with me getting my lessons in an actual film set, I get to see firsthand what it takes. It makes me so excited. I am getting this film connection to be a part of the next classic that people will enjoy for years to come.

Angeline Walters - Seattle, Washington

Angeline Walters
Seattle, Washington Film Connection Student

What would a good movie be without a good soundtrack? Admit it, movies would have less of an impact without the music. Visuals are not enough, especially not to an average viewer. The perfect soundtrack gets them in the right mood to be able to appreciate what the movie is trying to show them.

And it’s not just the music too. Every sound you hear in a movie is as well thought out as the blocking of the scenes or the delivery of the line. If the accompanying sound comes a minute too soon or a minute too late, the difference is just phenomenal.

Though not as much of a big deal as the other parts of the film-making process, being part of the sound department is still a hugely important part. You need to be on your toes both technically (handling all the equipment) and creatively. It is a rather fascinating process, one I’m learning so much as my internship goes on.

And what’s interesting in this internship is I get to effectively strike two birds with one stone. For one, I’m already seeing my mentor in his element, seeing him apply his years of knowledge to helping the movie be as great as it could be. For another, aside from learning from what he is teaching me, I’m also helping him with his work. It’s as if I’m already working. I get to apply what I learned right away.
I’m getting that film connection to be a part of the success of the movie, even when I’m basically just that background sound that you won’t notice. But you’ll definitely miss it if it’s not there.

Rachel Campbell - Portland, Oregon

Rachel Campbell
Portland, Oregon Film Connection Student

It may sound cliché, but ever since I was little girl, I’ve always wanted to be a star. I would take some gold tinfoil and fashion a star out of it. Then I’d get my dad to place it outside my bedroom door, so that everyone passing by would know that this is the bedroom of star. Or one who would soon be a star.

Years later, reality caught up with me, but that golden star on my bedroom door remains. It reminds me of the dreams I have yet to give up on, no matter the financial constraints. So I worked and worked and worked some more to be able to get myself the necessary training to be on my way. I don’t want just fame and fortune, although those would be incredible bonuses. I want to be respected in a field that I love so much.

But acting classes, among other things, just cost too much. At least the ones that seem authoritative enough to teach me just what I need. So I am so glad that I found a program that fits within my budget. It’s not going to cost me an arm and a leg to do so. And since I see that it is affiliated with the Joe Anthony Studios of Hollywood, California, I know that I’m in the right place. The best thing is, I can stay right where I am and still be able to do something to achieve my goals.

These acting workshops are just the beginning, but it has given me the right film connection to make that star on my bedroom door more than just a gold tinfoil.

Louise Frederickson - Las Vegas, Nevada

Louise Frederickson

Film Connection Student - Las Vegas, Nevada

I've always liked films, and ever since I was a little girl, I wanted to be involved in the making of one. But I have to say that I'm not really fit to stay in front of the camera. I'm too shy to be an actor and giving life to a character, big or small; and I don't have the attitude needed to be an effective director. But make no mistake, though I'll be working in a capacity that's not as high profile, I wanted to be involved, I do.

To be perfectly honest, I picked wardrobe design because it appealed to me. I'm such a girly girl after all, and dressing up can be so much fun. I figured I could channel that into being involved in filmmaking.

Working hand in hand with someone who's doing wardrobe for films is such an eye-opener, I must say. The amount of research involved is incredible. Everything must be perfect down to the very last detail. A lot of viewers have such sharp eyes, and they can spot even a button that's out of place. And though the shopping is fun, it's back-breaking work. You have to go to store after store after store to find the right item to include in your wardrobe. But once you find it, the feeling is so amazing.

Learning and being involved in wardrobe for film might not be as glamorous as being the actress or even the director, but being here has given me that film connection to be a part of the process in making something we can all be proud of.

Ashley Johnson - Chicago, Illinois

Ashley Johnson

Film Connection Student - Chicago, Illinois

It's easy to make a radio talk show boring. Without the benefit of visuals, it's going to be harder to engage the listener to tune in. Most people go on the radio to listen to music or the news. Radio talk shows comes third to those two.

I always thought that the best way to get around that was to make sure that you've got an interesting topic on hand. That's very true. However, after my mentoring sessions, I realized that there's more to that process. A lot of research goes into it. Having an interesting topic is one thing, but to use it in a radio talk show is completely different. I have to make sure that I've thoroughly researched the facts and that I do not sacrifice the truth just to get a juicy soundbite from the guests. And it's also useful for those times that there might be a lull in the conversation. It is my duty as the host to keep to conversation going and flowing.

And of course, if things get out of hand, I have to make sure that I reel it back in and keep it civil. It should be informative and entertaining, and the right training really gets me started on that path, giving me that radio connection to reach out to more people in ways different from music and news.

Sarah Mitchell - Indianapolis, Indiana

Sarah Mitchell

Indianapolis, Indiana Film Connection Student

It's been over a couple of months since my first class in film editing, and I've recently been able to sit in a real editing session with my mentor. I couldn't really do much since I'm still a student, but it was a fascinating lesson to observe and take not of just how working as a film editor would really look like. This is definitely a kind of studying I like, and it just inspires and motivates me to study and work harder to be better at this.

One great thing about this is that I am actually learning from a film editor, someone who's got experience in this field and who is more than willing to share these experiences and insights with me. And since I'm the only one this class, so to speak, I get to have his full attention and ask him all my questions.

There's always more to film making than the writers, directors, actors. After everything's been shot, the film goes through the editing room so that it can be arranged so that it makes the best impact on its audience. And I'm glad that I've now got the film connection to be a part of this amazing process.

Dexter Fabian - Kirby, Vermont

Dexter Fabian

Kirby, Vermont - Film Connection Student

Gladiator, Aliens, Body of Lies - these are just some of my favorite Ridley Scott movies. Naturally, like my hero, I want to be a director. I've been making my own movies since I was 10 years old, and I believed it was time to take it to the next level, if I was ever going to be like Ridley. To me, this meant I should stop dressing up my younger cousins in cardboard alien costumes while I pointed a video camera at them, and start getting proper film training.

I had a problem, though. I absolutely HATED school. I detested the idea of sitting through class after class, even classes that would help me become a better filmmaker. And then I found The Film Connection. How cool is it that they don't even have a campus? So how do their students get training then? By working on REAL film sets all over the country!

I was sold. It didn't take me long to enroll. Getting my first apprenticeship was even quicker. Not only that, I also found some new heroes: the very mentors who are teaching me the ropes.

Really, at the rate I'm learning, Ridley Scott ought to watch his back! (Just kidding. Well, not really.)

Jane Mitchell - Long Island, New York

Jane Mitchell

Film Connection Student Long Island, New York

What's a movie without a good story, right? It's like building a house. You can't just put up a piece of plywood up and hammer nails into it, make a few rooms together, and then call it a house. You need to have a blueprint that puts into paper the makings of a good home. Well, I think of screenwriting as the blueprint to an amazing movie. And of course, you've got to have talent to come up with a good story, but you'll need a lot of training to know just what story makes a good movie. Just like a blueprint is not a bunch of lines on a piece of paper, screenwriting is not string a bunch of words together.

Screenwriting, I've come to learn now, has both a creative and business side; and both sides are just fascinating me right now. Of course, the creative side is having a story that deserves to be told, the developing of plot points, making it tight and effective, so that possible viewers won't think that you're just taking them around in circles. But there's a business side to it too. Who do we approach so we can get out screenplay into a movie. How do we market it to make the right people get interested? And if we're already working on a movie, how are we able to trim our screenplay in case budget constraint calls for it, without sacrificing the integrity of the story?

These, and so many more, are things that I am learning under my mentor, an actual screenwriter who's got experience in both television and film. Under this tutelage, I've got the film connection I need to learn just how a story is made into a movie.

Darryl Jones - San Jose, California

Darryl Jones

San Jose, California - Film Connection Student

I've always been fascinated by the way lighting is done in movies. True, the story and the direction are what movies are all about, and yet it is interesting to note that the perfect or wrong lighting could easily either make or break a film. One wrong lighting in one scene and it could distract the viewers from the movie, and the whole story would now be lost under that technical mistake.

To do this perfectly is a mixture of technical know-how and creative genius, and I am enjoying my mentorship right now. I'm working with a lighting director who's teaching me so many things every day. There's the technical aspect of the different equipment needed for a particular scene. How to perfectly light a night scene, making it bright enough but still believable as night. I mean come on, doesn't it frustrate you when the lighting is just so unrealistic, but you don't really want to see dark scenes, right?

It's only been my first few weeks into this mentorship program, and already I'm learning so much. Pretty soon, I can't wait to actually get my hands on lighting equipment for a hands-on experience. This is such an exciting program. I'm getting that film connection to be a part of the little details that make a movie so magical.

Eugene Castle - Washington DC

Eugene Castle

Film Connection Student - Washington DC

Can I be so bold to say that I want to be the next Steven Spielberg? I want to be able to make those hard-hitting award-winning films that capture the hearts of viewers all over the world. Or maybe the George Lucas, turning into reality the wonders of our imagination, merging creativity and the best of technology into one amazing film.

But I have to admit, even my best intention, and even if I was the most creative person in the world, there's still so many things I have to know about the field of filmmaking other than what I could get from books and what I could learn from watching hundred of movies on DVDs and cinemas. I need that film connection to guide me correctly to be able to excel in this.

This is where my mentor comes in. He's actually been out doing his thing in films for over a decade now, and he gets to teach me the tricks of the trade that he's learned not through books, not through a classroom, but from actual experience. Our one-on-one sessions are so enlightening because I understand it so much more clearly when I have his full attention, and of course, he has mine.

Okay, so I may not exactly be the next Spielberg or Lucas, but I'll be close, that I can tell.

Lisa Burdock - Tucson, Arizona

Lisa Burdock

Tucson, Arizona - Film Connection Student

Isn't is amazing how films have so many different genres? Think about it. There's definitely a film or two for everybody. I know it sounds like a cliche, but one of the best ways to relax and unwind after a stressful day at work or at school is to just stick some popcorn in a microwave and settle down with a film. Maybe it's something you've been dying to see since your best friend recommened it to you or maybe it's that favorite movie from your childhood that you've watched at least a million times.

I guess that's why I like to study film making. I want to be behind those films that touch millions of lives either through the big screen or just the TV in the living room. To be behind one of mankind's greatest comfort, whether it's just to relax after working so hard or to broaden their horizons without leaving their seats.

The thing with films is that they're a pretty creative field. You can't just learn how to be good at this by copying notes written on a blackboard along with fifty or so classmates. You need someone to show you how it's done not just because that's how it's written in some books. Not that books aren't helpful; they are. But with something like film making, it's better to have a one-on-one session with an expert who's really had experience. Some people learn better this way; I know I do. I work better with a mentor/tutor that's focused only on me and will not be distracted by another student.

Now that is what I call learning.

Samantha Griffin – New Jersey

Samantha Griffin
Film Connection Student - New Jersey

I love films! I'm completely over-the-top, nuts over the whole thing. True, there are so many different genres of films, from so many different countries, that you cannot even begin to start watching them. One of my biggest dreams is to have been able learn about film studies.

Setting up sets, creating the screenplay and scripts, making the costumes, practicing the stunts and choreography as well as mastering the best visual effects there is, these are things that I want to learn! There has been a lot of interest recently for film studies all over the world. With all of the news and recent breaking stories on the television, one or two or a few of them are bound to be made into a biography or documentary or even b-rated film.

Films are a good way to relax. It allows our imagination to run and be free. There are many, many stories that allow us to do that. A lot of people don't even know it but they are lucky to have it!

A lot of us don't have it. But for those who do, they are lucky to have the right film connection in and with them. I envy them. They get to study the thing where many people only dream of studying! The field of study of a lifetime!

Nicoletta Lingrosso - L.A. Film Student

Nicoletta Lingrosso - L.A. Film Student - Film Connection

I had class this week with my mentor. I will be working on my new
documentary the next two weeks and showing my mentor my progress through the power point presentation as I am preparing it as well as my
treatment. I hope to start on the interviews in the next 3 weeks.
I will be finished with the rough edit of my first documentary by
March 11th "The Good Hunt". I have also been watching some classic
films that have been assigned to me. I must say Citizen Kane is by far
my favorite as of yet. My mentor also has me apprenticing in Post Production which has been a great learning experience as I have been sitting in with
the Editors the past 2 months. I am working on my scripts as well and hope to enter a writing contest at the end of March and soon to begin writing a new comedy. I am working on my website and once that has been completed I will post it to Myspace, Facebook and Mediawarrior.
I have created a new company with my sister as she is the director on
my documentaries and I am the producer. The company name is
FocusIncProductions. This is what I have been doing in the past 2 weeks and I will continue working on this until my next meeting with my mentor through March 11th. Things are going well and this has been the best experience and career training program. Film Connection works.
thank you

Nicoletta Lingrosso

Colleen Rowley - Portland, Oregon

Colleen Rowley
FILM STUDENT - PORTLAND, OR.

I can not believe how cool this program is. While every schedule is different and some are only able to go to their studio a few hours per week, here is my schedule. Here is what I do every week:

I am getting about 30-40 hours on average at my studio weekly.
- 2 hrs. was spent on training on the Panasonic HVX-200 HD Camera Package w/Letus Extreme Prime Lens Upgrade. Here I learned how to assemble this camera, all the different parts and features, how to put on different lenses, packing the HVX and its gear up, proper storage, and a bit of this cameras focal depth (hands on).
- 2 hrs spent touring the studio location and its gear. Grip gear, lenses, cameras, green screen, tripods, loading and unloading the gear trailer...ect.
- 1 hrs spent assembling the gear of the HVX camera and the run bag for the upcoming shoot.
- 2 hrs spent on their new camera; Red One 4K Digital Cinema Package
Red Raid Drive
Red Flash Drive
Red LCD
Testing for any flaws as well as testing shots to find the best compression ratios.
- 1 hrs spent checking in video gear and making sure everything is in the right bags.
- .5 hrs spent going over my weekly lesson
- .5 hrs spent on a client meeting in which I took notes down to prep for the shot list and call sheet info
- .75 hrs spent on making a call sheet for an upcoming shoot
- .5 hrs spent on prepping the equipment for this shoot
- 1.5 hrs spent on learning and using Color Correction through Final Cut Pro on stock footage
- 1.5 hrs spent on acquiring props for and upcoming shoot (pre-production)
- 1 hrs spent on calling talent and coming up with wardrobe ideas for upcoming shoot.
- 2 hrs meeting with producer director/Dp coming up with shots and shot list, wardrobe, cast, location, time...ect.

This day was a stock footage shoot for funnelbox, shot in downtown portland or. I was involved with directing, lighting, PA, talent and being talent, location set up...ect. I was a PA on a commercial shoot in which I also did some lighting, back at the office I made a call sheet for an upcoming shoot and shipped out some dub tabes to a few clients.

Aline Nordmark - London, England

Name: Aline Nordmark
Location: London, UK
FILM CONNECTION STUDENT - LONDON, ENGLAND

I want to be a Director of Photography. Film Connection hooked me up with a DP and I am going to meet with my mentor one on one and learn camera. My mentor is great, and I am very excited about having her as a mentor!

Douglas Maxwell Myer - New York City

Douglas Maxwell Myer
FILM CONNECTION STUDENT - NEW YORK CITY


I really am happy with the Film Connection film program. A corporate company came in regards to shoot a marketing video for their website. I served as a teleprompter for two days on this
particular project and I was paid for that job. That's right I am going to class and I also got paid. Then, PBS came in to shoot a commercial and I served as an assistant to the prop-master.. Later on in the week I helped out with editing some corporate projects. I also watched the studio animator work with the program that I'll be using for my project. This program is great in that it uts you in the real world so you get to get apprentice on real projects and make real contacts as you learn.