And So the Games Begin at SouthSide

Wednesday greeted me like a loud car alarm at 3 am in the big city. It was another night of 3 hours sleep, crawling into bed early in the morning after my wife was in bed, and waking hours before she rolled out of bed for work. Fest week is an adrenaline-induced state of dilirium, charged each day by my half pot of coffee and the promise of fun and excitement. Today was NO different.

I taxied Pawel to the Children's Animation Workshop. As I said in the previous post, this is the second year of Pawel's Workshop, where we teach children, ages 8-14, how to make their own animated film. Last year was just such a success, that we anticipated another great year. We were not disappointed and just before the Workshop kicked into gear, we closed our registration. This year's class contains 11 incredibly excited kids, with four of them returning from last year's alumnae. With the help of Pawel and our state-certified teacher's assistants, these children are creating their own adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Buckwheat".

At the Stage: Kids begin creating "moving" credits for film, one still photo at a time

With crayon, scissors, color pencil, and colored paper, these children are working together to create ONE unified project. These kids started by rewriting the script, storyboarding their ideas, and then creating the elements that would become their film. I was honored to be asked to be the Willow Tree narration for the film, getting to exercise my Voice-Over talents to an extreme. Once they've created the elements they begin to build their film, one still photo at a time. With digital camera and computer they capture the movements step by step, and then animate the stills, back to back, with the help of the computer. It's amazing to watch it all happen, and I dropped in throughout the morning, as I do every day. You'd be impressed, and actually you can view this film at Friday night's Outdoor Screening on the lawn, paired with "The Flyboys".

And besides monitoring this workshop, I have two others happening at the same time and I try to oversee the process and make the students and instructors comfortable, knowing we're concerned and will keep things running smoothly. My travels took me to the other classrooms, in between my varied tasks and "fireman" duties.

The Documentary Filmmaking Workshop is another amazing experience. And having taken this class myself in October '-06, I can assure this is NOT a class for the weak of mind or spirit. This is a FOUR DAY intensive study where the students come into the class with varied levels of experience, many with an agenda as to what they'd like to gain from this workshop. We jump right in with teaching camera use, interview process, and protocol. And within a few hours these charges are sent into the field with a subject, directions, and the will to make something happen. They take their first sets of interviews before returning to class and absorbing a bit more theory.

Sally and Tamara dig in on the edit in Doc Workshop

After a bit more theory, they open their editing software. Some already have basic knowledge of the software and yet on the other extreme, we've had others who didn't even have any computer experience and in particular, knowledge of the Mac. With the help of Apple's Final Cut, the upload continues, as cameras are plugged into the computer and playback of their captured footage brings the images into the software folders. This process repeats itself session after session during the four 12 hour days. Back out into the field to take more interviews and grab some imagery, and then back to class to upload and learn a bit more about the edit process.

Soon their story lines are developed and they focus on what they've captured and what they still need to film. It's definitely all hands-on, as you learn by DOING, following Mel and Clayton step by step. This is an exciting process, filled with stimulation and a bit of anxiety. Did I say a bit... there are times when there is more than a BIT of anxiety in the air. Teams debate, argue, and come to a mutual (maybe) agreement on what direction they're going and which footage goes into the trash and which gems stay in their final edit. This is an amazing process. But words can only begin to describe. You'd have to experience it for yourself to appreciate these students and what they accomplish. More on that later.

I continued weaving in and out of workshops, venues, and headquarters at Deja Brew on Fourth. In between I cross pass with our multitude of volunteers and our dozens of visiting filmmakers. Today I was even interviewed for one of the Workshop Documentaries, as they shadowed my activities. I had venue signs to place, materials to scatter, equipment to deliver to venues, and filmmakers that need rides from bus stops.

The night brought more, but for me tonight was just a floater role. I'm on task from 7am each day, and by 5pm I let me fellow Board members step into gear. The buzz is building, the media is covering the events, and the audiences are growing. I have a sneaky feeling that by the end of the weekend, we will need to turn away sell-out crowds... I HOPE!

Just know that I thrive on this excitement, my blood begins to boil, and I find myself surfing on a wave of adrenaline. This is what we work for for 11 months. We are proud... SouthSide Proud. Come experience the excitement for yourself.