Workshop Day 2...is This Thing On???

Hello again from the Documentary Filmmaking Workshop. The second day started out just as yesterday with some classroom study and instructional, viewing filmclips, and discussing what worked and what didn''t.

I should mention that one of our filmmakers started alone this morning, having to be at Bethlehem BrewWorks at 5am to watch the brewer, Lewis Brown, begin the process of starting a beer. I applaud this student for suffering through seemingly unnecessary conditions to get the footage she needed to make the story work. Bravo Lisa!!!

As the class began today I had the opportunity to personally learn a camera as we ended up with one extra rig today. It was certainly a new, but not completely unfamiliar situation, with my 35mm experiences. Yes these little cameras are small and very simple to operate, but one should always proceed cautiously while experimenting. After a little time of watching my frame jump in the viewfinder, I realized the overreactive jitters were due to the camera being in tight zoom and creating a more sensitive iris. This is the learning curve. Now I feel somewhat comfortable and will be filming the workshop students as they proceed with their projects, finalizing the interview and beginning the edit.

The class broke into smaller groups for a discussion session, where they talked more of their focus and potential "spin" to each story. After some discussion and guidance from both Mel and Clayton, they were focused and sent back on location "making movies".

Mel, Clayton, and I again went "on tour" to all locations to check on the progress of each group. In between all this I made my regular pilgrimage to our Festival office, checking on "things" and making sure there were no fires to be extinguished. NONE (for now, with fingers crossed). Things are REALLY gearing up for Thursday''s festival start.

Soon it was time to return to the classroom, where the real "filmmaking" began. The class started learning the basic tools of Apple''s Final Cut Express film editing software, all nicely loaded on a classroom full of hot Macs. As a "Mac head" I drool every time I walk into the Mac Lab at Wilbur Lab, it is overwhelming and just so COOL!!! You''ve heard about the male "penis envy"... well this lab gives me "machine envy". Jason Stanford, the facility supervisor, has done an incredible job in building this facility''s hardware. He has been a god-send in helping coordinate the facility''s use for this Workshop, and has created a comfortable work environment for SSFI (and of course Lehigh Students as well).

Final Cut Express is an amazing software package, bringing film editing to the common man (and in the case of our Workshop that''s spelled WOman). I played along with the class, downloading my tape and learning the basics. The plan for MY filming is to create a short film demonstrating the Workshop process, a tool which will reap endless benefits in the future as we begin planning and promoting the NEXT set of workshops and filmmaking instructionals.

Some students broke for dinner, while others, including myself, called it a day. Need a little down time to recharge, but tomorrow is another day, and for most of the students it will be the final filming opportunity to get the "missing" pieces of their film. Wednesday will mean more editing, some filming of subjects, and even MORE editing.

I salute these ladies as they've dug in, and chomped at the bit, all with a strong desire to succeed, and make the best possible film they can! Watch your back Michael Moore, these ladies are tenacious, focused, and have much more sensitivity to the subject than you could EVER demonstrate. These women RULE! I salute each of them. Tomorrow?