NEW COURSE OFFERING FOR FILMMAKERS SOCIETY MEMBERS
MDST 465, taught by Academy Award winning documentarian, Paul Wagner, has officially been brought back for the Fall 2008 semester!
MDST 465: Advanced Practicum in Film Production
Prerequisites: knowledge of digital cameras and editing systems
In this advanced production course, students will produce and direct their own films with an emphasis on script-based narrative cinema. Restricted to Permission of Instructor; students with developed scripts or treatments for short films will be given priority. Members of the class will provide crew support for each other's projects. Class sessions will involve the presentation and critiquing of student work, including scripts, rushes and rough-cuts. Topics of analysis will include the script, the casting and direction of actors, camera and lighting control, mise-en-scene, music, picture and sound editing, and post production techniques.
A&S Online, the monthly online magazine from the University of Virginia, has written an extensive article about the 2008 Salmagundi Film Festival! Check out the article to read reviews of several Salmagundi films, as well as coverage of special Salmagundi film screenings, the professional filmmakers' panel discussion and more!
A&S Online - A Potpourri of Student Film
THE FMS FINAL SCREENING of the year is coming up! Wednesday April 30 from 5-6:30pm in Newcomb Theater FMS will sponsor a FREE exhibition of the latest student work. Many of these films were produced in conjunction with Paul Wagner's MDST 465 Practicum class last semester. Come out, take a break from studying, and show your support! Please join us as we honor these filmmakers, many of whom are graduating this year.
Presenting the following films:
- Lauren O'Connor: Gemini, 5 min
- Sasha Solodukhina: Newsprint, 10 min
- Nick Bacon: De(con)struction and Ex Meo Mente, 12 min
- Gretel Truong: The Write Note, 15 min
10 minute Intermission
- Andrew Mausert-Mooney: Flok, 7 min
- Steve Quinn/ Jed Crews: Tonight, 7 min
- Jonney Taee: Merleau-ponty, 5 min
- Konstantin: The Purple Pileus, 20 min
Congratulations to the winners of the 12th annual Salmagundi Film Festival!
Best in Show: Jonney Taee & BH103A for "Mondo Musical"
Runner Up: Christina Tkacik for "Gerry Mitchell: 3,164 miles"
Audience Award: Jonney Taee & BH103A for "Mondo Musical"
Cavalier Films Narrative Film Award: Steven Quinn & Jedidiah Crews for "Tonight"
Ken Jacobs Experimental Film Award: Jonney Taee & BH103A for "Mondo Musical"
Congratulations to the new executive board!
President: Lauren O'Connor
VP of Production: Travis Newman
VP of Publicity: Patrick Harrison
Secretary/Historian: Debra Cohen
Treasurer & Videositters President: Dan Quinn
Festival Chairperson: Zac Fabian
Assistant Festival Coordinator: Hannah Chipman
ELECTIONS will take place at the meeting this week (7:30pm in Clark 102)! The positions up for election are: President, Vice President of Production, Vice President of Publicity, Secretary/Historian, Chief Financial Officer, and Festival Coordinator. General Manager/Social Chair and Equipment Managers will be appointed by the new executive board. Please email the current officers if you have any questions about running.
Do it.
This Tuesday (7:30pm in Clark 102) is the second pitch-n-play meeting of the year! Come learn about new projects or present your idea to the group!
Any FMS members who are interested in running for an Executive Board position should attend this meeting as well. Positions include: President, Vice President of Production, Vice President of Publicity and Advertising, Secretary/Historian, Chief Financial Officer, General Manager/Social Chair, Festival Coordinator. Elections will be held on April 1st but we would like to talk more about the process and position responsibilities at this meeting. Anyone can run as long as they are a member!
SUNDAY, FEB. 10: FMS SOCIAL EVENT UPDATE: OVER HER DEAD BODY
FMS is organizing a social event in preparation for director Jeff Lowell's visit at our second screenwriting workshop (Feb. 12) and Q&A session. We are setting up a group viewing of his new movie, Over Her Dead Body, for this Sunday, Feb 10 at the Carmike Theater at 1pm. Meet in the Bonneycastle parking lot at 12:30pm if you need a ride (and also RSVP social chair Lauren O'Connor at lao5a@virginia.edu).
Synposis: Over Her Dead Body
"Kate (Eva Longoria Parker) and Henry (Paul Rudd) were to be married and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, Kate meets a tragic end when the ice sculpture that a sculpter (Stephen Root) made falls on her. Henry's sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane) convinces him to go to a psychic named Ashley (Lake Bell) to help him get over Kate's death. Henry and Ashley eventually fall for each other as time goes on. Too bad for Ashley that Kate won't move on...even though she's dead."
FMS members who attend will receive a $2 discount. Email social chair Lauren O'Connor (lao5a@virginia.edu) to sign-up.
The meeting tomorrow will be at 7:30pm in CLARK 101 (not Clemons)!
TUESDAY, JAN. 29: SCREENWRITING WORKSHOP, PART 1 The screenwriting workshop is a time for members to get feedback on the scripts or ideas they've been working on. Even if you've written and revised your script a thousand times, a fresh eye will always reveal problems you didn't notice before and a different view will generate ideas you never considered. Members will receive the most benefit if they bring in their script for all three workshops, working on them in the intervening weeks. If you plan on having your script workshopped, bring in 3-5 copies for people to read.
Our first meeting of the semester will be in Clark 107 at 7:30pm on Tuesday.
To be consumed: PIZZA and HOT CHOCOLATE
To be discussed: screenwriting workshops, auditions, pitch-n-play part 2, Salmagundi, other productions
The 12th Salmagundi Film Festival is coming up next semester. Members should take the opportunity to submit their films to this competitive, professionally-judged student film festival. While the major points of the festival have already been planned, the Exec is still looking for a few younger FMS members who might want to assist in the planning process for this year's event.
All interested members should email Ayesha (aan2b@virignia.edu) soon.
The last meeting of the semester is this Tuesday! We will be discussing big plans for next semester and do a short makeup tutorial. Volunteers will be needed!
The Virginia Film Festival is now in full swing! For those of you who haven't yet, check out the full schedule online. FMS is hosting a special Q&A session with filmmakers Ray McKinnon and Lisa Blount this Friday, Nov 2 in Clemons 201 from 4:30pm to 6:00pm. Their newest feature, Randy and the Mob, is screening this Saturday at 10pm in the Paramount. For more information on the filmmakers, please click here.
The meeting this week will be Tuesday at 7:30pm in Clemons 407 (no more moving around for the rest of the semester, we promise). We will begin with a lighting class (which you should come to unless you are good enough to teach it yourself), followed by a discussion of the Virginia Film Festival and T-shirt pick-ups. I hope to see everyone there!
The Final Cut Showcase is TODAY. The event will take place in the South Hall Meeting Room in Newcomb Hall located on the third floor!
There has also been some confusion about the weekly newsletter (which you access every week through the blue links in the email). Here is the one for this week: October 14, 2007.
Read the article about Final Cut in the Cavalier Daily! Click here.
Thanks to everyone who came out for the Pitch-N-Play. The website will be updated soon with your new projects. There will be no FMS meeting on Tuesday October 11. The next meeting will be a sound class on October 18 in Clark 101.
UPCOMING DEADLINES:
- Adrenaline Film Project Submission: Thursday, October 11
(visit www.vafilm.com/adrenaline for a submission form) - Final Cut Showcase Submission: Friday, October 12
(visit www.uvafilm.com/festivals for a submission form)
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Red Carpet Party last Saturday and made it a success! A special thanks to Chris Sabbatini for taking the beautiful photographs you see below, and also to the DJs--DJ Basek, Johnny Donkey, and DJ Krackerjap as tha Kuntrock Kidd.
Thanks to all who came to our meeting yesterday! Our next meeting will be the PITCH AND PLAY meeting on Tuesday at 7:30pm in Clemons 407, so come prepared with any ideas you have and want to get started on. There will also be a relatively quick (about 10 minutes long) tutorial on Celtx, an excellent tool for screenwriting and general preproduction.
Our meeting this week will be Tuesday at 7:30pm in Clemons 407! Here's what's on the agenda.
- Collection of outstanding dues.
- Preparation for upcoming meetings and deadlines (Final Cut and Adrenaline).
- Extended Camera Tutorial: This in depth tutorial will equip you with the camera specifics and technical skills you'll need to successfully capture your films. Anyone interested in checking out FMS cameras for use on their films should attend this class. A record of attendees will be kept and used during any equipment check-out process.
- Get out your formal-wear! The Red Carpet Party will be held this Saturday at 10pm at 508 16th street (between Grady and Gordon). This party is for filmmakers and filmlovers alike! We hope to see everyone there!
For information on checking out equipment, you may review the policy here.
Thanks to all those who came out and participated in the Xtreme Filmmakers Challenge last Saturday! Congratulations to team 4 for winning XFC with their film Untitled! For those of you who participated and would like a DVD of all the films, we will make one available for you to copy in the Digital Media Lab by the end of this week.
Cinasty will be held this Friday at 7:30pm in Brooks Hall 103A. If you have old films you want to show and get feedback/criticism on, please contact Nick Bacon and let him know you want to show one of your films.
Next week's meeting will be held on Tuesday at 7:30pm in Clemons 407, which will be our normal meeting place and time for the rest of this semester. At this meeting, we will go over basic equipment care and usage and also have a short tutorial on how to use Celtx for screenwriting, collaboration, and general pre-production planning/scheduling.
Additionally, we will be ordering t-shirts this Friday, so if you want one (image here), please contact Laura Scott and let her know before then!
This weeks's meeting will be held on Tuesday at 8:00pm in Physics 203! Please show up to the correct location. We will be screening the XFC films. Bring your friends to vote! We will continue collecting dues and selling T-shirts at next week's meeting. This will be the last week to order shirts!
For our weekly newsletter, check out the link here.
The Xtreme FilmMakers Challenge will begin this Saturday at 2:00pm outside of Clemons Library. Each team will be mentored by a member of the Exec and will have one hour to complete their project. Participants must be dues-paying members of the organization. A prize will be awarded to the winning team during our voting session at Tuesday's meeting. Bring your friends to vote!
We will continue collecting dues and selling T-shirts (design at right) at next week's meeting. This will be the last week to order shirts! If you cannot make it to the meeting, please email our treasurer to set up an alternative method for ordering.
The FMS t-shirt is ready to go! We will show off the new design at tomorrow's meeting. You might want to order two because you're never going to want to take this thing off!
We will be taking sizes (YS-XXL) and payment ($10) at the meeting this week and next week. If you are a member who cannot make it to meetings, please email our treasurer to set up an alternative method for payment.
Weekly meetings will be held on Tuesdays at 7:30pm in Clemons 407 (hang a left as soon as you go through the main doors). For a heads up on what we will be talking about this week, check out the weekly newsletter and/or our calendar. New members are always welcome.
In the meantime, enjoy our FMS promo below (the one that wouldn't work last week) and you'll understand why we spent so long trying to play it for everyone.
Note: This is an almost shot-for-shot parody of this video.
The Activities Fair, originally scheduled for this evening from 9pm-midnight has been moved to Saturday, Sept. 1 from 3-7pm. Look for the FMS tent when you stop by.
The Fall 2007 Interest Meeting will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 4 at 7pm in Clark 107. Come learn more about our organization, new policies, and upcoming events! And enjoy FREE PIZZA!
Stay in touch!
- Join the FilmMakers Society Facebook group.
- Actors and directors, join the FMS: Actor's Database.
- Anyone looking for or interested in joining a crew, check out the FMS: Production Database.
- Sign up for the FMS mailing list!
- Sign up for the FMS production list!
The Virginia Film Festival's Adrenaline Film Project is coming up soon! To see the videos from last year's project, follow this link: http://magazine.clas.virginia.edu/x9960.xml
For older news, click here.