USC Week 5

This past week was relatively easy going and relaxing to some degree. We didn't have school on Monday, which was a major plus for all of us. It enabled us to recharge our batteries and start moving forward with our final project. I've actually been working on my latest film, A Change of Heart, for the past week and a half so I feel fully prepared to give it my best shot as the final stretch approaches. I'm so thankful that my mother helped me find my location and that both my friends, Tiffany and Simon, graciously volunteered to help act in my film.

On Tuesday, our professor showed us the dailies from our Universal Studios shoot. The dailies from our film, Purgatory, were better than some of the other groups but not ones that could really convey the story we had wanted to tell in the first place. Some groups barely had any footage to even reprise a film and another group had everything going for them, perfect to a whim. Aaron and I will be in charge of editing and sound design, respectively, so hopefully we'll able to make our film the best it can be even with some minor changes to the plot and characters.

On Wednesday, we went to Universal Studios for the last time. It dawned on me how fast the program had flown and it made me sad. I cherished all the memories and guest lectures we had during our trips to Universal Studios. Our final lecturer for the program was a story editor and his main job is to read over scripts which seem suitable for actors/actresses. He was very giddy while telling us about his job and even mouthed over his opportunity to become co-producer to a movie which comes out today called The Collector. After lunch, we ventured of to post-production and visited numerous sites where people gathered to edit films, place sound effects and music, and combine it all to make a film.

Yesterday, class lasted for only a couple hours in which our professor answered our questions about what graduate schools we should apply to if we're interested in the film industry or how we're supposed to get started and what kind of tricks that the film industry pulls. It was a really interesting and animated morning. Afterwards, we had to fill out our evaluations for our professor and our SA.

I have mixed feelings towards this program but at the end of everything, I've learned a great deal about the film industry in several aspects. I've also been taught many life lessons not only from my professor but from our guest lecturers, which I will keep locked in my mind for a very long time. Only one more week to go until I return home to San Diego. It's only recently hit that I've in Los Angeles for the past month. Boy, does time really fly by.