Here’s how the rest of the semester is looking:
Tuesday, May 3: Screening rough cuts of short docs.
Thursday, May 5: Class attendance not mandatory. One-on-one edits optional: sign up here. Please state your preference for meeting in person or on Zoom.
Tuesday, May 10: Class attendance not mandatory. One-on-one edits optional: sign up here.
Wednesday, May 11: Since this is the day before the final deadline for all documentaries, I will be scheduling last-chance edit sessions all day this day as well: sign up here.
Thursday, May 12: Attendance required! All docs due.* We will start screening them together as a class. There will be popcorn.
*Please note that this is a change from the original due date of May 10.
Tuesday, May 17: Attendance required! Last day of class, portfolio websites due. We will continue screening docs. All equipment must be returned. (Here’s my blog post with guidelines about the portfolio websites assignment.)
Looking Ahead
For those of you who are interested in getting further into video journalism/documentary filmmaking, here are some resources/suggestions.
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- If you have another documentary project you want to work on, consider submitting a proposal for an independent study.
- Consider submitting to a film festival. As this article advises, it’s usually best to start small. Here’s a comprehensive list of film festivals; check if there are any you would like to enter:
https://www.nyfa.edu/student-resources/film-festivals/ - Think about joining Video Consortium:
https://www.videoconsortium.org/
A recent VCNY Gathering. - Think about what elements of video journalism you have an affinity for. Are you more of a behind-the-scenes person and enjoy the process of constructing a story with pacing, flow, etc? You could be an editor. Are you all about cinematography? You could be a DP (director of photography). Are you less interested in the technical stuff with camera settings and Premiere BUT great at finding stories, connecting with people, scouting locations, maybe multilingual? You could be a producer or an on-air reporter.
- Please stay in touch and let me know if I can ever be of help connecting you with people in the industry.