15 December, 2009

D-Day and Other Stories

I'm beginning to breathe again. In and out. Slowly, but I am breathing again. Which is more than I could say for a few hours ago.

Today was it. The moment that the puts all of the FAMU kids on edge. The day we screen our films on the big screen in front of all of our professors and they give us criticism. It's absolutely terrifying. We've put everything we have into our creations and in a matter of moments, there is a chance that it could be torn to shreds by our professors.

Well, Kris and my film was the first to screen. We put a lot of work into it as I'm sure you've read about, but still it seemed off to me and I was nervous. I was disappointed in how long it was and I knew there were mistakes that wouldn't be overlooked by the professors. I also knew that Kris and I had chosen to film in an extremely different style than anyone else. More of a documentary/home movie style than a cinematic movie style, which made both Kris and I feel a bit inadequate in the filming department.

The response...was good. Surprisingly enough. The things we knew were wrong with the film were spoken about,but it wasn't anything that we didn't already know. One professor said that he loved the film, how it was filmed and that the story and characters were very believable. Actually, most of the professors loved how it was filmed and said that was the strongest part of the film. Kris and I were shocked.

I feel better about the second screening now, where we will show it to our friends, families, actors, crew and so on. Now that I know my movie isn't in fact a piece of crap, it can be shown and I won't be as nervous.

In other news, the countdown until we leave this amazing experience is coming closer and closer. This past weekend was the last weekend I will ever spend in the Czech Republic...that is unless I come back for some reason. Anyway, on Saturday our local buddies, Petra and Marek, held a Christmas dinner with traditional Czech food. It was delicious and so much fun. Good food, good friends and good fun!

We had a delicious soup to start off with, which consisted of cabbage, pepperoni and potatoes. It was followed by dinner which was salmon baked with lemon juice, garlic and onion along with potato salad. And then for desert were these delicious jam/chili filled pastry things covered in sugar. It was a to-die for dinner. We also had champagne and wine to make the night perfect. We toasted the end of a great semester and hopes for the future. This will be one night that I always remember.

Here are some of the pictures I took at Christmas dinner.


They are Liza, Shayna and Petra making desert for the party, Steph, Dave and Drew decorating the napkins, the delicious soup we had and just about everyone gathered around before the party began.

After all of the fun Saturday night, Kris and I had to meet Marek Jicha for color grading, which helped our movie out a lot. It made it look cohesive, which was definitely what we needed.

Well, there isn't a whole lot more to write about. I've been trying to enjoy what's left of my time here. I've gone out to lunch and dinner with Steph and Shayna a few times in the past couple days and I'm just about finished my Christmas shopping. There are only a few things left to buy and only a few days left here. I've only got three finals left now and by Wednesday afternoon, they should all be turned in.

Tonight is the final dinner for CET and everyone will be there. It should be lots of fun, but it will also be very sad as the program has now come full circle. We started with a dinner as a group with our professors and we will end as a group who have accomplished a great deal of things including making short films.

So, with that I finish this entry. There will be more posts in the coming days, but I have nothing else to write right now. You're caught up with the events of the FAMU kids. But, don't think you can wander just yet, there is still more to come.

Countdown: 3 days left in Prague

P.S.- For those who watch Dexter, I finished the fourth season on Monday and "woah" is all I can say. I need the next season, but that requires me to wait until next September and that is such a long time. Boo!

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