Introduction

I guess this is the way that you get your foot in the door. Of course, I'm not even sure if I want to move in permanently. I'm just testing the waters, and maybe if I like it, I'll consider renewing my lease for another month. Maybe two.

I decided I liked film. I was first invited to look at film as a form of art when I took a Introductory Film Studies class with Professor Knight at the College of William & Mary. I became involved in more than just enjoying the final product of the film. I would watch movies and research them at the same time, and became amazed at how much went into the making of films. I started to see film as the most flexible means for communication, and the most accessible form of narration. I want to tell stories. I want to communicate. I want to explore film as an outlet for whatever it may be that I may want to say one day.

This was last semester. Towards the end of the semester I called my dad (official decider of whether or not my desired career path is going to lead to happyness and fulfillment, whether or not I listen or not) and I pitched to him the idea that I didn't want to be a psychologist (something to which he was opposed to anyway, unless it was to become a business consultant giving Productivity Seminars ). I said that I really liked film, daddy, and I think I want to throw away job security, steady income, and potential for success and become a filmmaker... or at least explore that option for a while. Daddy, I know college diplomas are expensive, time consuming, (and inevitably, what i perceive to be a huge downfall of our capitalist society which makes people a commodity, and people with diplomas worth more than people without.) I know I have put 3 years of my life into college, but I think I would like to forget what I learned in the books and make movies about what I learn in life.

To my surprise, he was very supportive. I found out that my father was very reasonable and I was very lucky to have him. Turns out he would have loved to do that himself (he edits family videos as a hobby) and that he studied photography for some time in college before finding fulfillment in economics and continuing on to try and help developing countries develop. Maybe the interest was genetic, or maybe my interest and attraction to film was formed from in an infantile experience with loved ones, and it is now materializing in my life choices. Whatever the seed to all of this was, he told me of his cousin, Sonia, who had been a documentary film maker and was now teaching film at University of Sacred Heart in Puerto Rico, and often worked as a Producer in Puerto Rican films. He introduced us via e-mail, since I had never met her.

With some persistence (and ignoring my self telling me that I was probably annoying her), I got the job. Initially I was going to be the Production Assistant (getting lunch, making coffee, making sure everybody knows where to be at what time, etc.) but there was a final change of plans and now I will be the assistant Art Director. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to be doing yet, but I'm sure I'll catch on. I googled what an assistant art director does, and wikipedia gave me a little bit of a hint... Staging, costumes, possibly continuity and attention to detail, etc.

This is my blog chronicling this experience. I don't have any structure planned for this blog. That's not really how I roll. I'm excited to see if anything becomes of this blog. In order to make this introductory post visually interesting, I added a picture I took of my closet. Yes, my closet was psychedelic last semester.