Why, why, why, why, why?

I have gotten so many "whys" over the years about my love for film. Why would I do this? Why do I care so much about crew roles? Why don't I just give up and become an accountant or something "useful"? Why did I come to Interlochen? Why do I want to be in film? Why do I put up with so much BS from people and then complain about it later? Why do I want a career that forces me to put up with that BS?

Tonight answered all those questions and more. Tonight I found what I have been looking for all year.

I can't go into the details of why tonight was so incredible--not all of them, anyway. First of all, because I don't have the time; I want to do this before the internet shuts off at 12:00. Second, some of the reasons why tonight made the whole year perfect are too personal, yes, even for me, Miss Spill-Her-Guts-To-The-Internet-On-A-Weekly-Basis. But I can give the overview--and maybe this will answer some of those whys.

Tonight was the premiere screening for the MPA major. Translation: Tonight was the first time the public got to see our films. I will not sugarcoat it, ladies and gentlemen: I was scared out of my mind. Last year, my premiere was awful; I went back to my room and cried, not only because my film was universally misunderstood and people laughed at all the wrong parts, but because I had literally one other credit in the entire program. I was terrified that this year would be the same, that I would see my film and think of 2,000 things that I should have done differently.

I was wrong.

From the start, the audience was on my side. I had a brilliant cast and it showed. My crew went above and beyond, and that showed too. Everything, from the lighting to the acting to the props, was absolutely amazing. There is a reason that Possession failed--it sucked. It did not deserve to be praised, or, in my opinion, to be screened (at least not until it had been re-cut and the sound was decently mixed). But tonight I put out a film that I could be proud of, and I finally earned the respect from my fellow students that I have been craving all year. (This is where I want to go into more detail but can't. Suffice it to say that I have won over my toughest critic.)

And that was just my personal experience with my own film! But the others--the films made by people I have lived with, studied with, and worked with all year--blew me away. I cannot express how proud I am of the people in my major right now. There are people whom I have fought with on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis--right now, I love them as if they were my siblings. There are films that I thought would make me shoot myself if I had to see them rotate in workshop one more time--right now, I would happily watch them another thousand times.

This is one of the many things that I love about being a filmmaker, in this case a film student. You work at a film for weeks, months, sometimes years (but most of us at Interlochen haven't gotten there yet, thank God), until it makes you cringe, until you doubt every move you make concerning your film, until you honestly can't remember why you made this movie in the first place. You watch others' films in workshop until you're so sick of them that you want to slap whoever was stupid enough to think that was a good idea, or that was a good script, or that was a good cut. You hate your workshop and can't wait for it to be over.

And then on the night of the premier, you see them all over again. You go in there dreading the screening, for whatever reason. Maybe, like me, you're scared that your film won't go over well. Maybe you have something else that you could be doing, some friend that needs a shoulder to cry on, some assignment due the next day. Or maybe you're just plain sick of your classmates' films. Whatever it is, you just want to be anywhere but there...until the lights go down, and the films begin to screen, and the audience cheers, laughs, gasps, or cringes for the first time. And then, it's a whole other ballgame. You laugh with them. You cheer with them. You cry with them, gasp with them, cringe with them. You see the film through their eyes, and suddenly there is no place you'd rather be.

After the screening was over, the love-fest began. Hugging. Crying. Laughing. Proud friends, proud parents. Everyone loves us, everyone wants to tell us how much they love us. I had people I'd never met before coming up to me and telling me how great my film was. I saw people pointing, heard whispering. "Who made the film about the rockstar?" or "Which one is she?" But for most of this, I only had eyes for my friends, my classmates, the people who made my film possible.

There is a wonderful singer-songwriter by the name of Rachel G., who came to me after my film screened and told me that, by putting her song in my film, I made her dream come true. To which I responded that by allowing me to put her song in my film, she made my film a thousand times better than it could have been. She made my dream come true--my dream of making people happy with my art.

But there's more than that. Tonight I realized that I've been trying so hard all year to get respect from the people in my major, when I really had it all along. Maybe I didn't have as much as certain others. Maybe it didn't show the way I wanted it to. Maybe I still didn't get the jobs I wanted. But they did care, and had I been expelled or had I left for other reasons, they would have noticed.

All year I have cried, fought, wished, prayed, begged, demanded, cursed, and complained. All year I have done things that I am not proud of, things I wish I could take back, all because I wanted to be good, I wanted a taste of what some of my fellow MPAs were handed on a silver platter. And tonight I was given that taste, and I realized that I would go through these past nine months a thousand times, if it meant feeling like this, having this success.

Shout-outs--well-earned shout-outs--to everyone who made tonight possible, especially the following:

Mark U.

Mindy M.

Travis C.

Keaton M.

Elizabeth V.

Aaron T.

Miles C.

Jesse E-J

Tyler H.

Nicole A.

Jamie T-R

Theo E.

Kylie C.

Jeff K.

Connor E.

Connor B.

Jay F.

Mida C.

Colin C.

Bonnie B.

Pippa A.

Dani K.

Preston C.

Jarryd E.

Michael M.

Lesley T.

Andy H.

Danny D.

Isaac R.

Mary-Carole H.

Bill C.

Harry H.

Sarah B.

Anne C.

Sheridan S.

Erin J.

Siddhartha R.

Rowen K.

and EVERYONE who worked in the MPA productions tonight, this would never have happened without all of you.

I love you <3

We make the hipsters fall in love

HOLY CRAP...

...it has been TOO FREAKING LONG!

I have soooo much to tell you and not enough time...but I will try to say what I need to say before the internet shuts off.

First off, MORP. MORP MORP MORP MORP. It was FREAKING AMAZING.

In a nutshell: I have the best friends in the world. From the moment I got up that day, I was surrounded by amazing people. There was literally no point during May 1st that I looked at someone and thought, "Why do I have to deal with you, you're a jerk!" My date/MORP buddy/whatever you wanna call him was honestly the best person I could have chosen to spend my senior prom with (let's pretend that sentence was structured properly, shall we?). Isaac R., the soon-to-be Ivy League-attending, film-acting, play-writing, saxophone-playing, physics-whiz BADASS who has been one of the best friends I've ever had and gotten me through the year (a LOT...you seriously have no idea) was my MORP date and I will tell you, we had a blast. I'd never seen him dance before and dude, he's an EPIC dancer...in fact, I got to judge a dance-off between him and another good friend, Emily D...and he won, it was close thanks to her disco moves, but he did win...and then he kicked my ass at bowling, and then we kicked ass at pool and got our collective asses kicked at pool by Ariel F.--no joke, she beat us single-handed! WOW.

Ok, so you know by now (or at least you should) that my friends and I are weird, right? Well, what would you say if I told you we had our own code for playing pool? We did...and I can't translate our code words (it's our secret!) but I can give you a sampling of our insanity:

MACARONI STOP!

What even is that thing?!

But I'm from Michigan!

"But I don't know anything about International Relations!" "It's okay, my dear, nobody does!"

Greyhouse moment!

But I want to adopt it!/Can I adopt it?/Do I want to adopt it?/You want to adopt this one, yes you do!

It was, in a single word, amazing.

It gets even better...WE HAD A REAL DJ...we had a proper, hired DJ from Traverse City, instead of having an Interlochen kid do it...and he played ALL my jams..."Jesse's Girl," "Thriller," "D.A.N.C.E.," "Boom Boom Pow," "We R Who We R," and "Just Dance"...and it was awesome. It really was. This is why I like REAL DJs...because they play REAL music instead of just doing the same thing over and over.

Shout-outs to all who made MORP memorable:

*Isaac

*Krista T.

*Morgan

*Mishka

*Lydia M

*Julia H, MY WIFE :P

*Emily H-C

*Thomas

*Gustavo

*Emily D

*Aaron

*Danny R

*Jackie G

*Harry H the HIPSTER ;) jk, jk <3

And a huge, HUGE thank-you to Lisa M., our activities coordinator, for making MORP magical for all of us...YOU ROCK and I want to be just like you when I grow up! :)

But while we were all getting ready for MORP, a few things happened that I have to mention, because without them, my senior year would be incomplete.

I have not had an easy time in my department this year. That's no secret. I've had to fight hard to get even the tiniest roles--I've done continuity three times this year!--and by April I was honestly really sick of this. So sick of it, in fact, that I started behaving very immaturely and blaming pretty much everyone but myself for my problems. I whined. I cried--a LOT. I complained to anyone who would listen about how unfair my life was and how I would've been better off in Comparative Arts or Creative Writing.

And then a truly amazing person in my department came to me, looked me right in the eye, and said, "Grow up."

But he didn't say it in a mean way! Not at all. Quite the opposite, in fact: He spent the night before HIS junior thesis pep-talking ME. ?!? How's THAT for an incredible friend? I swear to you, until that night I did not know that there was anyone other than my parents who would be willing to get up with me at four in the morning just because I was upset. I think that was half the wake-up call--knowing that even though he had every reason not to, he was still willing to come and talk to me in the middle of the night.

And you know what? I screwed up. I admit it. I screwed up a lot this year--I don't know anyone who DIDN'T have their screwup moments this year, but it felt like I had about a billion of those--and yet he was still willing to give me another chance.

All year, I've been dying to do lighting. It got to the point where I went to an MPA who I didn't like, who I knew didn't like me, and begged them to let me grip for their thesis simply so I could touch lights--didn't matter if I designed them or not, just so long as I could do somethingwith them--and I was whining excessively about how I would do anything to light just ONE person's thesis. (As you might have guessed, that did not work out too well.)

And when my friend got up with me in the middle of the night, he told me that he'd give me one last chance. He assigned me the position of lighting grip--which is a hell of a lot closer to what I wanted to do than continuity or vanities, a.k.a. what I'd been doing pretty much the whole year--and that meant that I got to set up, tear down, and operate lights...

...and, of course, go up in the grid.

Holy crap. The Grid. It should be the title of a horror movie. I'm not kidding. I have a new respect for theater techies--if you have the guts to go up in the freaking ceiling, on a mesh floor, using a ladder so sketchy it's enough to make a skydiver afraid of heights...well, in my opinion you deserve a curtain call, at the very least.

To say that I was afraid to go up on this thing is an understatement of breathtaking proportions. On a scale from one to ten, my panic level was at "OhmyGodholyhellIcan'tdothisohmyGodgetmedownNOW!" before I'd taken two steps. As I bluntly told my film teacher after the fact, it's not that I don't like heights, it's that I don't like near-death experiences, which is what I was sure I was about to have (or having, depending on how you look at it--hmm, going up to the ceiling untethered? sounds pretty deadly to me). So when I actually got to the top and got into the grid...wow. Exhilarated doesn't even cover it. I was on top of the world (figuratively and literally).

So as long as I was up there, I was fine. It was when it was time to come down that I had a problem. I went right back up to "OhmyGodholyhellIcan'tdothisohmyGodgetmedownNOW!" and pretty much stayed there until I was on solid ground. But it was worth it. I will tell you this much, right now: It is absofreakinglutely worth being scared for a few minutes to go up in the grid.

But you know what? I don't think anything was as amazing as hearing the director--my friend--tell me, "You are doing an amazing job." That alone was worth the scary ladder and the scary grid. I hadn't actually gripped for someone in a long time, so it was a double shot of amazing: Doing something I loved and getting recognition for doing it.

And you want to know something else? THAT is why I came to this school, right there, in a nutshell. That's why I came here. I wanted to do what I loved and get credit for doing it. Isn't that why we all came here? (Sorry, I'm about to go on a rant here. I hope my soapbox doesn't crush anyone.) Because I've heard an awful lot of people complaining about Interlochen lately...

~cue new section of blog post~

Guys, come on. I will be the first to admit that there are things I don't like about this school. (Tip lines? REALLY? Holy crap...) But you know what, I think we need to stop, take a look, and put this in perspective.

First of all, did anyone come to Interlochen expecting that it was going to be perfect? I hope your answer to that is no, and if it's not, well, I'm sorry, but I think most of us knew going in that this was going to be tough. And believe me, I'm not going to pretend that I've loved every second of the past two years--I haven't. There have been parts that I've absolutely hated. There have been moments that I wish I could erase.

For anyone wondering, no, I haven't always gotten along with my suitemates or roommates. I didn't always take advantage of opportunities that Interlochen offered me. I didn't go to every dance or eat every meal at Stone or trust the laundry service with my favorite clothes. But those were petty things, little things that I could just kind of ignore. When I say there are moments I wish I could erase, I'm talking about bigger mistakes. I'm talking about the kind of moments when you just wish the floor would open up and swallow you.

Put yourself in the following situation and see what I mean:

You are sitting in a film workshop, presenting your first-ever thesis script. It gets torn apart time after time, until you finally give in and change the whole bloody thing. At the last minute you write a screenplay that you think will satisfy everyone, including yourself. You submit it to your thesis advisor and he turns it down flat, telling you that it is "worse than the first draft," despite a trusted friend's insistence that it is much better than your current shooting script. Your friend advises you to send it in to your department head. Afraid of what your thesis advisor will do--namely cancel your shoot--if you go behind his back or over his head, you chicken out and don't send the latest draft of the screenplay. Instead, you shoot the script that he likes and hate yourself for it later.

I don't care what anyone says or thinks. I will never, ever forgive myself for screwing up my junior thesis. The fact that now I have a better film doesn't matter. The fact that I will probably be able to re-shoot Alien Water Torture someday doesn't matter. The way I see it, I essentially wasted my junior year. My GPA dropped, my thesis film was a mess, and I lost most of my friends and had to start over senior year, replacing graduates and returners alike with newcomers.

In other words: Not exactly the magical Hogwarts of the Arts that I was hoping for.

And things didn't exactly perk up the way I'd hoped senior year. I was told that seniors had priority for theses and crew roles. Not true. Now, I was told that my attitude through the year had a big role in this, and you know what, that's probably true. I admit that right now: There are definitely things I could have done differently, better ways I could have handled myself, and I would make a fair few changes in myself if I could go back to the beginning of the year and do this over.

But you know what? That wasn't the only contributing factor. As I mentioned above, when I actually got on sets I kicked ass. I stayed positive when on-set, didn't whine or act petty to the people who had crew roles that I wanted while I was stuck doing continuity. It was getting on-set that was the problem--by the time I finally got onto a crew, there had been five shoots. And it's not like no one knew what I was trying to do. I told everyone in the department, newbies and returners alike, that I was willing to work. I made it known that I was available. And I still got absolutely nowhere.

For anyone who doesn't know, there's a rule in the MPA department that we are only allowed to do the same job twice per season. So, if I were to be the cinematographer for two people, I couldn't say yes when a third person asked me to be their cinematographer; they would have to find someone else. Last year I noticed that there were certain crew roles, like vanities and grip, that could get away with breaking this rule and no one really noticed. I figured that was okay. I didn't realize yet that people weren't just doing minor roles more than twice.

I know people who have done lighting four times and camera three times. I know one person who did audio four times this season--why? Is it really that much of an inconvenience to have someone who's not the best in the department do your film? Last year I had a great DP who dropped out at the last minute and replaced him with someone who had never DPed a film before. And my gaffer? Yeah, she'd never lit a film before, either. And say what you like aboutPossession, I'll be the first to admit that it sucks, but no one can say the cinematography and lighting weren't anything less than 100% solid. This year the same guy was supposed to be my DP, but he overbooked and couldn't do it. I replaced him again, this time with a first-year who I'd never worked with before, whose reel I'd never seen, and hey, guess what? My cinematography was flipping amazing!

So yes, I know there are people in my department who are already at a professional grade, and I respect them and love them and view some of them as close friends. I'm not saying that it doesn't take serious dedication and some major raw talent to do what they do. I'm not saying that I don't admire them for it, because I do. (Read the end of this post if you think I'm just saying this so I don't sound like a jealous bitch.) I look up to them like crazy and I hope that I can be as good in five years as they are right now.

All that being said, Interlochen is a school, not a major studio. I don't care how much talent one person has compared to another, it's not fair for a teacher to showcase the more-talented student and let them do all of the jobs that everyone is supposed to learn how to do. During one conversation with another student about how I wasn't getting enough crew roles and how I might change that, my friend said to me, "Well, you know, they're three-years. Of course people know that they can do things."

EXACTLY. They are THREE-YEAR SENIORS. Of COURSE they know what they're doing, they've had a chance to do it all before most of us got here! Which is why it's the TEACHER'S job to step in and say, "Hey, this kid has been the DP for about six thesis films since he's been here, and I have this other kid over here who's really good at cinematography but hasn't gotten to do one yet and it's their senior year--hmm, maybe I should let this other kid take a shot?" (Terrible pun not intended.)

Yes, in the end I did get my chance. But by then it was too late in the year to really do anything except say "Ha, ha, you didn't know I could do that, did you?" to the people who wouldn't let me on their sets before. And yes, Mom and Dad, I DID learn a lesson about myself and about what I can do differently when I go to college. But that's not the point. Point #1: It should not be my job to teach myself how to make films. That's what Interlochen is here for. It's not fair that the self-taught, raw-talented students are showcased, while others are shunted to the side.

But the bigger point, and the reason I started this rant in the first place, is this: If you have complaints about Interlochen--and we all do--do not waste them on things that you knew going in would be problems, such as the food or laundry or sign-in or overloads of homework. Use them for things that matter. I would have to say that being overlooked in your major is a pretty freaking big problem.

So, prospective students, listen to me now: DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU. Do not make the mistakes that I did. If your thesis advisor is holding you back, go to your department head and MAKE HIM LISTEN TO YOU. If people are throwing you off their sets or not letting you on in the first place, ask yourself why. If the problem is you--and be honest, because sometimes it is--change IMMEDIATELY. Don't wait until the end of your senior year to show everyone why you deserve to be on set. And if the problem is with your department, go to your department head--and if he doesn't listen (which mine unfortunately didn't), GO OVER HIS HEAD. Go to Nicole or JWes. Go to Mr. Farraday or Mr. Wade--THIS IS WHAT THEY ARE HERE TO DO. Get your parents involved--yes, I know it might be embarrassing, but let them get involved anyway. DO NOT LET YOURSELF GET PUSHED TO THE SIDE. Fight back. It's hard, and I learned this lesson in the worst way possible--so learn from my mistakes. FIGHT BACK LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT.

On that note, I have to mention a very special teacher who made this year infinitely better than my junior year.

I know that everyone loves our artist-in-rez from last year. Fine, whatever. Maybe I was the only one he picked on. Maybe others faced the same treatment but don't want to say anything. Either way, he and I did not work well together, with the inevitable result that I learned very little from him. When I heard that we would have another artist-in-rez teaching editing this year, I was wary. What if he turned out to be like last year's artist-in-rez--nice at first, but after awhile things went sour?

Turns out, I didn't need to worry. It was (platonic, thankyouverymuch) love at first sight. This man taught me more in one session of thesis editing than Anthony taught me in an entire semester. This is Danny Daneau, an editing teacher, a filmmaker, and a mentor, who showed me that editing is in fact an art form, who showed me that post-production does not have to be painful, and that there is life after film school.

For the first few weeks I was still cautious, watching for any signs that my new teacher had a dark side. Any signs of power-tripping--any slip-up--any insistence that we were the ones who got the date wrong and not him--any unfair test questions--I jumped. But no one is perfect, and over time even the imperfections grew on me. Classes with this teacher are not sit-around sessions. We do things. We cut films. We critique each other's films. We use professional-grade materials and footage from professional-grade films. We are not just film students in this class--we are editors, and he treats us as such, instead of condescending and making us feel like grade-schoolers.

So far we've screened three of his films--his short Good Night Charlie, his college thesis The Attic Door (WHICH IS MOTHERFLUFFING BRILLIANT, BY THE WAY), and the film he edited, Fly Away. I absolutely love watching his work, just like I loved watching Anthony Penta's work--but the difference here is that I respect Danny Daneau not only as an artist, but as a person. Having Q&As after a screening is more like chatting with a friend than interviewing a teacher.

In an editing session with Danny, you do not feel intimidated or nervous. You do not worry about pleasing him or disappointing him. You just look at him and say, "Tell me what I need to do to make this better," and he tells you, and you do it. He does not hurt you by telling you that you're "too stubborn," that it doesn't matter what he tells you because "you won't listen to me anyway," or that "you just don't know how film works." He is honest--but he is honest about the good as well as the bad. It's impossible not to trust him, which makes it pretty damn hard to not learn from him.

I'm going to write him a more formal thank-you at the end of the year. (Writing train letters to teachers = SO FREAKING INTERLOCHEN it's not even funny.) But for now, I just want to let everyone know--I love, love, love having classes with Danny Daneau, and I feel so fortunate to be here, at this school, where I have access to people like him. Thank you Danny, and thank you Interlochen!

Now that the cheesiness is over...remember that Artist as Badass post I promised? Well...

Have you ever gone to an underground concert and fallen in love with one of the opening bands? Ever seen an indie short made by someone your age and thought, wow, I wonder if I could do that? Ever read a short story by a sixteen-year-old that was ten times better than certain published novels I could mention (but won't, for the sake of not beating that poor old dead horse)? Ever watched a friend do sketches and wondered why in the hell no one had snatched her up to design logos for some hi-tech company yet?

I have done all of the above...and that is why I've decided that from here on out, I'm going to take the time in each of my blog posts to highlight one of my awesomesauce (or awesome possum, as my screenwriting teacher says) fellow indie artists. I go to school with some of the most amazing young artists in the world, not to mention some of the most interesting human beings in the world...it's high time I stopped just giving "shout-outs" on this blog and actually started telling the world why I love them so much.

In this post I'm showcasing the amazing filmmaker Aaron Tyson. Let me tell you, if there were an MPA award for all-around proficiency, this kid would win it, hands-down. Some people are born to be wild, some people are born to be artists, some people are born to be unprofessional...well, Aaron Tyson was born to be a kickass indie filmmaker. I have seen more short films and trailers on his YouTube channels (yes, you read that right, CHANNELS, as in, plural) than I could make in ten years, and he seems to crank them out by the day.

What I love most about Aaron is that he doesn't give a damn if anyone else thinks it's "good" or not, and as a result most of his films turn out so well that you don't care either. It's only afterwards that you realize, "Wait a minute, there was no plot," or, "Wait a minute, that was Jeff?!" All Aaron needs is a camera and a few friends, and BOOM, out comes a short film. It also doesn't hurt that he's an amazing editor--he can take a random clip of a party in his dorm room and turn it into an angst-filled mock-trailer for a movie that you're dying to see...only you can't, because it doesn't actually exist.

However, the talent for making real trailers is as great as making mock-trailers...as these so nicely point out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz_w7JsC2eE&feature=channel_video_title

http://www.youtube.com/user/Sachte2#p/u/34/OVbBtny0e1w

The first trailer is for Nippeldiebstahl, the film that turned into a miniseries, and trust me, it doesn't make any more sense after you see the full movie. But here's the thing...IT DOESN'T MATTER! Remember what I said about why I love Aaron's films? Here's the practical example. When I saw that film, I wasn't thinking, "Uh, where's the plot?" I was thinking 1) "What's going to happen?" and 2) "Why the hell is Keaton wearing that wig?" (Well, okay, maybe I only thought that once, but still.)

The second is for Sachte, his junior thesis film, which I was fortunate enough to crew for (remember the fifteen friends and a crowbar post?) and I honestly can't make head or tail of this film...but I still love it. I don't care how many times you watch this thing, you will never be able to interpret it the way it was intended (and I would know, I'm friends with the writer AND the director), but it doesn't freaking matter! Part of the beauty of Sachte is coming up with your own interpretations. Or, if you're like me, you just chill out and think, Who cares? and enjoy the movie for what it is: A stunning display of editing, music, casting, visual effects, and choreography.

When you watch an Aaron Tyson film, you enjoy it. Period. And then maybe afterward, you realize that the only reason you did was for the graphics or the casting or the music...or maybe it was because the enjoyment from making the film seems to pour out of the screen and into the audience. When someone truly loves their craft, you can sense it, and it's almost impossible to not go along for the ride.

In place of stolen dialogue (yes, I KNOW you missed it, I missed it too, but this is more important), I'm going to close out this post with an interview with Aaron Tyson, the first-ever recipient of the Beatnik Belle Artist as Badass Award (yes, more WILL win this useless but fun award, and they WILL be featured on this blog and the "sequel blog" when I go off to McDaniel).

AWT: How long have you been making movies?

Aaron Tyson: I started when I was about seven years of age. My first camera was a large VCR camcorder nearly twice my size. Filmmaking was a hobby back then, something for my friends and I to do on weekends, so elements of story were rushed and mostly absent, similar to Nippeldiebstahl

What filmmakers inspire you? Why?

Alfred Hitchcock, for his ability to create suspense, and tell compelling stories with simple yet effective techniques. Robert Elswitt, for being the best DP ever. His ability to tell a story in one sweeping shot has always fascinated me. Walter Murch for his focus on sound design and his ability to make every cut count.

Your films are known for having a chaotic, edgy look with a heavy dark (Sachte) or comedic (The Jeff Who Wasn't There) tone. Where do your ideas come from?

This came from limited resources. When I started making films, I had no lights or trained camera operators. The limited lighting, and use of haze/fog to provide arial diffusion was necessary.

Nippeldiebstahl, your latest film/miniseries, has a few fresh faces (most notably Keaton Manning), and was made simply because you and your crew were "bored." Can you elaborate a bit on the story behind Nippeldiebstahl? How did you come up with the concept? What made you decide to release it as a series, instead of a stand-alone?

Alex Szemetylo (Corey) needed to shoot a music video for a Math extra credit assignment. Austin Holm (The Bear) was bored and wanted to shoot a country music video starring Keaton Manning (Edmund) and Harry Hunter (Crizzald). Neither of them can sing or play any instruments well. I posed the idea of a scary short. horror films are fun, and due to my experience, easy to make with limited time. They all agreed this idea was suitable, yet had no idea of story. So we made it up as we went long. Eventually Jeff Kasanoff (Jack) became the show runner and has written the next six episodes premiering soon.

Sachte has officially become an Interlochen Legend. What's the story behind that film? How did you come up with your marketing campaign? There have been rumors of a sequel - is this going to happen? If so, when?

I would love to make a Sachte II. The t-shirts already have been made to market the potential part two. If this ever happens, it will be a remake more so than a continuation. The film was originally the story of Boy and Girl, two lovable teens, who mistakenly stumble upon a trail in the forest. the trail leads them to a house. The house's foyer is filled with candy and other sweet foods. This lures them into the next room of the house, inhabited by dolls and toys, which come to life and dance with the two protagonists. the dancers are warm loving children, who a revealed to be ragged, ghostly minions to the witch who runs the house.

The marketing campaign came very naturally to me. I figured YouTube and Facebook were perfect place to promote the film at a high school: targeting the artsy teen demographic.

Do you have any advice for prospective MPAs?

Don't be discouraged by the difficulties you will experience here at the academy. Make sure your priorities are in order, though a 10 hour school day feels long there is a lot of time to produce projects independently and perfect your in class thesis work.

Is there anything you would like the readers of AWT to know that I haven't asked you? Any shout-outs to friends or colleagues?

Vote Szemetylo+Overton!!!

Sorry about the lateness of this post! Won't happen again, I swear! ;)

The party don't start til we walk in!

What the...EIGHT DAYS? Ok, I am officially ashamed of myself. (Though considering my track record, nine days is NOTHING...)

But anyway! Here's the lowdown of the first week of Inty:

1. There was a dance the first night back. I didn't attend this, but I heard through a community meeting led by our student deans that there was some stripping involved. From what I heard, the worst thing involved was some bras and boxers (as in, no actual nudity), but the deans deemed it appropriate to say at the first community meeting: "Okay, guys...here's how it works...at an Interlochen dance...WE KEEP OUR CLOTHES ON."

2. Welcome Wagon and Lisa Melnyk led a scavenger hunt...in the pouring rain. It started raining just as we walked out the door to start the scavenger hunt. Rain + tired, hungry students + annoying Freshmen Mentors who liked withholding clues and messing with us = AWKWARD. And not all that fun, to be honest. Oh well...it was a bonding experience.

3. Getting-to-know-you business such as community meetings, senior meetings/class meetings, and my personal favorite, Opening Convocation, complete with reception. I took a thousand pics at Convocation...to my Interlochen buddies, just so you know, as soon as I get enough good Inty pictures from this year there WILL be a new facebook album, so keep an eye out for that.

4. THIS was not a campuswide activity! My friend Lucie E. turned eighteen on the night before classes started. To celebrate, a handful of us gathered for chocolate fondue and pizza in her apartment-like dorm room. One of her presents was an inflatable mannequin (not anatomically correct, unfortunately) named Bradley, which we dressed up in clothes from the Share Box and propped in the window, much to the delight of the very immature teenage girls (yes, I include myself in that) present at the party. It was absolutely epic.

5. First day of classes! Yay! I made a fool of myself in Spanish class (hey, it happens to the best of us), got bumped from a poetry class that I desperately wanted to take (but, good news--I'm the only one on the waitlist for second semester!), and--FINALLY, some good news--got into a kickass film aesthetics class, got a kickass phsyics teacher, and got a group of EPIC new people in my major.


Shoutouts to the following new MPAs, whom I've gotten to know and like over opening weekend (if I leave you out, it's not because I dislike you--it's because we haven't gotten to know each other well yet, so please don't be offended!):

Travis C.
Sam K. (a summer camp crossover!)
Nicole A.
Connor E.
Connor B.
Aimee R.
Nic W. (another camp crossover!)

And of course, the awesomealistic returners:
Cat A.
Harry H.
Aaron T.
Jeff K.
Colin C. (my workshop buddy!)
Kylie C.
Lee Won P.
Jamie T-R

I'm glad to have such epic people in my major, you guys rock!

To the other newbies: I look forward to getting to know you and working with you, this is gonna be a good year! :)


Some other happy moments that occurred this week:

• First workshop of the year! (MPAs, YOU know what I'm talking about!) I love, love, LOVE the people in my production workshop class this year. Shout-out to all new and returning juniors and seniors--good luck with your thesis films! (And hey...if anyone needs an art director, grip, or AD, I'm here...just sayin'... ;) )
• I actually wrote a letter in Spanish, for an assignment...now, this was a MAJOR accomplishment, seeing as I haven't written/spoken Spanish in school since I was a sophomore and couldn't remember for the life of me how to spell ANYTHING...it took forever, most of that time spent looking up words in the dictionary...but it was worth it!
• I had a blast doing Welcome Wagon and meeting a shit-ton of new people...including about a billion new theatre majors and MPAs, chilling with Mishka when I wasn't on a shift, and saying hello (and hugging the crap out of) people I hadn't seen all summer.
• I went to the mall on Monday with my roommate and intended to get stuff for the room, but instead I ended up with a cute new jacket and a rather inappropriate--but so epic and so fun!--little black dress, which I plan to wear to our...
• ...Home-LEAVING dance on September 12th! Just found out about this today: We have a Homeleaving dance, instead of a Homecoming dance...apparently I can thank my awesome suitemate, Sarah B., for that. So thanks, Sarah, this is gonna be EPIC!
• A few of us have been gathering nightly to watch movies in the DeRoy Boys' Lounge (which, despite being female, I AM allowed to enter between the hours of 9:30-11 PM on weeknights), tonight we're finishing American Beauty, which I was pleased to find out is an AWESOME movie. It's funny...last year I was barely friends with any of the MPAs until mid-year...and now this year, I'm already making friends with the newbies and it's barely a week into school...YAY COOL NEW PEOPLE! :D

This is just a TASTE of what's been going down the past week (well, almost TWO weeks since I came to IAA now), and honestly, despite the hard work in Physics, Spanish III, Fairy Tale Literature, Production Workshop, and Film Aesthetics, I'm having the time of my life.



STOLEN DIALOGUE

Person one: The Orphanage is a great movie. You should watch it.
Person two: Will it scare the living hell out of me?
Person one: No, just the dead hell.

"I can only imagine the FaceBook statuses that will stem from this conversation..."

Person one: I hate Ellen Page!
Person two: I hate Jane Eyre!
Person three: I hate YOU!

Person one: Was that yesterday when we had that stare-down, or was it Wednesday?
Person two: With Harry, every day is a stare-down.

[while doing a class exercise involving information from the internet]
Person one: I should've gone on that website last night.
Person two: Not really...I went on there last night and it didn't do me any good.

"The only difference in the food this year is that it is whole-grained crap, instead of white-bread crap."

Person one: Talking to you is like knitting a sweater out of mashed potatoes.
Person two: I've never done that before.
Person one: Do you knit?
Person two: I don't knit with mashed potatoes.
Person one: Actually, it's about as fun as knitting a sweater out of potatoes too, because--
Person two: Whoa, is that a compliment or the other way around?
Person one: I was SAYING, if you'd let me FINISH--yes, it's about as fun as knitting with mashed potatoes, because it's such a novelty. Every conversation is different, you know?
[silence, while Person Two looks at Person One like P1 is insane]
Person one: Oh, come on, admit it...you're glad to have me in your life.

"This treatment is one big serving of What the Hell."

"I loved seeing those two together...it was like Beauty and the Beast...only, you know, he was too cute to be the beast...so, like, Beauty and the Horny Theatre Major."

"This has got to be the first bad idea that Lisa Melnyk has ever had."

I've Got Fifteen Friends and a Crowbar that says You Ain't Gonna do Jack!

The friends are the cast and crew of Aaron T.'s epic thesis shoot, and the crowbar(s) are the epic faculty of the MPA department. And today, we did jack all right. We finished shooting Aaron's film today!

Now, this was the first time I've had an actual, official job on a thesis set. I was gripping, which for anyone who doesn't know means that I was essentially the gopher--as in, go-for; extension cables, lights, sandbags, and in one instance actors. I hauled around equipment, carried stuff to and from the mule (a.k.a. the equipment truck), helped set up lights, and most importantly (sarcasm hand raised) worked the fog machine.

For anyone who does not know, a fog machine is the devil's invention. A person thinks, "Oh, it's just haze. How bad can it be?" Oh, it's bad. It is very, very bad. It is enough to make a person cough, as several of us learned the hard way the past few days. It is enough to draw any oxygen out of the air and turn it into a faintly stinky gas that, trust me, no one really wants to breathe. And when you're using this invention in a huge room, it's bad enough. But when you use it in a tiny enclosed space--as we were doing today--it makes you want to scream...but you can't, because the scream will inevitably turn into a hacking cough.

In fact, it got so bad that at one point, I decided there was nothing better to do than joke about it. We were shooting a scene in which Logan's character is trying to pull Lucy out of a window. Lucky Logan was allowed to stay outside, with the nice breeze and the sunshine, while the rest of us sweated and coughed in that hazy, stifling basement. So between takes, I stood under the window, held up both hands as if pleading to be rescued, and said, "Logan! Help! Save me from the haze!" And to my great delight, Logan actually found this amusing.

Later on, someone had to enter the Room of Doom (a.k.a. said hazy, stifling basement) and I opened the door (which was locked from the outside) and greeted the newcomer with, "Welcome to our Inferno!" and earned myself more laughs from the cast and crew. Success again!

I like to think my joking and attempts to stay positive contributed to the good atmosphere of this shoot. Then again, I also like to think that the ghost of Jack Kerouac haunts this campus, so maybe my opinion doesn't really count. ;)

To Aaron T., I just wanna say, good job, man. I know I've said it a million times already, but trust me, you deserve to hear it a million more. I liked working for you and I liked it double because I was working my favorite job. Dude. Next year, if you need a grip on ANY shoot (and I mean class projects too, not just the big Thesis Film), I am there. I mean it.

To the cast (who probably don't follow this blog, but whatevs), a shout out for pure epicness. Helene and Ian, you were amazingly creepy. I can't wait to see a cut of this film and be scared out of my wits by the two of you (yes, that IS in fact a compliment). Lucy and Logan...wow. Wow, wow, wow. You were thrown around, pushed down, slid across rooms and shoved out windows. And then after all that, you both said, "Okay, what next?" PERFECTION. I hope that I get to work with you in the future (a.k.a. next Academy season...).

To the rest of the crew--THUMBS UP. Little complaining, lots of hard work and dedication. I think this is why gripping is my favorite part of MPA--it enables you to see what really goes into making a film, to observe the DP, AD, AC, Gaffer, Audio, and Continuity and realize that whether they're running around like headless chickens (which is, trust me, what Kylie [gaffer], Charlotte [audio], and I were doing today) or not, they still are working their asses off.

To me, THAT is what MPA is about. Working hard, sweating like a horse, losing sleep, freaking out, and loving every damn minute of it.

A few months ago I Facebooked, "It kind of just hit me that this really is "thesis season" and we're all gonna be insanely busy until May. We're going to unload and load the Mule every other day...spend hours revising scripts and treatments...stress about who will be our thesis advisor or on our crews...spend unlimited hours in the editing suites. All I have to say is, HELL YEAH. THIS is why I became an MPA. :)"

That still holds true. I don't care how hard this is. I am proud to be a filmmaker, and I am proud to be an Interlochen Motion Picture Arts major.


STOLEN DIALOGUE

"I'm not really in the habit of looking at people's bottoms."

[talking about school uniform]
Teacher: So, the physics teacher taught me to look at people's bottoms.
Student: Well, out of context, that's just wonderful...

[still talking about uniforms]
Teacher: Can you go find yourself some britches that aren’t jeans that are close enough to navy blue to be uniform?
Student: I can’t! All my blue pants are dirty!
Teacher: Well, you need navy blue britches. So go get yourself a pair. Borrow some, maybe?
Student: I can’t — dude, my friends are [Really Skinny Dude #1] and [Really Skinny Dude #2]! I can’t fit into their pants! I don’t know how they can fit into their pants!

"So today I realized there are directions on the side of Pop-Tart boxes. Dude, no person is stupid enough to need DIRECTIONS to eat a Pop-Tart. That's gotta be a misprint. Or, like, a really bad joke from the Pop-Tart company."

"I've been living with him for so long that everything sounds like sarcasm to me."

Person one: I'm going to go back to my dorm and sleep for a month.
Person two: Good idea, I think I'll join you.

"I think the main reason I've never done anything stupid is because I'm smart."

[seeing the effect of the fog machine for the first time]
"Oh my God...it's like The Mist in here!"

Person one: So we had a fog machine on set today.
Person two: Oh my God, did you die?
Person one: No, but I now have proof that my thesis advisor is insane.
Person two: Really? Why?
Person one: Because he ran around going, 'Oh my God, you have haze! That makes me so happy!' And he didn't seem to notice that we were asphyxiating.

[talking about riding on the back of the grip truck]
Person one: Can we ride?
Teacher: Well...
Person one: Dude, you would be the coolest teacher EVER!
Person two: Dude, he'd be the fired-est teacher ever.

The hardest thing about making a movie is...

...Getting everyone together in one place.

And the sad thing is, I am so not even joking about that.

Okay. So here is my to-do list for my movie (and this all has to be done by Saturday OR ELSE):

1. Get with my art director. Together, we will get all of my actors together and figure out their wardrobe for the film. This will hopefully be accomplished by having an "open room," that is, having guys and girls together in one dorm room, which at Interlochen is kind of like convincing your parents to let you have your boyfriend and his buddies over while they're (your parents) out. You KNOW nothing is going to happen, but they aren't so sure.

2. Get two of my actors together and have them pose for a photograph so that my VA buddy can draw a picture version of it in my sketchbook.

3. Find VA buddy (hopefully get together with her and my art director, so we're all on the same page), email her the photos, give her the lowdown on what I want for the drawing, and figure out a fail-safe deadline for said drawing.

4. Get my two leads together with a handful of extras so we can get some background photos. Once again, my art director must be present.

5. Get with my composer and talk about what the music will sound like. Give him the most recent version of the ever-changing script and show him some preview stills (a.k.a. the pictures I took for my art director and Visual Artist) so he'll have a jump-start on writing the actual music.

6. Have a meeting with my thesis advisor. Discuss possibility of adding dialogue to the script. Get into argument. Argue until it's time for class to begin. Get to class. Get out of class. Repeat process.

7. Get together with DP and gaffer (a.k.a. cameraperson and lighting person) and talk about shots, storyboards, lights, and other such technical details. The challenge here is finding a night this week when gaffer is not swamped with her owh thesis film and DP is not busy with friends and/or school.

8. Go on a prop/costume hunt with my art director. I think this is self-explanatory.



As you can see, most of these projects involve meeting with other people. Now, I have a hard enough time getting stuff done on my own. But when I have to coordinate times and dates with half a dozen others, my time management skills go even deeper into the crapper. That's really not good, especially seeing as I am shooting next Wednesday and my rehearsal is this Friday.

There is only one phrase that describes my current schedule. In the words of my very good friend Emily: This is just craptacular.


THIS AFTERNOON:

Confirm audio recordist (which is kind of necessary for a film, having an audio recordist, I mean). Chase down producer and make sure he got the correct dates for the actual shoot. Set meeting with thesis advisor.

TONIGHT

Homework. Food service. More homework. IM with long-distance friend. Sleep (optional). Email VA and explain the dimensions/specifications of the picture that she will draw for my set. Meet with art director and confirm appointments with actors for the photo shoots/costume sessions. Call parents.

TOMORROW

Homework. World History quiz (yuck!). Photo shoot with actors. Email shots to VA. Possibly have that meeting with DP and gaffer. Meet with thesis advisor sometime at noon. Commence arguing. Lock self in room and cry because no one understands my ingenius vision. Calm self with Michael Jackson or Red Jumpsuit Apparatus music. Email thesis advisor and admit that he MIGHT be right about that one pesky line of dialogue that I don't really want to edit. Wonder if I'm a sellout. Decide I'm not a sellout and move on. Call parents.

THURSDAY

Community meeting. Homework. Photo shoot with actors and extras. Possible costume session. Possible prop hunt. Hang posters for GSA and get those lovely questions such as, "Why are you doing that when you could be working on your thesis?" Double food service shift to make up for the fact that I missed last Thursday's shift. Call parents. Rehearsal with actors. Feel nervous around Bill. Feel nervous around actor whom I barely even knew before auditions. Try not to curse around actors or Bill.

FRIDAY

Meet with composer. Meet with art director. Possible continuation of costume session and prop hunts (depends on how much we get done on Thursday). Homework. Homework. Did I mention homework? Possible prelight. Mentally curse the MPA calender for not allowing me to participate in Day of Silence. Call parents and complain profusely.

SATURDAY

Meet with art director again. Finalize whatever else we have to do for my shoot. Use foul language when I inevitably discover that there's just ONE MORE THING that we should've done during the week but instead will have to do over the weekend. Scare art director. Prelight? Curse MPA calender again for not allowing one of my favorite people to be on my shoot. Kick door in frustration. Procrastinate weekend homework. Call parents.

SUNDAY

Wake up early to go to church. Brunch with fellow churchgoers. Take nap. Meet with art director to do whatever we didn't get done in the week. Scare art director. Meet with my two leads and work on chemistry. Meet with one lead and give the ever-unhelpful advice of "just be yourself." Kick door again. Curse again. Scare actors. Scare AD. Repeat MJ/RJA calming ritual and work on beat analysis. Call parents. Continue procrastination.

MONDAY

Wake up early for student senate. Go to mall for final prop-hunt. Scare producer and art director one last time. Fix all last-minute miscommunications. Meet with composer final time. Sleep. FaceBook. Possibly blog. IM with long-distance friends. Rush to get all homework done before class on Tuesday morning. Cuss. Wish for a three-day weekend. Call parents.

TUESDAY

Last day before shooting. Panic. Call best friend (who conveniently lives out of state) and panic some more. Call friends from old high school (a.k.a. "my boys") and panic until they give me a reality check and shut me up. Panic about all homework that I didn't get done over the weekend. Curse. Food service. Curse some more. Call composer and complain. Get reality check from composer. Call DP and complain. Get reality check from DP. Homework. Study. Call parents. Cry. Listen to MJ until I fall asleep.

WEDNESDAY

Shoot film. Annoy everyone on set with my hyperness. Promise myself an ice cream from Bud's if I do not curse ONCE on my set. Fail at not cursing and lose the Bud's ice cream. Try to stay calm, which will be harder than usual as I cannot just whip out my iPod and listen to RJA or MJ when I flip out in the middle of the set. Get through day and feel ridiculously proud of self. Call parents and gush about how wonderful my first day of shooting was.

THURSDAY

Sleep in (finally!). Do homework. Go to community meeting. Try not to obsess over tomorrow's shoot. Food service. Listen to MJ and RJA and try to stay calm. Call parents.

FRIDAY

Shoot film. (See above.) Try to get Andrew Way to cry. Get laughed at. Hear thesis advisor say "I told you to cast the other guy!" Argue profusely with thesis advisor. Watch Andrew nail scene in one take. Gloat at thesis advisor. Repeat process until shooting is done. Homework. Screenplay reading. See parents? Sleep (optional).

SATURDAY

Go to class. Forcibly thank God that I will get to sleep in this weekend. See parents and hug the crap out of them. Try on prom dress. Sleep.


There you go, people. A week in the life of an MPA. Well, more like two weeks. And keep in mind, this is just what goes on with the film...I didn't even talk about prepping for the screenplay reading, studying for the world history quiz, studying for the SAT (which I'm not taking until June, thank God), hanging with friends (IF I have time to do that this week)...

Yeah. This kind of makes me think about the first week of school, when I met up with a couple of actors and asked them what they liked to do in their spare time. They replied with scathing looks and condescendingly informed me, "We're theater majors. We don't get spare time."

I'm an MPA. I don't get spare time.

And I love every minute of it.



STOLEN DIALOGUE:

[in class, doing a dialogue exercise]: "I was watching Spongebob with a lot of people...Edward was one of them...he was wearing a pink sweater...and man, he was yummy!"
[What makes it even funnier is that it was a guy who was saying this...]

Person one: How about mumblecore porn?
Person two: Uh, subject change please.

"When I'm high, five minutes feels like an hour...put that together with listening to an orchestra...dear God, I think I just found a way to time-travel!"

[talking about my film teacher changing a schedule]
Me: Michael doesn't change his mind easily. Jeff and I will have to tag-team him.
My dad: You take him low and Jeff can hit him high. He should go down like a bunch...of...BROCCOLI!!!

"Vanessa Hudgens is in Rent? Dude, the apocalypse is SO gonna hit when that show comes out."

"I would so love to see you participate in Day of Silence. It might be the only chance I ever have to see you not curse for a whole 24 hours."

"I love how we all get on FaceBook as soon as Michael walks out of the room..."

"Hello, Johnston-Carter zoo, how can I help you?"

"Hey, guys? Just so you know, we're going to have a coup d'etat when Mr. McCall walks into the room. Someone grab the guillotine, okay?"

Film teacher: At the risk of sounding like a noob, what's a snuggie?
All of us: Oh my God! Michael! You don't know what a snuggie is?
Film teacher: I repeat...at the risk of sounding like a noob, what's a snuggie?

"Did you really expect All Quiet on the Western Front to be a happy movie?"

The REAL Academy Awards - Interlochen Academy, that is!

The deadline is upon us! With most people scriptlocked (that is, finished writing their scripts), two or three auditions at a time, and two shoots per week--not to mention permanently-occupied edit suites--it's getting crazy at the DeRoy Center for Film Studies. All I have to say is, holy crap. This place just gets more epic by the day.

I am now presenting to you the top ten best DeRoy moments ever. Or the best MPA moments ever; whatevs. You all know what I mean. (And, hopefully, WHO I mean.)

10. I don't know why I remember this so much, but I do: Whilst sitting with two friends and prepping for a presentation on Neutral Density Filters (fascinating, I know), one of said friends complains that nothing ever happens in our department. At the precise moment she says this, two other MPAs rip through the commons, one of them holding a steadicam that he only just managed to fix, both of them yelling something about MTV Cribs and turning the place from a silent study hall into a laughing mass of what the hell! If that wasn't enough reason for me to love being an MPA, what is?

9. Seeing a certain male MPA doing a damn good impression of our epic department head while acting in my one-minute short. I'm so glad I got that close-up!

8. Advanced Lighting Class, see if you recall THIS: 1) Mad Hatter Hat, 2) Paul missing one arm, 3) improvised dialogue that was so out there we almost didn't even let Michael hear it. Do you remember cracking up here? Because I sure do...

7. While 3 MPA girls are practicing their Coffehouse dance in the DeRoy commons after class, our teacher walks by and, with a chuckle, remarks, "The Interlochen MPAs are hard at work."

6. Directing Class: Two words for you--"Shocked Posse." You know who you are. I hope that isn't a reference to some movie or something, I reeeeally hope our directing teacher just came up with that...that's just super epic.

5. MWK and CB reading the parts of "aliens" in my screenplay during a workshop. I hate that I eventually took the aliens out, but you know what, at least I have the memory of those two reading the alien lines.

4. Watching the crew for the very latest thesis film (legit...it's being shot as I type this!) duct-taping a wad of plastic bags and other materials to the lead actor's (who just so happens to also be an MPA) belly in an attempt to simulate pregnancy. Along with seeing said actor walking around the soundstage and chuckling about not having to load the grip truck like the rest of us. This was of course followed by Alien references. Because apparently, no pregnancy-themed movie or TV show can be filmed without references to Alien. It just can't happen.

3. Okay...this is a really personal one...but the first time this year we all loaded the grip truck together...it was just epic...it just screamed, We are a team! I know, I know...I'm a geek. But really, you just had to be there. It was awesome.

2. For Directing Class students, see if this sounds familiar:

"And then we have the Hal's Liquor Store sign...as drawn by Hal's child!"

"Malcolm, I know you're cold, but come on, you've gotta look angry."

"Damn sh**in' soda can!"

"That's...not very productive."

There's plenty more that would involve waaaay too much explanation. Let's just say, that was hands-down the best class of the first semester. (And combining it with Intro to Production was GENIUS!)

1. Okay. For me, the #1 best MPA moment of this year was riiiiight at the beginning of the semester...before classes had even STARTED...and I think there were a few theater majors there as well as MPAs...but anyway, there were about ten of us sitting upstairs in the DeRoy girls' lobby, eating Goldfish and Oreos, and just being generally insane...I remember mentally dubbing one of my new friends "Captain Come-On" because no matter what situation you mentioned (Home Depot, train wreck, waiting room, ect.) he could come up with fifty pickup lines that could be used in that situation. (Don't worry, I've never actually called him that.) This, like the grip truck thing, really made me see how close we could get...and keep in mind, this was the first weekend of the year!

MPAs, if you read this, what's YOUR #1 MPA moment? Tell me, pretty please?


STOLEN DIALOGUE:

"All my friends have paired off! I have sixteen close friends and they're all couples! So, today when I went to lunch to eat with them, it wasn't like sixteen individual people so much as eight two-headed people!"

"This here is what we in the business call a total f***ing disaster. I'll bring the doughnuts, you bring 2012 and I Am Legend, and we'll make a party of it."

Person 1: "How am I gonna keep my job at Chuck E. Cheese if I'm a pregnant man?"
Person 2: "The question is, how are you gonna keep the government from doing fertility experiments on you if you're a pregnant man?"
Person 1: "...Shut up, Avery."
(Haha, don't worry, he wasn't actually pregnant...this was just a very, VERY weird day.)

"Listen to what we're having for dinner: 'Irish' chicken nuggets, 'Irish' soy nuggets, 'Irish' macaroni and cheese. Let me ask you, how do you make chicken nuggets 'Irish'? Maybe they'll just, like, dye it green..."

Person 1: "Has anyone seen Elvis [sock puppet]?"
Person 2: "I'm sorry, he's left the building."

[while gesturing to the place where our teachers usually stand during MPA forum] "Has anyone else noticed the suspicious lack of teachers in this general area?"

Person 1: "Well, you and I are friends, right? And I'm SURE there've been times when you've wanted to throw something at me."
Person 2: "No comment."

"I'm so sick of zombies! Everywhere I go people are talking about stupid zombies eating their stupid brains and infecting people with their stupid zombie powers! CAN WE SHUT UP ABOUT THE ZOMBIES ALREADY?! Why not talk about vampires? Or...I don't know...the square root of pi? Anything but zombies!"
[P.S.: To the person who said this (you know who you are), you are now my new best friend.]

"If you cut your hair, I will force you to go to Indiana. I mean it."

"Felix, every time you do that I will sing one verse of a Tokio Hotel song. In German."

"Malcolm..." [gets down on one knee] "Will you be my gay lover?"
(You kind of had to be there to get this one...just fyi, I was trying to convince this one guy to audition for my movie, another dude who had already agreed to audition and just so happened to be good friends with the other dude was in the vicinity, and boom...instant stolen dialogue.)


That is it for this post. I'm getting busier as the weeks go on...let's hope I have time to post again before April!