Shell Games

I would like to clear the air on this switch up business that you have been victim to. As much fun as it is to believe your instructor is a sadist I thought I should give some reasons to believe otherwise.

1. My original intension for switching your assignments was to get you used to the idea of doing the job at hand well and not putting off crucial steps until the day you have to roll tape. I knew this would be a challenge to all of you and I think for a number of you the lesson is hitting home…. Especially those of you on the receiving end of unfinished work.
2. The fact that your all working on your original project is strictly a slip of fate. Due to a cold medicine induced haze and/or momentary muddle-headedness I switched your projects in the wrong direction (this is where you extend your sympathies to your overworked professor). This is not such a bad thing given my concerns that some of the storyboards we’re, shall we say,” shaky at best”. Whether this is due to inexperience or lack of effort or some combination of the two remains to be seen.
3. Doing the best you can and then having to hand off your work is something that happens almost always in an industry environment and in many cases this handing off of projects is the reason that industry films have such a high caliber of technical excellence (why the majority of them have no soul is fodder for another discussion).
4. The goal of this project is not for you to produce amazing films. The goal of this project, and the course in general, is for you to have enlightening experiences. Oddly enough, with a little dedication and hard work, it is not unheard of for amazing films to come out of enlightening experiences… either way, given the dedicatation and hard work we will at least meet the goals of the course. Keep in mind that between the blog and this project you will have tallied up to a third of your class grade.
5. Finally I wanted to warn you that there would be one more switch coming your way. Not because I am having a change of heart but because I an concerned that the lesson may not be sinking in. Though you will plan and shoot the piece that is now in your possession you will in no way have control over its post production. That will be for someone else to decide. So for the short while that the project is in your hands it is up to you to make it the best that you can make it, hand it off, and hope for the best. Welcome to the real world.

I have truely enjoyed the enthusiasm that most of you bring to digital media. And while I may have been bounced it around a bit I hope I have not dampened it. Enthusiasm is an essential element to making good media making. I truelly believe it is connected to the "Soul" of filmmaking that I mentioned earlier. But enthusiasim cannot take the place of hard work, craft, and discipline. If you are not willing to take these three seriously then you are not ready to make the kind of media that the world is interested in engaging.... and learning this one simple lesson is really what this project is about.

Happy planning

Prof (AKA Sleeper)