Film class gives students taste of real world

By Mary Dang
Daily bruin contributor
[email protected]

Movies are seen as a wondrous flow of images that enchant
audiences with narrative or technical achievements. Behind the
scenes however, is the fast-paced world of movie production, which
can be experienced at UCLA in “Producing, Directing, and
Cinematography on Location.”

More simply called “the locations class,” anyone in
the School of Theater, Film and Television or who is taking the
undergraduate crew course 178 can experience hands-on training at a
live production set. While there, they work with a complex
production crew of 30 students rather than the usual handful
brought together for a student film. They will also interact with
long-time professionals, such as actor Eugene Robert Glazer of
“La Femme Nikita” and Billy Dickson, the
cinematographer of “Ally McBeal.”

Devised by UCLA professors Myrl Schreibman and Tom Denove, the
location class was planned as a transitional class for people who
have only been exposed to a school environment of learning about
film and now need real life experiences of being on a production
set.

“There’s a student film mentality that develops and
it works within a teaching process to learn filmmaking,”
Denove said. “What happens is that’s all they’re
exposed to and we have found that when students leave film school,
they really aren’t prepared to step into the Hollywood
mainstream.”

With a special emphasis on producing a film on location rather
than in a studio, Schreibman said he believes the working
environment is crucial for creating better chances of succeeding in
the entertainment industry.

“(A usual film class) doesn’t pattern Hollywood.
(Hollywood) requires films to be done under certain conditions of
time and certain conditions of limitations whether it be
limitations of time, place or money,” Schreibman said.
“This class is not taught out of a textbook. This class is
taught from practical experiences so that when they get out of here
they have a sense of reality of what’s expected of them
because the industry requires them to pay dues.”

The class approaches a film class in an unique manner, like
following SAG union work hour rules or exchanging roles with other
students to provide a deeper insight into the filmmaking
industry.

As opposed to regular film classes, the location class provides
access to equipment that is usually not available to students.

“I think the main thing as a cinematographer especially in
school is that you don’t get access to all the
equipment,” Ben Brankhardt, a third-year cinematography
graduate student said. “This class in particular allows us to
go out and get real professional equipment, some of the bigger
lights and bigger toys that we can play with. It certainly is a
great experience on that end knowing how to use these particular
toys and the safeties involved.”

Other aspects of the class are that it provides an outlet to
apply all the instruction that students have learned in other film
classes, and that a certain amount of professionalism is involved,
due to real-life scenarios like time restrictions.

“It just forces you to utilize the scope that you’ve
learned throughout the year as a director and that you’ve
been trying to perfect and then you have the opportunity to
actually use them,” Angela Sostre, a fourth-year directing
student said. “We don’t get any rehearsal time with our
actors. As soon as they show up on set is normally the first
we’re talking to them about the scene and that’s the
way it is in the professional world.”

Along with learning to deal with the difficulties of
professional filmmaking, students can enter the film industry a
step ahead as far as training goes.

“In the camera department it is pretty much trial by fire
and learn as you go,” said Tara Summers, an assistant
cameraman and one of the professionals on set. “There’s
no formal training to do what we do and yet when you show up on the
set you are expected to understand and know what needs to be done,
and the only way to do that primarily is through the mentoring
system.”

One of the biggest differences seen in a real shoot and that of
student films is the compartmentalization of certain duties so that
everything runs like a well-oiled machine. The intent is that this
division of labor will lead to greater efficiency while filming and
more room for creativity.

“You truly can relax and concentrate on your own job for
the day and trust that everybody else is going to concentrate on
their job for the day,” said Christopher Bradley, a student
director in the class. “It’s really like a dance, and
there’s an incredible freedom that starts happening when you
know that everybody’s doing what they are supposed to be
doing and I don’t have to watch every little
thing.”

The locations class is an experience many professionals working
in the industry now, including Dickson, didn’t have while
attending in film school.

“This wasn’t available to me when I was a student,
and to have the experience of working with professionals sounds
like a great idea,” he said. “When I had my first job
after getting out of school, it was a surprise; it was different
from what I’ve ever expected. You know (when) you’re in
a school, you’re in a cocoon, you’re doing little
projects, and you’re not being exposed to the real world and
I think this offers a little of that.”