DCFM Blog: August 2008 DCFM Meeting Recap

On Friday Night, DCFM privately screened a very exciting film that was released this spring. Come What May was produced by Advent Film Group, an organization led by George Escobar. AFG is dedicated to raising up the next generation of Christian filmmakers--a vision very close to DCFM's. Along with many professionals, this full-length feature film had upwards of 40 homeschoolers on cast and crew. This compelling drama is made up of a solid and powerful message, great humor, a love story, and good production values--a testament to the dedication of both the seasoned professionals and homeschool apprentices who worked so hard to make this film a reality.

You really should check this film out!!

As I sat watching the movie in the dark with some of my closest friends and fellow laborers, I had to laugh--we were definitely a group of filmmakers watching the movie. We talked all the way through it! LOL We critiqued, commented and learned from the film while we enjoyed taking in the experience of the story.

A word to the wise: if you want to watch a movie in silence, don't watch it with a filmmaker. That, or threaten to take away the popcorn if they open their mouth to talk. lol

Otherwise, look forward to getting way more out of the movie than you knew you could! :D

Have you heard of or seen Come What May? Leave us a comment with your thoughts!

After the movie, we continued talking about it and catching up with one another after a long summer apart.

John Naylor doing a good job entertaining people with his stories like usual.

The Rebelution.

Writers in the midst of a good conversation.

They must be talking about something exciting--they're still going at it!

Saturday's Meeting:

The President and Vice President. Getting set up.

Naylor lost behind the speakers

What happens when your flash doesn't fire.

Rubber chickens. There are stories behind this.

We really do try to keep the Lord and His Word at the center of our lives and our filmmaking. By God's grace, we learn to follow Him better as we walk this journey of life.

Evan leading devotions.

Mr. James Burgess was our guest speaker this month. We screened Pilgrim's Progress, released earlier this year, a project on which he served as Director of Photography.

If you haven't seen the movie, you should. You'll be inspired by both the presentation and message of this classic story portrayed in modern form. A quality production that retains the storyline's highlights that we all remember from the book, and the heart of Bunyan's message.
You can visit the Pilgrim's Progress website here.

Captivated.

Time for lunch!

Ladies first.
Thanks to Susan for getting all the food together for us!

Jaclyn.

"Because you didn't catch this amazing posture the first time, I have to stand here and 'do it again' for you."

Pickin' on Truett again with the camera.

John Naylor and Mr. Burgess getting things set up for the afternoon.

Can you guess to whom these hands belong? Leave a comment with your guess!

DCFM is always blessed with lots of great food and fellowship!

"Ya know...."

"I mean, what can I say? I gotta have my DP. Now quit making me laugh."

Sarah's amazing muffins!

"You sure this is safe to eat, man?
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's fine..."

Chips. Filmmaker food.
What's your favorite and absolutely-essential filmmaker food?

No way!?"

"I'm still not so sure about you."

Having a great time at lunch.

Evan eating quite Presidentially.

Mr. Burgess giving good advice to Truett and JC over lunch.

...The concept of money also comes into this. A lot of us are penny pinchers. We don’t want to spend money, but the problem is, if we don’t spend it now at the right time, you’ll spend more on it later. And this goes with the time factor. We often don’t understand how to put an accurate tally on how much time is worth. If one person’s work is extended, it pushes others and their jobs out. Keep an accurate image of what your life/time is worth and don’t rob yourself or push others back.
--From Mr. Burgess' afternoon talk

Mr. Burgess critiqued a slideshow of still frames to teach us about good cinematography.
Here he is teaching us about how to light an outdoor scene.

JC: How much time do you plan for setting up lights?
Mr. Burgess: I like to give myself an hour. But it depends on how complicated the scene is. This is something I’ve tried to teach some filmmakers: blocking!! It’s easy to get focused on one part of a scene—what’s at hand—but we need to have an accurate point of reference and sense of the bigger picture. I don’t like to do master shots. It can ware you out—THEN you have medium and close ups to do! Master shots are the wide angle shots that show everything. I don’t like to edit that way—sometimes I like to start close then reveal where the characters are, for example.

Jaclyn: Instead of shooting all three, how would you recommend it be done?
Mr. Burgess: Plan ahead of time. Some actors don’t like that because it doesn’t allow them to get the full arc of the scene. But it can be kinda hard ‘cause you know you’re gonna chop it up. That’s just how I personally like to do it. There’s a hundred different ways to do the same thing. And that’s where the art comes in. We each interpret things differently.

Thank you, Mr. Burgess for sharing your wealth of information with us!

Mr. Burgess shared a lot of technical info from his years of experience in the film industry, a lot of which we will have the chance to apply in our upcoming film. But something Mr. Burgess said that I think hit home in all of us was this:

I would encourage you to keep chasing after your dream. It’s a difficult field to make money in. Have another trade to fall back on. For me, there’s nothing more rewarding. Nothing I could do that would bring the same satisfaction. I’ve done a lot of work for non-profits, and I never really thought about it, but there are those moments in life when I stop and think, wow, I might have done something that actually changed someone’s life. You have no idea who’s gonna see the work you’ve done. Sometimes that’s sobering. But it’s also exciting. There’s no way to tally the reward your work has done. The most important movie you’re gonna make is the one your’e living. That’s the only one that counts.