Student Academy Awards

The Student Academy Awards

It was a fun week but it was time to get down to business… the Student Academy Awards medal presentations. 

The presenters!  Academy President Tom Sherak, Laura Dern (“Jurassic Park”),  Greg Kinnear (“As Good As It Gets”), Mena Suvari (“American Beauty”), and Cuba Gooding Jr. (“Jerry Maguire”).

Alternative

Amanda Tasse (USC) - “The Reality Clock” - Gold

Animation

Eric Prah (Ringling College of Art & Design) - “My Little Friend” - Bronze

Mark Nelson (UCLA) - “The Jockstrap Raiders” - Silver

David Wolter (CalArts)- “Eyrie” - Gold

All the animation winners:

Documentary

Heather Burky (Art Institute of Jacksonville) - “Lost Country” - Bronze

Ellen Tripler (American University) - “Dying Green” - Silver

Keiko Wright (NYU) - “Hiro: A Story of Japanese Internment” - Gold

All the documentary winners:

Narrative

Justin Tipping (AFI)- “Nani” - Bronze

Ryan Prows (AFI) - “Narcocorrido” - Silver

Mark Raso (Columbia) - “Under” - Gold

All the narrative winners:

Foreign

Elmar Imanov (The International Film School, Cologne, Germany) - “The Swing of the Coffin Maker” - Bronze

Thomas Stuber (Film Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany) - “Of Dogs and Horses” - Silver

David Winstone (University of Westminster) - “For Elsie” - Gold

All the foreign winners:

All the gold winners:

All the silver winners:

All the bronze winners:

Laura Dern and Greg Kinnear enjoying some student animation:

Tom Sherak watching “The Reality Clock” in 3D:

Wheeeeeee:

Too busy:

Best friends forever:

ASC Cinematographers Give Advice

The SAA Winners also got to go to the American Society of Cinematographers Clubhouse this week. First came a delicious lunch, with lots and lots of mingling:

After the yummy lunch, an incredible collection of legendary cinematographers sat down and answered a question from every winner and their DP guest.  The panel was:

Christopher Baffa

Stephen H. Burum

Haskell Wexler

Victor J. Kemper

Stephen Lighthill

Karl Walter Lindenlaub

Isidore Mankofsky

Bill Neil

Daryn Okada

Woody Omens

On DP/Direction Relationship:

• The relationship between the director and cinematographer sets the whole mood of the set.
• There must be respect between the director and cinematographer.  There must be give and take.
• If both are in tune with the heart of the story, both director and cinematographer should reach similar conclusions.
• Sometimes an agreeable relationship between director and DP will create a dull film and a turbulent one creates an interesting film.
• It’s great when a director has technical knowledge but it isn’t necessary.
• If you want to direct, direct.  Nothing worse than a DP who secretly wants to direct.
• It’s the responsibility of the cinematographer to make the best movie possible.  Sometimes you need to break things to the director.  But do it tactfully.

On Shots:

• Simpler is always better.
• Preparation, preparation, preparation.
• Lighting should imitate what you see in life but keep it consistent.
• If a shot is distracting, it’s wrong.
• Save what you collect in life as inspiration for shots.

On Actors:

• Camera must protect the actors.
• In intimate scenes, kick non-essential crew out.
• Be in tune with what the actors need.

On Working:

• Most important factors when deciding whether you should take a job are good story? good people? and how’s the money?
• Take all sorts of jobs.  It’ll give you an interesting career.
• Don’t burn bridges.

SAA Winners at Dreamworks Animation

Like they weren’t doing enough cool stuff, the Student Academy Award Winners were invited to a screening at Dreamworks Animation.

Director Steve Hickner, of DreamWorks Animation introduced this years SAA winning animated shorts and everyone had a blast watching:

Here are two of this year’s animation winners, David Wolter and Eric Prah:

Oh no, man down!

Then everyone was given an awesome tour of DreamWorks Animation studios:

“And over here we have a giant Madagascar 3 poster”:

“And here is a giant koi pond”:

We weren’t allowed to take pictures in most places at DreamWorks Animation but take our word for it - it’s unbelievably cool.  And has a secret bar.

Screenwriting Advice from the WGA

Fade in:

The SAA winners got a chance to sit down with seasoned writers for a long, frank discussion on screenwriting.  The panel of WGA writers consisted of:

Howard A. Rodman (“Savage Grace”, “August”)

Scott Alexander (“Ed Wood,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt”)

Christopher McQuarrie (“The Usual Suspects,” “The Tourist”)

Craig Mazin (“The Hangover, Part II,” “Scary Movie” 3 & 4)

Tom Schulman (“What About Bob?” “Dead Poet’s Society”)

So yeah, no big deal…

On sitting down and Writing:

• You’ll get the most ideas under financial strain.
• Shut off that internet.  Those emails you “need” to reply to can wait til 3 p.m. (there are many programs available that will block the internet for you).
• Sometimes, wasting time is the best use of time.
• John Melius suggests writing 3 pages a day no matter what.
• It’s up to you to figure out your writing schedule.  Find what works for you and don’t feel guilty about it.
• Out of all the sins in writing, the greatest is “boring.”
• Know the ending first.  Build to that ending.

On the subject of Notes:

• You want lots of feedback from peers.  Especially if they’re jealous of you and will give harsh notes.
• At the independent level, you don’t have to take notes from anyone.  Listen well and do what feels right.
• Be open to all notes.  You can still fix stuff before you face the audience in the dark theater.
• When listening to notes, put your anger or hurt aside.  Try to make the note-giver feel better, even if you end up not taking their note.
• Remember that the subtext to every note you get is “help me like your script more”.
• Pay attention to the emotions behind the note, rather than the specifics.
• Keep giving the studio “you” until they realize that’s what they want.

On working with Directors:

• Collaborations with directors are case by case.  Some will work closely with you, some will fire you and hire another writer, and some you will never meet.
• Key to the best movies are a strong writer/director collaboration.
• Story is the most important element but sometimes a director’s aesthetic choice will override it.
• The moment you start directing your screenplay, the “writer-you” dies.  Have someone you trust be around to give you feedback and remind you of the heart of the story you’re trying to tell.
• It’s easy to miss the forest for the trees in the heat of production, so it’s usually helpful to have the writer on set.
• Don’t be too defensive of your screenplay.  A director’s job is to challenge your script and elevate it.
• The only answers you may give to a director’s request for a change in the script are “yes, if…”, “yes, but…”, and “yes”.
• A good script is a blueprint for the movie.  Just like two contractors would build similar buildings from the same blueprint, two directors should be able to make similar movies from the same script.

On once you start Making Money:

• Once you start getting checks for writing, fight to defend complexity.
• Don’t overextend yourself once the money starts coming, it won’t always last.
• Only take jobs you think you can love.  Hard to do good work if you don’t love it.
• Save up money not for a house or a car, but for the luxury to say “no” to projects.
• Remember that they are hiring you to put things you love into scripts.
• Don’t worry, you’re going to go in and out of favor many times in this business.
• It’s not the film business.  It’s a film business.  You don’t need anyone’s permission to make stuff yourself.

The writers were mostly in consensus on all topics but, at the end, broke up into two opposite camps on the issue of Sending Out Scripts:

• There’s the Christopher McQuarrie/Tom Schulman camp of being very careful who you send your screenplays to.  They say it’s a “me too” town and the more people that reject a script, the more likely others will as well.  Also, original ideas are highly rare and easy to steal.  And if you send someone your script, you’ve laid all your cards on the table and are not keeping them guessing.
• Then there’s the Craig Mazin/Scott Alexander camp of sending out your screenplay to any pair of eyeballs that will look at it.  The idea being that you never know what will happen or who will pass it to whom.  Also, your script is your calling card and the more people that read and like it, the more likely you are to get hired for a re-write job.

They were torn.  Any thoughts, screenwriting Tumblrs?

Student Academy Award Winners Visit The Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library

The Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library is an insanely cool place. It’s the world’s preeminent cinema research facility and holds more than 80,000 screenplays, 42,000 original movie posters, 10 million photographs  and 1,100 special collections (and some awesome people working there who can’t wait to show you them). 

Everyone was welcomed into the Margaret Harrick Library, where special displays were arranged:

Arranged in chronological order over several tables were artifacts from some of the greatest films: scripts, original notes, letters, posters, costume sketches, and stills.

Carlos Grangel drew sketches for The Corpse Bride on the back of a Macy’s box because that’s his favorite color:

What Student Academy Award Winners Wish Successful Filmmakers Would Do

Since we already asked this year’s Student Academy Award Winners to share their advice for aspiring filmmakers, we thought it would be fun to turn it around and also ask them what they wish established filmmakers would do. Here’s some of what they had to say…

Amanda Tasse: “Since you have money, why not be experimental?  Try different things.  Go into TV or video games.”

David Winstone: “I notice a lot of the great filmmakers are currently turning to the past.  I’d like to see more tap into the pulse of the present.”

Mark Raso: “Stop being so prolific.  Save some films for the rest of us.”

Keiko Wright: “When you have interns, pay us.  Give all of us jobs.”

Heather Burky: “List PAs first in the credits.”

Justin Tipping: “Let Justin Tipping shadow you.  It will be groundbreaking.”

Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers From Student Academy Award Winners

Some of this year’s Student Academy Award winners were nice enough to pass on a little advice to aspiring filmmakers. Here’s what they had to say…

Heather Burky: “Find the story first and make sure it’s a good one.  Nothing else matters if your story sucks.”

Mark Raso: “Call yourself a filmmaker and make films.  Work hard to hone the craft, practice as much as you can, and don’t put limits on yourself or your ideas.”

Justin Tipping: “Make films that excite the audience, let them love something or hate it, but the worst is having them feel apathetic towards your work.  Be careful not to focus too much on gimmicks or formalistic trends, focus on truth and emotion—-those are timeless.  Always trust your instincts, but be open to ideas.”

David Winstone: “Try and not beat yourself up too much if your first attempts haven’t turned out the way you had hoped but at the same time, really analyze what the problems were and how you would do it differently… it’s a difficult balance to get right.”

Ellen Tripler: “I think you have to be curious and see yourself as a learner if you want to be a good filmmaker.  Follow your head and ground it in the craft of filmmaking.”

Thomas Stuber: “Most valuable lessons are team play and patience.  See what others are doing, but concentrate on your inspiration only.”

Amanda Tasse: “Find the part of the process you enjoy the most and highlight that and let that drive the films (whether cinematography, writing, art direction, etc.).  My advice is to not just create and look at films, but to expand the cinematic format to encompass more.”

David Wolter: “Specifically to animators: Animation and cartooning are storytelling mediums and not genres, so don’t limit your influences to that world alone.  Life and the world around us are far richer a feast than we often realize.”

Eric Prah: “Learn from whoever and wherever you can.  I find it’s nice to have a little library of clips from films, commercials, or pieces of animation that inspire you.  Also, don’t be afraid to ask for comments or critiques from the people around you—-it can be really helpful to have a second opinion.”

And Ryan Prows sums it up nicely: “Hang in there, baby.”

And check out what the SAA winners wish successful filmmakers would do.

Meet Justin Tipping

Justin Tipping - American Film Institute - Narrative Winner

Backstory

From El Cerrito, California, Justin Tipping has always been a creative guy.  Movies were always a big family pasttime and his family went to see everything.  Justin started on his directing path by recreating GI Joe and X-Men battles with his action figures.  In middle school, Justin and his friends would record hip-hop music in makeshift home studios.  Eventually, the marriage between image and music would help him fall in love with film.  At the end of high school, Justin got a DV video camera and immediately started creating videos with friends.  Some projects included his cats starring in a parody of MTV’s Real World and a murder mystery starring his younger cousins.

When starting his undergrad at UCSB, Justin’s major was Business Economics.  But after a semester abroad in Rome, he fell in love with Italian cinema and the rest was history.  He switched majors to Film and Media Studies and got an internship as an assistant editor for a social documentary.  Justin started doing everything he could to learn about film— watch movies, make videos, take improv and acting classes, PA, AC, etc.  He started directing music videos but it was his short film created in a 48-hour film contest that helped him get into AFI.

American Film Institute

Justin is very grateful he got to attend AFI.  He says, like anything else, film school is what you make of it [another SAA winner this year from AFI said the exact same phrase.  Conspiracy?].  Justin got the opportunity to focus solely on directing for two years and to meet like-minded people with the same ambition and fervor as him.  He got to make mistakes and observe others make mistakes.  The most valuable lesson he learned is that nothing beautiful is ever perfect.  And it’s better to be finished than to be perfect.  It’s important to strive for perfection but more important to always try to finish beautiful films.

For Justin, film school was crucial.  It helped him become the filmmaker he is today.  It helped him hone his abilities to run a set, work with actors, understand story, and handle tone.  He also met long term collaborators and friends.

“Nani”

“Nani” is the story of a young man an an old woman bonding through graffiti.  Justin wanted to address the universal human desire to create something lasting in the world.  The idea began with an image of Justin’s grandmother holding a spray can.  Justin never got the chance to know his grandmother well due to her struggle with dementia.  This led to an important theme in “Nani”— the parallel between memory loss and graffiti (a unique art form that is here one day and white-washed over the next).

It took more than a year to go from script to production— including going through AFI’s thesis green-lighting process.  After going through numerous drafts, the themes of the story stayed the same.  In the process of finding locations for shooting, Justin was able to simplify his story to the bare essentials— two people bonding.

What’s Next?

Justin wrote his first feature film with the same writer he wrote “Nani” with and they are currently in the process of getting it made.  And Justin’s going to Disneyland, of course.

Check out more from Justin at his website.

And check out a clip from “Nani.”

Meet David Wolter

David Wolter - California Institute of the Arts - Animation Winner

Backstory

From Colorado Springs, CO, David Wolter is 6’10.”  He was always expected to play basketball but that didn’t pan out.  However, all the doodling and cartooning he did during classes paid off.  At his undergrad, Augustana, David created a highly popular comic strip, “The Back Alley.”  After graduating, he worked as a caricature artist at Valley Fair in Shakopee, Minn.

California Institute of the Arts

David had a remarkable time at Cal Arts.  He could feel the passion of the students and faculty as soon as he walked through the door.  His classmates were talented and gave him the most cultured and robust feedback system a filmmaker could hope for.  The most crucial thing David learned was the importance of balance— a ninety hour work week may not mean greater quality of work than a forty or fifty hour week.  The other important lesson was to trust his voice.  Out of the several ideas he pitched, “Eyrie” was actually everyone’s least favorite.  But David’s gut told him it was the right choice and he went with it.

“Eyrie”

“Eyrie” is a story of a young shepherd trying to defend his flock from an eagle.  The three elements that drew David to this story were his fascination with human-to-animal transformation, the fact that the film had a sense of place (in this case, the Old West), and that he could leave the audience having felt something.  It took many months to animate the film and after it was screened, David got offered a job at Dreamworks immediately. 

What’s Next?

David is currently knee deep into research for his next short film.  He is also happily employed at Dreamworks Animation as a Story Artist.

Check out David’s blog and website.

Watch a clip of “Eyrie.”

Or if you’d like to be in for a treat, watch all of “Eyrie.”

Meet Ellen Tripler

Ellen Tripler - American University - Documentary Winner

Backstory

From Bethesda, MD, Ellen Tripler did a lot of photography in high school.  In college, not only was film one of her majors but she also held a job as a projectionist in three different movie theaters.  Afterwards, she went on a trip to Europe and didn’t return for fifteen years.  After getting married, having two kids, and embarking on a completely different career, Ellen decided to go back to school and pick up what she was most passionate about— film and photography.

American University

At American University, Ellen was presented with a lot of opportunities and learned from each and every professor and student.  American University provided her with a large network in Washington DC and across the country.  Her most valuable lesson learned is you have to do what you love and choose a subject you are passionate about and are committed to.

Ellen thinks film school is not for everyone but is a great framework to learn the basics, such as story.  And it’s a great place to learn about collaboration and meet like-minded people.

“Dying Green”

“Dying Green” came out of the combination of Ellen reading the book Grave Matters, A Journey through the Modern Funeral Industry to a Natural Way of Burial and taking a class that required she pitch ideas for a documentary on an environmental or wildlife issue.  After pitching “Dying Green”, it was obvious that not many people were aware of the history of funerals and death in America and everyone was immediately hooked.  So “Dying Green” became Ellen’s thesis project and the process of making the documentary started.  

The film focuses on Billy Campbell’s vision to make natural burials mainstream, in order to conserve land.  On the first day of shooting, Ellen received word that somebody in the neighborhood had died.  While tragic news for friends and family of the deceased, it was fortunate for filmmakers making a documentary on a specific type of funeral.

What’s Next?

Ellen is currently working on smaller projects but is also researching her next feature length documentary.

Check out a clip from “Dying Green.”