Cucalorus Post!

                      So Cucalorus, just like last year, was pretty awesome. It was interesting to experience Cucalorus from the point of view of a regular person this year, as opposed to a volunteer/filmmaker (kinda), which I was last year. Because of a busy schedule, I wasn't able to attend any parties or anything so I can't really talk about that, but something I really respect about Cucalorus is how it maintains a feeling of fun the entire time, no matter what. Whether I was waiting to get into a film or watching one (or in the case of last year, the parties, which I actually had time to go to), Cucalorus had a consistent feeling of smooth fun-ness to it.
                      The other thing I enjoyed was its overall sense of community; this is drawing from last year as well as this year, but anywhere you go, you're among fellow film fans and filmmakers, so it makes it easy to strike up a conversation with anyone. I remember last year I had an experience talking with other volunteers about the kinds of things we enjoyed doing in film, and I met a guy who was a specialist in special effects who told me about the films he was working on and had worked on in the past. I think that's definitely something we should strive for with our festival - I feel it's been successful in the past, but even moreso this year, we should place a strong emphasis on community and fun.

Procrastination Post

Hello blogmates!

On the list of procrastination problems that people typically have, my biggest three are Faulty Assumptions, Being Overextended, and Fear of Evaluation. I always think that assignments aren't going to take as long as they will, so I feel like I can put it off till the last second, especially if I have other assignments that have more of a time crunch or that I think will be more difficult than they actually are. My fear of evaluation is a problem as well, and I think this is something that happens to all people who are in an artistic field; you put a lot of time, effort, and heart into the things that you create, so the idea of them being shot down is really scary. In addition, if the ideas actually are shot down, it kills motivation to do anything, because you feel that you are not good enough. Finally, being overextended is probably my biggest issue. I always feel like I have too much to do, even when I actually have a completely reasonable amount of work that I have to deal with; I'm easily stressed when I have multiple things to do that are all due around the same time, and instead of dealing with it, I shut down. Major bummer.

VCU POST

So VCU's film program. It seems pretty crazy; the thing that struck me the most was that it's organized completely differently from our film program. In particular, the interesting part was the Intensives, and how once you entered the film program, you finished in three years but the Intensives lasted during the summer, so you're in school year round. The other interesting part was the requirement to minor or major in something other that film to ensure well-roundedness after graduation. The basic curriculum breakdown on the site was crazy too - it's so planned and meticulous. There seems to be maybe more of a sense of community there in film, given that films are regularly presented at the Cinematheque. It seems pretty awesome.