Term 6, week 3

We had a short week to end the term. Here are some updates:

Screenwriting: I can't stress enough the importance of working on screenwriting at home if you fall behind. Several screenwriting students will see "I" or "incomplete" on their report cards this term. They have until the end of term 7 to catch up and change that incomplete to a passing grade.

On a more positive note, we have finalized a design for this year's copy of The Last Draft and I am compiling entries. Copies should be available for purchase by the end of February.

Intro to DMA: This group finished a very funny infomercial for the "Double Whammy" morning kit. It is in post-production and will be posted under the "new work" link next week. You may also see it pop up in the next episode of Hit the Couch.

Video: Our two video classes are both hard at work on projects. We are hope full that we can complete Jazmine and Hancia's short in the coming week and begin editing.

In our other video class, we are working on a informational piece for the city of Minneapolis, more specifically snow emergencies. The city is hosting a contest for video shorts and I'm confident that we will do well. We are tackling some stop-motion animation on this project. This is not something I've worked with before, so the students and I are working together to master the process. I think that this is sometimes the best learning. It forces the students to solve the problems instead of looking to me for answers. I enjoy learning from them as well; their computer skills are so much more intuitive than mine.

Video for TV: We are putting the final touches on our fourth episode of Hit the Couch. In addition, we are beginning production of a video short conceived and directed by Richard. Some of the students wanted to produce a narrative short in this class. We will continue to produce episodes of HTC.

A couple of additional notes:

• the .edu Film Festival now has FaceBook and MySpace pages. On FaceBook, you can search "edu FilmFestival" and on myspace, "edu Film Fest." We've been joined by over 350 followers on FaceBook, and our myspace is just coming together. I urge you to become friends with us on either service for news and announcements concerning the film festival.
• We now have a student serving as an intern to Sound Unseen Film Festivals, LLC. Eric is directly assisting director Richard Hansen in the production of both Sound Unseen and .edu Film Festival.

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading, TW