For those of you who teach...

[Scott Crawley]

What have your interactions with students taught you about the collaborative process? How has the teaching experience effected the way you work with other crews?

Any thoughts to share?

 

[Cüneyt Kaya]

they do before they really think about the logististics.
thats good. the older i get the more i tend to "i need a crew of 15-30". thats a problem. because no, you dont..thats what i get reminded off everytime working with young dudes.

 

[Scott Crawley]

Yes, and they tend just to make do with less which is great, so long as they are still able to create value.

Where do you teach Kaya?

 

[Cüneyt Kaya]

workshops no specific school.

 

[Jason Comparetto]

It still surprises me how many rules I teach but then I break them first thing when I'm actually on set. Also reminds me of the differences between being in a classroom and being in the real world.

 

[Tom Greenberg]

I try very hard to not only practice what I preach, but also to preach the things that I believe they need to know to be successful. We really stress the importance of problem-solving in a group and that a major part of filmmaking is mastering group dynamics. I find that today's students are very eager to learn the right ways to do things and it is very gratifying to watch our lessons get put into practice. There are so many great learning resources available to students now that sometimes I wonder what a teacher's role is these days. After all is said and done, I think that the main value us "old dogs" bring to the party is our historical perspective, and our ability to cut through all the abstract information and focus on the stuff that we have learned really matters in the real world.

 

[Marc Wielage]

I just said this on Wexler's sound discussion group, but it bears repeating:

I wish all the major film schools (particularly AFI, Columbia College, PCC, NY Film, and so on) would make all their students take at least a 3- or 4-day class on business and logistics: how to set up a shooting schedule, how to make a call sheet, how to write a resume, how to write a business letter, how to (properly) hire people, how to write a deal memo, and stuff like that. I'm often appalled by the people at the low end who don't know this stuff -- and always pleasantly surprised when I encounter the handful who do.

 

[Collin Morrow]

the film school i went to taught 2 full classes on all of the above very valuable information that I use constantly even with the main goal of becoming a cinematographer

 

[RobMNeilson]

I just said this on Wexler's sound discussion group, but it bears repeating:

I wish all the major film schools (particularly AFI, Columbia College, PCC, NY Film, and so on) would make all their students take at least a 3- or 4-day class on business and logistics: how to set up a shooting schedule, how to make a call sheet, how to write a resume, how to write a business letter, how to (properly) hire people, how to write a deal memo, and stuff like that. I'm often appalled by the people at the low end who don't know this stuff -- and always pleasantly surprised when I encounter the handful who do.

When I went to film school they made us take a class on producing, but all the teacher did was teach us how to use the software! An almost total waste of money and time.

 

[Phil Holland]

I instruct in my spare time. Currently instructing "Digital Photography for Live Action VFX" at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects on Sundays, which covers basic photographic knowledge through typical live action visual effects techniques and studio pipelines. I've instructed at miscellaneous workshops for Gnomon, TAD, ConceptArt.org. I've also mentored a few students through film school (NYFA and USC) which was a lot of fun.

Communication has been something that I keenly focus. In that process with students it's certainly something that has reflected back on my professional work. I know it's certainly helped me maintain my center and hold on to a sense of calm, even in rather hot situations. I find odd parallels within explaining topics like image based lighting similar between students and clients sometimes.

It's very revealing when you take students on a tour of a set or visual effects studio and they see just how many people it takes to really make things happen, especially on large budget projects. The team work and structure of communication with your directors, producers, and supervisors is often a bit of reality check for those considering careers within the industry. The approval process due to client revisions, critiques, and additions can be a hard lesson. Many younger students are often fairly defensive regarding their work and recommending them to change/update anything is sometimes a rocky road. But that is the reality of the business and what creative collaboration is all about.

Learning how to communicate with your team to bring an idea to reality is pretty much all you are doing for a living. I have noticed interesting gaps between idea and execution on an individual basis. Sometimes because of latent sense of fear or perhaps something being "too much work". I try to quickly squash that mindset. Hard to learn anything without doing anything.

I implore students to keep a fresh eye and "learn how to learn" as this industry, tools, and techniques transform at a fairly rapid pace. It's something I pretty much live by in this industry and has kept me working for some time. My biggest wish after students lock in the basics and begin to hone their own creative visions is to keep this in mind at all times.

I certainly enjoyed helping out while mentoring others on their journey through film school. Lots of fun running around with just a few students making movies in a fairly old fashion way with beat up 16mm and 8mm gear. For some reason they always put me in their films as the bad guy and I always seem to meet my demise. All in good fun.

 

[Michael Panfeld]

Scott: it always reminds me how much I forget. Getting prepped for a class forces me to look at things that I have either taken for granted, or forgotten. It also reminds me that there is more than one way to skin a cat. So stay frosty my friend, as they say.

I am going to echo what Marc said about skills that are not related to storytelling, such as management skills, business acumen, social skills, etc. But I want to add two observations. First, I am stunned, literally stunned at the lack of science and math skills amongst the young, at least those interested in filmmaking. Its called the Academy of MP Arts & Sciences, because both are required. Nowadays more than ever. Second, LEARN about SOUND. Its more important than that crane shot you really don't need.

And Marc, if Film schools taught all that, how would us folks without any creative skills, oops, I mean producers, make any money?

 

[Marc Wielage]

Communication has been something that I keenly focus. In that process with students it's certainly something that has reflected back on my professional work. I know it's certainly helped me maintain my center and hold on to a sense of calm, even in rather hot situations. I find odd parallels within explaining topics like image based lighting similar between students and clients sometimes.

Amen to that. And the students have to learn basic people skills. There's so much stress on the set anyway, I think one key is making students understand they're all part of a team. They gotta get along with people. Big egos and bad attitudes don't help the shoot -- helping the other guy and pushing the project along is a wiser course. Many times, I've lent a hand to a grip or a camera assistant, even on shoots where I was handling audio, and it was always appreciated. (Non-union, that is.)

All the technical talent in the world doesn't work if you don't know how to calm people down, get people to work together, and keep everybody moving forward.

(And thank you, Michael, for the comment about sound. I always say, "if they can't understand the dialog, you may as well shoot a silent movie.")

 

[Scott Crawley]

There is a difficult concept to get across. You can state it plainly, quite easily, but it is a long journey of personal growth that ends in understanding how to be less precious and check your personal baggage.

Amen to that. And the students have to learn basic people skills. There's so much stress on the set anyway, I think one key is making students understand they're all part of a team. They gotta get along with people. Big egos and bad attitudes don't help the shoot -- helping the other guy and pushing the project along is a wiser course. Many times, I've lent a hand to a grip or a camera assistant, even on shoots where I was handling audio, and it was always appreciated. (Non-union, that is.)

All the technical talent in the world doesn't work if you don't know how to calm people down, get people to work together, and keep everybody moving forward.

(And thank you, Michael, for the comment about sound. I always say, "if they can't understand the dialog, you may as well shoot a silent movie.")