Week 2- Films and Freak Outs
This past weekend, us interns volunteered at the second annual Coven Film Festival. I’m so grateful for the experience and I learned a lot in those 3 days and I wanted to share my 2 main take aways.
1. Directing Tips and Tricks
One of the things that I’m terrified about the most for directing my short film is, well, directing it! Directing for my short is on a different and higher scale than directing silly videos with my friends. In Mira Nair’s MasterClass, she talked about the relationship between actors and directors and how it’s important to make a comfortable environment for them so they can be able to perform at their best. Honestly hearing that freaked me out! Knowing that the actors are relaying on me to perform well seems like a lot of pressure.Then I had a reassuring conversation with at Coven.
After one of the workshops at Coven, I did some networking and snacking (mostly snacking but I had a few great conversations!). I forgot the person’s name, but she was a filmmaker/actress. We were talking about how having a better understanding of acting helps a lot when it comes to making your own films. I voiced my concerns of the relationship I would have with my actors in my upcoming short and she told me that based off of our 2 minute conversation she could already tell that I’m a very personable person and that it would be easy for actors to trust me. I was both shocked and flattered that someone I didn’t know picked that up about me. Nevertheless, it gave me the confidence boost I needed.
2. Laughter is the Best Medicine
My favorite movie genre is comedy and I want my work to have some comedic elements in some way or another. I had some doubts in my style of filmmaking because a lot of the work I’ve seen around me reflected a different style. Even at the festival I saw a lot of more serious, sci-fi, abstract styled films. But then, on the last day I introduced the last block of short films. One film in particular, Made Public, stood out to me and rejuvenated my creativity. I got the chance to talk to the director, Foster, at the award ceremony right before she won her award. I told her that watching her film not only made me laugh but it helped me out of this creative rut I was in and seeing a film that focused on the same topic I am (social media) gave me a different perspective on how to tackle that topic with the story I created.
It goes without saying the Coven Film Festival was a great experience and I’m glad that I got to help out. Not only did I get a chance to see awesome work, I had the chance to be surrounded by inspirational women and non binary filmmakers.
