CATHY LE: "MUNDANE MONDAY" ON TUESDAY!

"My only week of Winter Break"

I'm such a busybody, especially now that I finally have a car. This last week, I literally lost track of the time and day of week because I always had something to do. I'd wake up at 7am some days, 3.34pm other days. I'd sleep at 10pm some days and 4am other days.One day just blurred into the next day.

   Tuesday, I drove to Burbank, CA to visit Video Symphony, a school for professionals in the film industry, with our dear Serbian Exchange students. They used to be a retraining facility for professionals already working at companies like Universal, but now they're open to entry level (i.e. me!). I've known that Burbank was home to lots of film industry stuff since we filmed our semester project at St. Joseph's Hospital last year, but I didn't realize the magnitude of it until this day.
   It's interesting the different paths you can take after high school to get into the industry. Video Symphony focuses on post production, like editing, sound, and special effects. It's comforting to know that they really help you get a job after you graduate, but it's too specific for me to choose as a post secondary school. Learning how to make films is only one part of it.Becoming a well rounded person with lots of different experiences is a big part. But I gotta learn how to use Cinema 4D.



Wednesday, we did more industry touring. First, we visited another post production company in Burbank called Modern Film. They're right across the street from Warner Brothers Studios. If there's one thing I learned, it's that there will always be jobs in post production because the process is so incredibly tedious. They have several people working on color correcting alone. But they gave me hope when they said a lot of the editors began work at 10pm. More nocturnal filmmakers like me! Oh & they were pretty excited about working on Avatar and showed me a trailer that convinced me that I had to go see it soon.
   Then it was off to Marina del Ray to visit Rhythm and Hues, an animation and special effects studio. I'm not much of an animator, but this place was pretty awesome. My favorite were the clay models. There was a little alien guy I would've liked to take home with me.

Friday, I finally joined the millions of people who have seen James Cameron's Avatar, but alas my minuscule student budget did not allow for 3D. I'm quite a writing critic sometimes because that's my thing: I write. I've heard bad things about the storyline, so I didn't come with high expectations. It was predictable. But I liked it.

Saturday.When I stepped into the theatres (yes, I went to the movies two days in a row), I realized that I had chose to watch an old people movie-- Up in the Air, with George Cloony. It was actually pretty good and my friend and I were surprisingly the ones who cracked up the loudest at the strange adult situations. It was definitely a change from the fantasy world and one-and-only-type romance of Avatar.

Then, it's back to school. If it weren't for the homework, I'd be relieved to go back. Isn't that weird? I can finally relax now. HAHA!