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Whether it’s your friend trying to drink a gallon of milk in under an hour, your mother drinking too much at an aunt’s anniversary party or your high school rendition of “Mamma Mia,” we’ve all attempted to make a video masterpiece. From Nov. 1 to 7, students have a chance to make something worth more than fodder for blackmail with Empty House Films’ independent film boot camp.
In this boot camp, push-ups will be traded for innovative ideas, and students will have the opportunity to work with professionals in the independent film industry to create their own indie film and gain experience in the field.
Participants can count on complete submersion in the filmmaking process. Each day will run eight to 10 hours long. Space is available for approximately 15 students and each will work through all stages of filmmaking, including “pre-production, writing the script, planning the shots, production, which is shooting the film, and post production, which is editing the film,” said Andy Davis, co-founder of Empty House Films.
“By the end of the week, they will have written, shot and edited a short film. It will be a very intense week.”
There are no style or genre limitations. Experience is not necessary, although a $600 enrollment fee is required.
Davis developed Empty House Films in 2001 and has since worked as writer, director, editor and cinematographer, but picked up the camera long before. Davis is a film and video production graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburg. He tackled the classroom teaching high school film.
“I’ve been making films since I was 16 and feature length films since I was 29,” Davis said. Examples of Davis’ work with Empty House Films can be found at emptyhousefilm.com. Davis’ experience has a wide berth; when asked about a genre of focus he said, “I don’t have a particular genre, but I do tend to gravitate toward darker projects, either in dark horror or dark humor … or a combination, which is usually the case for the projects I fall in love with.”
Davis encourages future filmmakers to choose projects that mean something to them. Davis created Empty House with Scott Morabito in hopes of “creating a place where we could do the projects we wanted to do.” They are now furthering their maxim by exposing pupils at the boot camp to the practices of making a film, as well as giving students an outlet of expression and the means to execute it. Empty House producer Olin Smith, whose experience includes numerous films and public television class instruction, joins Davis for the boot camp roster.
Davis’ advice for those unable to attend, “make the projects that are close to your heart. Do it for yourself. At the end of the day, it’s your name on the line; make the most out of it. Always, always, always pre-plan and schedule everything as much as you can.”
While prospective filmmakers can continue to pick up the video camera, and maybe some Band-aids, if their roommates decide to jump off the neighbor’s shed in an attempt to prove the validity of an umbrella being able to support the weight of Mary Poppins, Empty House Films offers the alternative – to make something worth watching; to baby and improve upon visual stimuli through its infancy and teach how to construct and carry a film. Or to make something that will get you famous on YouTube.
Those interested in the week of fast-paced cinematic immersion, contact emptyhousefilms@gmail.com for more information or to reserve a spot in the program.
