24-Bit Dailies in a 16-Bit World

The biggest mistake that aspiring filmmakers make is that they limit their education to the techniques and aesthetics of filmmaking. They fail to widen their academic perspectives to see how other life skills can and will address the real world challenges that they will face as an active participant in this very demanding creative industry.

This article was written for Student Filmmaker Magazine.

As an educator and former Hollywood sound mixer, I really wish that universities would devote less time teaching calculus and more time explaining how to balance a checkbook! Students dedicate themselves to learning the aesthetics and technology of filmmaking, including production budgeting – yet they fail miserably when it comes to basic home economics.

If you can’t film a script in the pandemic world, then film a pandemic world in a script!

The first semester of having to teach online is over. It was a unique experience both for faculty as well as students. Some were able to handle it fairly well; we are a profession of technically adept filmmakers, after all.

But with the high probability of the Fall 2020 semester also being primarily online, and maybe even the following Spring 2021 (depends on when we see pharmacologic solutions) – many students are having second thoughts about continuing their education. They are thinking,” Is it worth it? Maybe this is the time to take a semester or two off?”