Boston Film and Video foundation

[Jim Ioannidis]

Hey all,

I won best production at a small local video contest
ONe of the prizes I got was tution to the Boston Film and Video foundation.

http://www.bfvf.org/index.htm

Does anybody have any experience with this place. Any class you would recommend? I'd like to consider myself interemediate user when it comes to video production, although my camera skills could probably use some work.
I'm still waiting to get my information on how much tution I got. I have no idea how much it will be.

thanx guys.

[Rob Lohman]

Congratulations on your win and the prize! I can't comment on
the place but I do hope you have a good time and actually learn
something!

[Ken Tanaka]

Jim,

Good for you! Like Rob, I've no knowledge of this school. Hopefully, Don Berube will be able to chime-in on this. He's a Bostonian and a professional shooter, so if anyone knows about it, he will.

[Charles Papert]

I taught a one-day seminar there years ago and had some peripheral experiences with them, but not so much that I could really comment on what they are like at present. Naturally it would hinge on who is teaching. I remember there being a pretty cool vibe there.

[Casey Visco]

from what I hear the BFVF has some good programs, some of my studio mates have taken classes there and seem to like it, yet i also cannot personally vouch for them.

Congrats on the award. I'm curious to know which contest this was?

[Don Berube]

Hello Jim,

What was the video contest you won? Sounds cool.

I am very familiar with the BF/VF, it's a very artistic community with some very talented creative professioanls in the Boston area. I took my first class there over 15 years ago, back in 1985 I believe. I will always remember the loose and energized feel that existed back then. It's an excellent place to learn about the process of filmmaking, meet and network with other like-minded individuals and expose yourself to some very creative, artistic experiences.

What type of tuition did you receive? It would be interesting to know how many classes you are entitled to. In any case, even if you pay for the classes, it would be well worth the time and energy that you invest.

I would suggest that you take advantage of the fact that they teach 16mm filmmaking at the BF/VF, in conjunction with Boston Camera. Boston Camera provides professional level film rentral equipment in the New England area and beyond. You state that you could benefit from increasing your camera skills. I think that you would benefit immensely from going through all of the levels of their 16mm Film Production courses, culminating in completing a 16mm Practicum with a BF/VF Team Leader and crew. Not only will you considerably strengthen your camera skills, you will also learn about all of the other facets of filmmaking. This will help you to identify which particular skill you would like to focus on for your career. It will also strengthen your storytelling skills and expose you to an ecclectic group of talented artists and creators.

Some of the classes I think you should look at would be:
* S-611 Motion Picture Camera with Tim Coughlan (which is actually taught at Boston Camera)
* S-610 Lighting with Dan Hnatio
* S-617 Film & Video Storytelling 101 with Alyer J. Brea
* S-611 Motion Picture Camera with Tim COughlan at Boston Camera
* S-617 Film & Video Storytelling 101 with Alyer J. Breau
* S-626 Intermediate 16mm Production with Maria Luisa Gambale
* S-627 Advanced 16mm Production with Maria Luisa Gambale

Please do write back and tell us more about the contest you won and the project you created with which you won the contest with. Would be very interested in hearing more.

Also, since you are in Boston, why not stop by the next BOSFCPUG meeting on May 7th and pay us a visit and say hello! Our May 7th meeting will be focusing on Apple's new Final Cut Pro 4 and will feature Don Peebles from Apple Computers, among other guest speakers. Would love to meet you and any other DVinfo.netters living in the Boston area.

Do keep in touch,

- don

[Jim Ioannidis]

thanx guys,

Here is some info about the contest I entered
http://www.nemba.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=1097
(not what you thought huh?)

And just to set the record straight, i only won the Best Production catergory. But it was what i was pretty much hoping for.
The BFVF was a sponsor of the event also so the tuition is coming straight from them.
At the time I entered there wasn't a prize list. Bragging rights looked to be the biggest prize at the time.
We didn't find out about the BFVF tution till that night.
I still haven't recieved the info I was supposed to get in the mail so I still don't know how many classes i'll be able to get out of it.

I posted the video I entered in the "DV for masses" forum
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8882
It's a 16 meg WMV file so please excuse the crappy compression.

Don:
Thanx for the tips on the classes
16mm would be real cool to play with but I know that DV is the format i'll be sticking with for a while so i would like to focus on being able to get the most out of that right now. I'll give it a look though 16mm, might be nice to get that under my belt. The lighting class looks like it would be worth the time.

I really appreciate the invite to the BOSFCPUG meeting. I'm a PC head usng Premiere but it would be cool to get a look at FCP4 and to meet some people.

I'll update you guys again once i get the details of the tuition.