internship report
This blog was created as a part of my ongoing internship with the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, in collaboration with Loyola Marymount University and Dr. Katerina Zacharia. This internship spawns from the class “Representations of Greece: Ancient and Modern.", taught by the aforementioned professor Dr. Katerina Zacharia. My experience with both this internship and class has made me much more aware of not only Greek film/art but the medium of communication in its entirety.
Prior to this class, I hadn’t really put much thought into the fundamentals of communication. Words are a construct we so frequently take for granted, often without realizing the profound effect they have on everything we do. Words are only the foundation, however, as images and other art forms communicate messages just as effectively. For the first half of the semester, our class dove deeply into the studies of language and representation, consistently making us question everything we read. One of the biggest takeaways I’ve gotten from this class is how the framing really constitutes the image. All it takes is a clever leader to arrange words or pieces in a specific manner and the audience will almost always fall into the palm of his or hand. This class made me step back and seriously analyze every tiny detail in order to understand the whole, which is a skill I’m glad I now possess in this changing society.
Once we got into the film festival screenings, my whole perspective of filmmaking changed. Being an American with no real connection to other countries (besides my Italian grandparents, but they too have assimilated pretty fully into American society), I found that I was very committed to Hollywood and the uniformity that comes with. Very rarely have I been exposed to so many different pieces of filmmaking – and never in this density. While there were some American submissions that dealt with Greek problems or came from Greek roots, there was something magnificent about watching so many impassioned artists dissecting different facets of their society. I was quickly brought up to speed on the various crises in Greece, but I constantly found myself longing for more information. Greece is in the middle of such a fascinating time right now; nobody – not the Greeks nor the rest of the world – knows where the country may go. This is fueling so many different voices and creating much-needed discussion, and I am so glad I now know and understand that this is a topic worth listening to.
On the technical side, viewing multiple films every week expanded my knowledge of filmmaking. I was obligated to view and analyze the submitted films use of camera, acting, and directing to convey a meaningful message. While I do that in many other classes, this internship actually carried real-life consequences. My voice and the voices of my classmates helped decide which of these films needed to be screened and which were short of the cut. The reviews we wrote each week weren’t just an assignment; they were us laying our names on the line and sharing our true opinions of the film. I really believe this responsibility made me take the viewing of every film I now watch more seriously, and for that I am grateful.
This internship revolutionized my manner of thinking. It made me break down everything I once took to be concrete in order to truly discover meaning. It showed me where Greece currently is politically and culturally , and where it may go. It helped me grow as a filmmaker, student, and person. It was an incredibly experience that I’m incredibly thankful to have had.
Prior to this class, I hadn’t really put much thought into the fundamentals of communication. Words are a construct we so frequently take for granted, often without realizing the profound effect they have on everything we do. Words are only the foundation, however, as images and other art forms communicate messages just as effectively. For the first half of the semester, our class dove deeply into the studies of language and representation, consistently making us question everything we read. One of the biggest takeaways I’ve gotten from this class is how the framing really constitutes the image. All it takes is a clever leader to arrange words or pieces in a specific manner and the audience will almost always fall into the palm of his or hand. This class made me step back and seriously analyze every tiny detail in order to understand the whole, which is a skill I’m glad I now possess in this changing society.
Once we got into the film festival screenings, my whole perspective of filmmaking changed. Being an American with no real connection to other countries (besides my Italian grandparents, but they too have assimilated pretty fully into American society), I found that I was very committed to Hollywood and the uniformity that comes with. Very rarely have I been exposed to so many different pieces of filmmaking – and never in this density. While there were some American submissions that dealt with Greek problems or came from Greek roots, there was something magnificent about watching so many impassioned artists dissecting different facets of their society. I was quickly brought up to speed on the various crises in Greece, but I constantly found myself longing for more information. Greece is in the middle of such a fascinating time right now; nobody – not the Greeks nor the rest of the world – knows where the country may go. This is fueling so many different voices and creating much-needed discussion, and I am so glad I now know and understand that this is a topic worth listening to.
On the technical side, viewing multiple films every week expanded my knowledge of filmmaking. I was obligated to view and analyze the submitted films use of camera, acting, and directing to convey a meaningful message. While I do that in many other classes, this internship actually carried real-life consequences. My voice and the voices of my classmates helped decide which of these films needed to be screened and which were short of the cut. The reviews we wrote each week weren’t just an assignment; they were us laying our names on the line and sharing our true opinions of the film. I really believe this responsibility made me take the viewing of every film I now watch more seriously, and for that I am grateful.
This internship revolutionized my manner of thinking. It made me break down everything I once took to be concrete in order to truly discover meaning. It showed me where Greece currently is politically and culturally , and where it may go. It helped me grow as a filmmaker, student, and person. It was an incredibly experience that I’m incredibly thankful to have had.