A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a shoot for one of the promos Pilot is going to be editing. The Creative Director on the project suggested I come along to see what the company does for these shoots. So, on an early Friday morning in April, I made the trek over to set.
The interesting thing about this particular shoot was that we were filming in the same place that the series we were making the promos for was shooting. During the show's shoot downtime, the talent would come over to our set for us to interview them.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the promo and series sets were run just like the ones I had been on at Dodge. Everything from the call sheets, to the communication the crew members had with one another, nearly matched that of the student film shoots I had been on. While things did get a bit behind schedule, just as Chapman sets were wont to, everyone remained patient and cooperative, working to stay helpful and positive through it all.
It got me thinking of how well Dodge did in fact prepare its students for the real world of film production. While set could not compare to my preferred home of the editing suite, being there allowed me to experience the realization of the Producing team's plans, as well as the camaraderie of the camera team. Dodge drilled into us from day one the importance of teamwork, and remembering that creating films was a group effort.
Even though I ended up taking a post route versus a physical production one, it's comforting to know that my Alma Mater taught me well and gave me a rounded education that will continue to aid me in my field of work for years to come.