@Southbound -
I had my interview today with one of the three directing faculty on the admissions committee, and I think it went very well. We ended up talking for nearly two hours, which even surprised the graduate students I stayed with who said the interviews usually lasted only 40mins to an hour.
He asked me very standard questions that I did my best to pivot into conversations (what is your favorite film, what kind of stories would you like to tell) and then some questions more focused on my character and leadership/relationship building style. This, for me, was the most difficult part of the interview because it took a moment for me to garner the courage to talk about my past failures in leadership (and then what I had learned from them). He also seemed very interested in finding out if I was an egomaniac. When I first sat down, he seemed confused about where I was from. He asked if I was from the area (when in fact I flew all the way in from the East Coast). In retrospect, I think he may have done this on purpose to test my hubris.
He said from viewing my reel, that he believed that "I got it, that I understood the language of film" - and said that the challenge for me would be to use the program to build upon what I had already done. This allowed me to discuss one of my favorite films and talk about a few specific aspects of the visual storytelling that I hoped to practice working into my own filmmaking.
I saw four student films while I was there. One is likely to be one of the best thesis films to come out of the current year. DARK HEARTS is a mystical story that looks like ****ing Game of Thrones. It's an incredibly ambitious project with awesome choreographed fight scenes and amazing locations. Can't wait to see it when it's done.
I saw another film by a cinematography student I stayed with. This was her 2nd cycle film (kind of a mini-thesis for the semester) it had a pretty weak script in that the dialogue was cheeky and too expository. I give credit to the cinematographer though whom I think helped give the story a little more depth with her images.
Finally, I attended about an hour of a production class that was screening a group of students' films and then critiquing them. This was a production class - and I think it perhaps was for new graduate students ”¦? The two films I saw were pretty awful. No real story and poor acting. I can't critique the film on sound design and other things because that's what they were working on learning. (Also, directing students did not make the films I saw).
I'm not going to lie, after having a great interview experience, attending that class kind of left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I've wanted to go to Chapman for a long time, but I really want to make sure its worth the investment. I guess I'll cross that bridge if the acceptance letter comes. Then again, to think that maybe those students with the awful films with be making projects like DARK HEARTS in 3 years, you have to think the school is really worth something then.
I don't know, I'm just nervous.
Best of luck to everyone, in everything!
