Thing is, I’m not interested in that. I’ve always wanted to write, ever since I was a kid, and now I’ve finally found a way to do it for a living. I guess my parents are just scared because there’s never a guarantee for a steady pay-cheque when you’re writing for film/tv. It’s understandable, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take, yannoe?
What to do. What to do…
I don’t know what to do anymore.
My parents just told me that I can’t go to film school.
My mom says she doesn’t care which program I study, just as long as I graduate from an accredited university. I don’t think she understands what she’s saying, but let me just dissect this for a moment…
I went to a university for one year. For psychology. And it was not what I wanted. That’s why I came back. I dabbled in technical school for a while, learned some new skills here and there, trying to gauge what I’m naturally built for, but now they’re sick and tired of waiting.
She says I have three years to finish university and get a degree, otherwise she’s not paying for anything ever again.
Well, okay. I’m not going to be threatened into submission like that. I mean, you’re my parents and all, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to just lay down flat on the floor while you walk all over me. You may have given birth to me, but you don’t own me as a person. Jesus.
Worst case scenario, then don’t ever come around, and I’ll have to pay for my tuition out of my own pocket, and I’ll have to take out a couple of student loans. But that’s something I’m willing to do if that means I can pursue my dreams.
My mom proceeded to tell me, “Don’t be naive. You can’t possibly think that everybody gets what they want in this world. You don’t think the hobos on the streets have dreams? Those 40 year old waitresses don’t have dreams? Everybody has dreams. You’re just deluded.”
Wow. So much for the support.
Honestly, for a Christian woman, she’s not very accepting. If she can put her faith into a god she’s never seen, how is that she can’t trust a daughter she’s known her entire life?
I GOT IN!
Well, I got an offer anyway.
They really don’t have any down-time, do they? My advisor from VFS sent me an acceptance email this morning, telling me that the writing department LOVED my samples, and they’re so excited to have someone of my calibre joining their school soon.
At least that’s what they tell me anyway.
The head of the writing department also sent me a personalized letter telling me that he enjoyed my writing, and my creativity has real potential to be adapted into screenplays. Which is nice, since it’s nice to be validated by people other than my friends. Forgive me, if I’m a little skeptical, since this is a money-driven business and people say things to get what they want…
But all in all, I’m very happy! Believe me, it’s such a great feeling to be able to use your own talents to get somewhere in this world.
Now it’s just a matter of signing some forms and sending in a deposit, and you’re looking at Vancouver’s newest film student! Or something to that effect.
Um. What.
So after spending a whole day writing and re-writing, I submitted my 20 page application to VFS last night.
To prove how ‘diligent’ they are, they immediately sent me an email the morning after, telling me that my writing was approved for acceptance.
Normally, I’d be jumping for joy, but this made me scratch my head a little. I highly doubt they really read my 20 pages, and probably just skimmed through it for grammatical errors and passed it on to the next person for approval. Which makes me wonder, do they really screen their applicants? Or are they just looking for the next person who has 30 grand in their pockets to spare?
My advisor emailed me saying that there is only ONE spot left out of 30, and that in order to secure my spot, I’d have to come up with 5% of the tuition, which came to around 1000 dollars. Which I think, is absolutely ludicrous. I haven’t even gotten a formal acceptance yet, and now they’re asking me for tuitions fees, just so I can secure my spot?
Which makes me think that maybe if I didn’t spend a whole month on my application, if I had just written 20 pages about an earthworm, or something similarly uninteresting, I would’ve still gotten accepted. Christ, they probably didn’t even check my writing for plagiarism. I could’ve copied the whole damn thing from the internet and they wouldn’t even know.
Well, this is off to a horrible start.
I’m assuming what she meant was that there were several other candidates that have also been ‘approved for acceptance’, and whoever can come up with the money the fastest, gets first pick. Now THAT is just sickening.
I don’t even know what to think anymore.
VFS: School tour!
So I finally went on the tour that I scheduled with the lovely lady on the other end of the phone two weeks ago.
I left the house an hour earlier, and arrived there way too early, so I took a walk around the block. I recognized the park across the street from the VFS building as the park that they blew up in a scene from Alcatraz! So that was pretty cool.
Anyway, I went inside and waited to speak to the advisor, who turned out to be more than friendly and informative, and any doubts I had about this school just went out the window. She encouraged me to apply for their newly introduced scholarship program, and walked me through the application process. It was really great talking to her!
After maybe 20 minutes of talking, she offered to take me on a brief tour through the building. Each program has their own floor, and I think the 3D Animation and actual filming programs have their own buildings elsewhere. The writing program has their own floor, their own lecture auditorium and several classrooms that each had a flatscreen TV. There were a couple of laptops scattered throughout the floor for student use as well. We even swung by the production floor and a couple of students waved at me. All in all, I was very impressed.
Did I walk away with a gigantic smile on my face and a renewed hope for my future? Most definitely.
Nothing’s set in stone yet, though. I’m still looking into other schools, like Capilano (at the suggestion of family friends and a person on Tumblr), and anything else that offers a film writing program. So hopefully that’ll open a few other doors for me.
So hooray for exploring options!
Film school.
I’ve decided. I want to go to film school.
To be honest, it was always what I wanted to do. Write TV shows or movies, but my parents were never really supportive. After seeing me wander aimlessly around for two years, wasting precious time and money trying to find something I’m passionate about, but to no avail, my parents decided to let my pursue this path…
And I guess I’ll be documenting it on this Tumblr. Even though I had originally planned for this blog to be entirely review-focused.
But things change, I suppose.
Anyway, I got a call from Vancouver Film School this morning, and the lady on the other end was very patient and kind. I had just woken up and was horribly groggy, so she had to deal with my ‘WHAT’s and ‘HUH’s for a good two minutes before I woke up completely.
She asked me if I had any background in writing, and I said I did. We spoke about the school, and she encouraged me to browse through the website and their Youtube channel. She then asked me what my current financial situation was, and then told me they had an extensive payment plan for students. Then she set me up for a school tour with one of the school’s advisors next week, which I am looking forward to.
First impression: pretty good. The staff seems really friendly, and even though I’m sure they’re terribly busy, they take their time to get to know you a bit, and write down key information for the school advisors to look over.
I am a bit hesitant though. I’ve heard really horrible reviews about this school. Though I’m sure it’s just people’s wary protests against the sky-high tuitions fees. It’s upwards of 50 grand for a year-long film production program! I’m guessing it’s because of the equipment and the training, but for a poor student like me, I can see how 50 grand might be a bit daunting. As for a writing student like myself, it’s only 20 grand. Even so, it’s still a rather large financial commitment.
Anyway, if I do end up applying for this school, I’ll be starting in August. So I’ll have three months to really get my shit together and stop slacking off. It’ll be a super intense year, and I can’t promise that I’ll make it out in one piece, but I’ll definitely try!
So here marks the beginning of my whirlwind journey to becoming a screenwriter!
Or a hobo. Whichever suits me better.
Review: The Darkest Hour.
What the fuck.
I’m not even kidding. This was just bloody awful.
The characters were dull as rocks and the acting is B-grade at best. I mean, dude, (I’m not gonna even say spoiler alert, because I’m saving you two hours here) your ‘friend’ just stole your idea million-dollar idea, sold you out, and now you guys are two broke idiots with nowhere else to go, and all they do is just sit there and make not-so-witty remarks about how life just fucked them up the ass.
Don’t even get me started on the female characters. One, the brunette isn’t even that pretty. Okay, sure she’s pretty for us normal-folk-standards, but not for the big screen. And what is with the blonde chick? She spends the entire movie going ‘eee no save me, no I don’t want to go out, my hair is perfectly curled even after five days of no showers’ and the brunette has to drag her by the arm the ENTIRE movie.
I didn’t even finish the goddamn movie.
Now, maybe you’re going all ‘Why would you write such a scathing review about a movie you didn’t even finish?’
Well, after the Russian girl shows up, it just couldn’t get any worse. She obviously doesn’t even know what she’s talking about. She’s reading off a script with this terrible Russian accent and the other crazy guy who somehow managed to convert his entire apartment into a fucking bomb shelter made out of chain-link fence in a three day time period was just the last nail in the coffin.
So no, I didn’t finish the goddamn movie, and I don’t want to either.
Best part of the movie? The guy who played Skyler was a hot piece of ass. And he died about thirty minutes in.
1.5/10.
Review: Face Off.
I LOVE this show.
I’ve always been intrigued by special effects when I was younger. I personally think it’s much more interesting (though less practical) than normal beauty makeup.
What I love about this show is that it focuses on the actual quality and creativity of the creations. The judges are fair and thoughtful, and almost always the person who did the best really do get the top spot each week. I usually get really frustrated with reality shows when the producers mess with the contestants and the judges so that crowd favourites tend to end up pulling up near the front, even though their talents say otherwise. So I’m glad that Face Off really gives a chance for talented people to win based on their merits.
I’m so glad I discovered this show. Now I’m just trying to get my friends into it so I can blab about it with them!
