My name is Danny Westcott and this is my blog for FMX 210. I was born and raised in Tallahassee, FL and ever since I could remember I've been fascinated with movies, video, dissecting stories. My family always went on vacations all over the United States and then across the seas to Europe and up to Canada. I knew when I traveled to a new place that thousands of stories have been passed down from generation to generation are here and that I want to know them and I want to share them with countless other people. So from that moment on I knew that I want to be a story teller in some form or fashion. It wasn't until freshman year of high school that I discovered video as an outlet to express myself and my stories. I continued the elective TV Productions that introduced video to me for all four years of high. The skills I learned in that class enabled me to have video jobs in Tallahassee and allowed me to have a job on a film crew in Northern California this past summer. Now I'm in Tampa, going to college for Film and Media Arts.
The first day of FMX 210 was unlike any of my other classes meeting for the first time, mainly because we met for the whole time on the first day. But it seems like it will be an interesting time, my professor loves to get caught up on the details, sort of reminds me of Simon Pegg's Scotty from Star Trek. The class itself seems very centered on art and making things look pretty instead of actual video work, which I'm excited about because an inspiring director should know everything that needs to happen in pre-pro, pro, and post. But the art focus also scares me because every time I was required to draw in high school for some silly English project it would inevitably end up being a stick figure with back problems because I couldn't even draw a straight line. It's a first year class though so hopefully I don't have to be Van Gogh yet (unless my art is "good" and the world doesn't understand it yet).
The first day of FMX 210 was unlike any of my other classes meeting for the first time, mainly because we met for the whole time on the first day. But it seems like it will be an interesting time, my professor loves to get caught up on the details, sort of reminds me of Simon Pegg's Scotty from Star Trek. The class itself seems very centered on art and making things look pretty instead of actual video work, which I'm excited about because an inspiring director should know everything that needs to happen in pre-pro, pro, and post. But the art focus also scares me because every time I was required to draw in high school for some silly English project it would inevitably end up being a stick figure with back problems because I couldn't even draw a straight line. It's a first year class though so hopefully I don't have to be Van Gogh yet (unless my art is "good" and the world doesn't understand it yet).
Prof Tortorelli made a good point about the grading scale during the first class. He put it in a way that I have never thought about grades because of the grade inflation I've received all through my education. If you put everything you have into the project and don't stop at the bare minimum, not only does that make A's more meaningful, but it will really show who puts in the work and who just does the assignment to get it done. Students are getting "smarter" only because the don't realize the grade inflation that surrounds them. It made me really start wanting to do more and making the project my own instead of just what the teacher wants to hear.
