Crazy Week!!

Hey there!

Well, it’s been quite a week. So sorry it’s been a while, but I’ll do my best to catch everyone up.

Friday morning we had our first Pitching session. This is where we presented the story ideas that we’d been working on to our professors. Then they have the opportunity to tell us what works and what doesn’t work, as well as give us some creative suggestions. Then (and this was the scary part), they decide whether or not to pass our idea. If it gets their OK, we get our budget and can go ahead with pre-production (writing a script, working on storyboards, etc). However, if they think the idea is weak or just plain not interesting, they reject it. Then the group would have to go back to the drawing board and work out another idea, or make serious changes to the one they’re working with.

So, Erika and I gave our pitch, answered some creative questions on what exactly our vision was for the film, and defended some of the choices we made that we didn’t feel comfortable changing. Based on all of that, they passed us! One or two of our professors even got very passionate about our ideas, which was AWESOME considering that they are professionals that have worked in the Czech film industry for years! The next step for us is that we are assigned a faculty Directing Mentor and a faculty Technical Mentor, and we start to nail down a script for the project. More to come on our mentors and our progress as it happens.
Then, Saturday morning we left early on a bus to Moravia, which is a region in the very southeast of the country, almost on the border with Slovakia. This was our big overnight trip, and it was so much fun! The bus ride to Zlín- the town we were visiting- was about three and a half hours. I got pretty carsick on the way there, but just because it was such a windy road. Once in Zlín, we visited a animation studio and school, and got to meet with one of the professors there. He showed us some of the animation techniques they teach at the school, and we watched some student projects. Then, that night, we went to a wine tasting where I learned that I do not like wine at all, in any form. Oh well, I guess you can’t win them all. The next morning we hiked up to Buchlov Castle through the most beautiful wood I’ve ever seen. Really and truly, I would almost have expected something crazy like a unicorn to walk through the trees to us. I loved it!

After visiting the castle, we hopped back on the bus and came home. Totally exhausted, I slept through the whole ride back, and then promptly went to bed when we got home. It was a great trip, but I’m glad to be back to the routine.

Well, that’s enough adventures in Central Europe for one week. I hope you all are doing well, and I miss everyone at home tons.

Love,

Christy