Wednesday 23 June 2010

Chris Jones' Master-Class

I attended Chris Jones’ master-class last weekend. What did I make of it? Well, the guy’s impressive! He knows his stuff and there aren’t many who would dare to be as open as he was. His course is intense-his step by step instructions on how to break into the film industry was pretty cool. I would highly recommend it if you’re seriously thinking of going into the film business. After all, this is the guy who set out to make a short film for the Oscars and got nominated.
My only complaint would be that at times I felt lost. Being a writer I have very little experience on the filming aspect. Chris is quite an easy going guy and you can stop and approach him at any point if you don’t understand anything. He will do his best to clear up any confusion /misunderstanding that you may have. In my case, he encouraged me to begin filming straight away to get a better insight on the filming side.
I guess the airless room we sat in didn’t help my concentration much. I think if we had more interactive, group work, workshop style sessions would have kept me on my toes. Having said that Chris unique-fast style lecturing did keep me interested even if I was totally shattered by the end. He’s definitely made me think of going to Cannes next year!