Recently, I finished production on a short film that I wrote, directed and produced. This short film was for a film festival that goes on at my school, Ithaca College. The film was one of the most difficult challenges I’ve had since I’ve been making movies and I can honestly say that my experience at Galileo led to the most successfully produced production I’ve ever made.
To start off, I’ve always been very deeply involved in the technical aspects of creating a film. The camera and editing are my true loves. At Galileo, I was able to finesse these skills and truly develop them to a professional level.
However, one’s technical ability is not the only important factor required in making a movie. This is a lesson that took some time for me to learn. Communication was absolutely crucial in the successful production of my short film. I needed to be on top of staying involved in every crewmember’s responsibilities and making sure they were keeping up with them.
While shadowing John Wager, I learned how to do this first hand. At Galileo, there was an efficient and effective communication in keeping up with the client’s requirements and making sure that everything would go perfectly on days that we would be shooting any of the various projects that Galileo was commissioned for. I used this experience and transferred it over to my short film, which was better off because of it.
Thanks to the simple, yet effective communication I learned, I was able to keep my talent happy, my crew happy, and even myself happy. It was a win-win, and I can say first-hand that student film shoots rarely go off without a hitch, but this did.
Jake Witterschein, 21, Ithaca College
