What I Hope to Achieve. 


From an early age I knew I wanted to make a name for myself. I always dreamed of Hollywood, New York, bright lights, busy streets, the fame. Being an actress only seemed right for me, until I finally got some common sense. You can't have a career of being an actress if you HATE and I mean HATE being in front of the camera. So why not do the next best thing, film making.

I came to Alabama with no intentions of being a film maker. Being in the medical field was the original plan. It only seemed right, I was an athletic trainer in high school, did nursing clinical classes, and had already planned out my future in medicine, then I realized that this career was not for me. 

My interest in film making has always been that, an interest. It always seemed impossible, there was no way that little ole' me could become an award winning director. This was always a hobby for me, something fun, I remember taking my daddy's old JVC camera and creating different movies. God, they were awful, but at the time I was too young to care. Wanting to be a film maker has always been something I've kept to myself. After you see the work of so many young, gifted, and talented students from the University, preteens, and people that do this just for personal enjoyment made this dream seem so ridiculous. I could never be as talented as them is what I told myself, but how could I determine that without trying. This past Spring I finally decided that this major was right for me. My fear of disappointing others with my decision was gone, realizing that I needed to do what felt right for me. 

My hope for taking this class is to learn a lot of different techniques, cameras aspects,  and visual styles. To learn how to express my stories visually, feel comfortable working outside of the class room, all the baby steps to creating a strong DP reel in the future, that could grasp the attentions of others. I plan to take classes to learn every aspect of the film making world, pre-production, production, post production, lighting, sound, and script writing. I want to leave UA knowing that I made a difference through my work.

As for my long term goals I hope to attend film school post graduation to mold hopefully my future talent more. I don't plan to attend a big film school like AFI, NYU, USC, UCLA, or Columbia. I plan to take a different route, hoping to attend Florida State University for graduate school instead. The program has so much to offer that interests me. I will be able learn not only mold my future talent into something amazing, but I would also be able to learn the logistics/business factor of film making which is very important to me. I look more towards doing  independent work, creating my own production business, and maybe even teaching in the future. Once I believe in something I succeed in it,  The possibilities are inevitable.

I'm still VERY NEW to film making. It might even take years until I am able to be proud of what I create. 

The art of visual storytelling has always been very interesting to me. My style of famous Hollywood is gone, I now lean interest towards more independent film styles, short films, festivals and documentaries. I want to be able to use film making to move people emotionally, create stories fiction/non fiction that inspire, produce pieces that I can be proud of. Taking TCF 201 this past term me realize that film making comes so natural to me. I don't even look to this for financial wealth and fame anymore. Now I view it through the eyes of being a role model. The film making industry is still dominated mainly by males. Making me want to be a successful, inspiring, empowering woman in this industry.

Kathyrn Bigelow became the FIRST woman to ever win an Academy Award for Best Director for her 2008 film The Hurt Locker.  She was the fourth woman in history to be nominated for this honor, and only the second American woman to be nominated. Although it should not have taken about 81 years for a woman to win this award I look at it as a major stepping stone for what I can possibly achieve in the future.