Still no e-mail Chris.

Aaron - Just sent the e-mail. Hope you reply soon!

Bryan - For the scene, I had originally planned for another actress, but when she didn't pull through, my friend offered to help me. I told her about the scene she had to do as we drove to the cemetery, and as it was raining, I set up quickly and ran through the scene as fast as we could, only doing a few takes. I also remembering telling her not to be overdramatic and to make it seem realistic. Should I maybe have given her more time to prepare for the scene? I figured that since she only had a few lines, preparation would not be too necessary. But then again, the purpose of "those few lines" was to provide a strong emotional impact. Do you think there's anything I could've done, as a director, to help?

I think the worst thing a director can ever do is let the actor's "figure it out" for themselves.

You are the only one who knows what you need. You've got to give direction and correct your actors when they need it. This helps them and it helps you.

You've got to learn how to direct actors just as you've got to learn how to use the camera. It's a learned skill trying to vocalize what's in your head to someone else.

The big boy actors making $10 million on a movie don't just show up and read their lines and go home. They do take after take after take after take until it's right.

Don't feel bad about doing as many takes as it takes. That's the way you get that one shot out of a hundred that's gold.

I had some great advice given to me in HS from a mentor that was a director of television commercials. He told me to take acting classes. Take lighting classes. Take audio classes. The director has to know what it's like to be in each person's shoes on the set. That way he can direct efficently.

Hey guys,

Sorry to bump this topic back up, but I just had a quick update. I originally created this video for a contest going on in my area. Today, the Contra Costa County Youth Video Competition (what a mouthful!) held it's award ceremony, with a total of 12 other videos. I was pretty scared because everybody else had come in teams from video classes where they got professional equipment and training, while I just produced the video myself with no outside guidance (except for the posts on this forum). So you can probably imagine my surprise when it was announced that my video won FIRST PLACE! I couldn't believe it...it was an awesome feeling.

I ended up receiving a certificate, $500 to give to my school (it was grant money), a big trophy, and an opportunity for an internship (Dennis Richmond, Channel 2 News anchor, said that he MIGHT be able to give me an internship). As you can tell, this wasn't a very big contest, but I think the greatest thing I received today was a compliment from a lady. She said that the commercial had actually moved her enough to cry, and I could see that her eyes were still red and wet. I've never been complimented like that before, and it definitely motivated me to keep on doing my film projects.

Sorry to bring this back up, but I just thought that some of you guys might be interested in hearing about this. Thanks for all your help and support!

- Chris Yi

Glad you brought it back up! Good job and congrats!

Hey way to go!