Video is part of our everyday lives. Social media feeds are stacked with music videos, news briefs, Kickstarter video pitches, and sketches from late show TV. Celebrity sightings in Pittsburgh have increased since the Film Tax Credit Program went into effect, bringing a myriad of movie and television shoots to the city. Each of these projects, from the small budget student film to the large Hollywood blockbuster, requires a dedicated and educated team to tackle the many tasks of filmmaking.
As part of CCAC’s Film Technician program, students learn a variety of skills from set dressing (arranging the objects on a film set before a shoot) to sound mixing to video editing.
These newly-acquired skills will be on display on Friday, December 15 at the CCAC South Campus Theatre in West Mifflin as students present their final projects and films. The projects range from spec commercials–one commercial riffing on the Snickers’ “you’re not you when you’re hungry” ad campaign calls out sexism and bigotry–to original short films including a comedy about Stockholm Syndrome, an experimental film about color, and a puppet movie about gods discussing the destruction of the human race.
In home entertainment news, local filmmaker Julie Sokolow, whose Healthy Artist documentary series kicked off a streak of thoughtful and engaging documentaries, sees her latest film, 2016’s Woman On Fire, stream on Starz. The film, which was an Official Selection at Doc NYC, follows Brooke Guinan, the first openly transgender firefighter in New York City, as she challenges perceptions of what it means to be transgender in America today. The film is available for streaming with a Starz membership.
Film Technician Certification
Friday, December 15, 6:30.
CCAC South Campus Theatre, 1750 Clairton Rd, West Mifflin, Pennsylvania 15122