It Takes Two

Christy and I are welcoming the weekend with open arms. Today marks the start of a much needed break; we have been graced with a five-day vacation. The other students in the program have decided to travel, some visiting Budapest, others to Italy, even the Czech buddies have vacated the flats. Christy and I are the only two left! Having decided to stay behind and take in the unvisited sights of Prague, we are both excited for some touristy fun as well as some peace and quiet!

The two month marker of calling Prague home is fast approaching and thus the break couldn’t have come at a better time. Over the past six weeks, we’ve been attending our ‘Topics in Production’ classes as well as our elective courses. It’s been wonderful sitting in class, absorbing film theory, history, and criticism, all of which are new subjects for me. The program back in Nebraska is mostly technically based, so these courses have offered the perfect compliment to what I’ve already learned. One of my favorite classes is Camera and Film Language. The material being taught in the course is very basic, but this is the first time that compositional theories besides the 1/3rd rule have been articulated for me. I have a growing eagerness to apply and utilize all these ideas for future projects.

As much as I’ve been enjoying the academia here, after class, the only thing I want to interact with is my bed. Total, we sit in class around fourteen times during the week and this has proven to be exhausting. I’m a homebody on the weekends; recuperating and of course working instead of bopping around the city. This was the reasoning behind staying in Prague. Christy and I are excited for our desired rest but also, I can’t rightly be here for four months and not visit Kafka’s grave or the Charles Bridge. Plus, at the moment, Prague is particularly enchanting! The leaves have turned all the wonderful colors that accompany the fabulous season of fall. (The past three years in Nebraska have been unsatisfactory falls; not offering much of the fall spectacle, so I’m happy to stay here and take pictures of the charming city.)

Some of you have heard of the frustrating time Jonathon and I have had coming up with an idea for our film project. I came here with an idea and script already in hand, and frankly, it was and is fabulous. The teachers however, in their infinite wisdom, vetoed the idea… well, maybe not vetoed it so much as kept trying to change it into something it wasn’t. Leaving Sean’s script on the back burner, we continued to rack our brains for three weeks. Each time we came up with something new it would be changed into a story neither Jonathon nor I wanted to tell. Luckily, our perseverance has paid off and we have the skeleton of our story and I’m excited, and relieved, about it. The script is due on Nov. 5th and the week after, our ‘Topics in Production’ classes end and we go into preproduction! That’ll be when things get really crazy… I can’t wait!

Everyone enjoy Halloween… sadly, it’s not celebrated here, but I think we’ll figure out some way to observe the awesome holiday anyway!

(Oh, and if you think Christmas comes out too early in the States… it isn’t even November yet and Christmas goods are starting to occupy the store shelves here! The giant chocolate Santas are particularly enticing!)

P.S – 1st Lt. Andrew Eckert… I’ve had some amazing milkshakes here! Thinking of you!