Welcome!

Hello All,
And welcome to C is for Cinema.  My name is Cate (with a C) and I am a film student at Boston University.  This blog is actually a creative assignment for my Advanced Screenwriting class but I hope that it will also be an opportunity to muse on the challenges of being a writer (for the screen) and the thrills of being a film enthusiast.

From the composition (script) to the cinema (theater) to the celluloid itself, there's magic in the movies:

Cinema: I grew up working in the balcony of a renovated 1940's Art Deco Cinema, the only theater in a small southern town.  Folks would shuffle in on weekend nights, settle themselves beneath the chandeliers, and bask in the flickering gold light of the projector; even as a kid, I knew it was something special.  Nowhere else had I seen strange adults sit next to one another, nod cordially, and sink into their chairs when the house lights dimmed.  Something electric buzzes through the air of a movie theater, a surge of anticipation.  As a Landmark Cinema's advertisement once pronounced before trailers rolled across the screen, "the language of cinema is universal."  An audience partakes in the promise of a good story and laugh or cry, it feels better to share.

Celluloid: Before attending Boston University I spent three years working in feature film production.  I began as a precocious eighteen year old, taking a train to New York City with only the hope to beg for free work.  Soon I was assisting Directors, opening production offices on new features, and laboring in the Art Department of independent films.  I even had the opportunity to work as the Production Assistant in the Art Department of the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man.  You might think that peeking behind the curtain would dissolve the illusion of the movies, but it only seemed to enhance it.  The same electricity that hangs above the heads of the audience in the theater hums across the film set; it was a reassuring discovery.

Composition: As a student of screenwriting I am developing not only my technical skills, but my personal lens through which I hope to contribute to the world of cinema.  As I'm sure will be revealed in my posts, I have a weak spot for film adaptations (A Few Good Men, The Shawshank Redemption, Jaws) for historical pieces (The New World, The Young Victoria, Miracle, Bobby) and for stories from my home, the Midwest (Sweetland, The Mighty Ducks).  My selections might seem random, but they are just the beginning of what I hope will be an exciting conversation about what it takes to create and enjoy the stories of the cinema.

Favorite Director Right Now:  Tom Hooper (The King's Speech, The Damned United, John Adams)
Favorite Screenwriter Right Now: Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, The American President, West Wing)

Who are your favorite directors and screenwriters?

Cheers,
Cate With a C