College Admission Essays: Chronological Order Essay Example

As far back as I can remember, I have always been captivated by movies, and how they are made. My parents have told me that watching movies with me, as a toddler, was almost unbearable because every ten seconds I would shout,"How’d they do that?" This interest in movies became a hobby of mine when my friends and I began making movies with our video cameras. The first films we made in sixth grade were usually simple five-minute stories that were always blatant copies of our favorite movies. Looking back on the movies we made in middle school, I realize they really brought me closer to my friends. Being a part of something like filmmaking was a great way to exercise my creative side, and make and strengthen friendships. And so, after my junior year of high school, I decided to take the next step from video to film.

I thus began this past summer studying filmmaking at the New York Film Academy. I went into the program with a lot of anxiety. I hadn’t had to make new friends since my first summer at Camp Equinunk when I was ten years old. The notion of not knowing anyone, wandering the halls alone, and eating lunch alone concerned me; it shouldn’t have, but it did. I also felt that I knew little about the technical aspects of film. Outside of my close circle of friends and my love for pointing the camera at things we thought were funny or entertaining, I was really just a beginner at film making.

The learning process of filmmaking was tiring yet rewarding and I did begin to make friends when the teachers divided the class into groups of four. Within each group, each person would direct his or her own film and the other three were to serve as an Assistant Cameraman, Director of Photography, and a Gaffer in charge of lighting. We rotated responsibilities after each Director’s film was completed. As each became Director, he would learn to appreciate his dependence on the other three crewmembers for cooperation.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere in my group of young filmmakers was fiercely competitive. This is not to say I haven’t endured competition in my life, after all, attending my prep school for fourteen years taught me a thing or two about it. When my turn to direct my final film had come and gone, you can imagine how horrified I was when I got back the film cans at the beginning of the editing process and found one of two and a half rolls had been double exposed.

Despite having received some sympathy from others who were busy working on their own films, it was too late to re-shoot my movie and I was left to work with what I had. The only thing that mattered was getting my clear, existing shots together, edited, and ready for the premiere with the rest of the students’ completed films. After many hours in the dark editing room, I emerged a new man with a new film, much different from my originally planned concept. The next day, much to my relief, the film was very well received at the premiere.

Despite the headache, heartache, and backache of the process, I came out of that program having achieved exactly what I had set out to do, and made the absolute best of an unfortunate situation. I made new friends, a movie, and learned the basics of the filmmaking process, and most importantly, I had learned a life lesson as well. Corny as it sounds, I learned the true meaning of teamwork and trust, and without these two very important things I might have become even more lost, scared, and frustrated. I am acutely aware of these things now more than ever, and happily, I am eager to make my next film.