Students at the Pinnacle

I will be adding some pictures we have snapped over the last couple of years in some future posts just to show the NOVA Cinema students hard at work/play.  However, I wanted to start with this one because it really says so much in just one shot.  It is a still frame from a couple seconds of video shot by former student Jake Simpson while working with some of our current students (Eugene Rose, Anthony Peznola, Qiyanna Evans, Ashley Kelly, Bryan Dover, Cheryl Anne Fries, and Malcolm Tatman) while filming out in South Dakota this past October.  We will give you more of the behind-the-scenes story (and pictures) in future posts but this one shot at night shows the determination of these incredible students as they filmed all day long in harsh ever-changing weather elements (two separate freak snow storms) and scaling several hills/mountains up and down (with equipment) in slippery footing and clay-baked earth just to get to and from “set” each day.  They were excellent professionals and this one picture shows their determination to make it to the top…literally and figuratively!!!

Look Who’s Back…

First of all, let me apologize to all the students who have seen this blog address at the top of a syllabus by Professor Chris Stallings as he simply has not updated the blog in over two years.  He (okay, me – I am writing this) has been extremely busy with the assistance of the creation of a Cinema degree program at NOVA (Northern Virginia Community College).  In the past two (plus) years, we have begun the degree, increasing the number of classes to support it so it is a robust program with portfolio courses and an internship component.  In just over one and a half years, the program already boasts over 350 students in the degree, making it the fastest growing new program for NOVA – ever!  Those students who begun before the degree and finished up in it, are transferring to some incredible film/cinema schools across the country and some are going directly into the workforce and being equally successful.  And our influence has been felt internationally as well since we created a filmmaking experience in our study abroad program to the Czech Republic where students have studied alongside film professionals in Master Classes while working hands-on with the students of the FAMO film school over there.  We had 22 the first summer (2018), 17 last year (2019) and we have 20 prepped to go this summer.  In addition, we have an agreement for transfer to FAMO so select students can study internationally to complete their Bachelor’s degree.  Back here at home, our students are working on some of the best gear and software in the industry, including shooting on RED cameras, color grading on DaVinci Resolve, and we have even introduced a motion capture studio in the Regional Workforce Building on the Woodbridge campus.  Students are also getting the opportunity to work on bigger projects outside of the classroom, gaining valuable on-set experience.

So, yes, it has been an incredible ride for the past two years and I, again, apologize I have bene negligent on posting here but I will try to keep it up.

We have a special gift coming to you in the coming weeks as student Malcolm Tatman will be creating a series of podcasts about Cinema, in general, as well as to some things pertaining to this program, so look for that here on this site.

And, as a thank you to each of you for standing by us for the past few years without any content here on the site, please go to the videos tab/page of this site and see approximately 55 new student videos posted in there among the ones which were already located there.  You can see videos from our fabulous students from the past few years, concluding in our Fall 2019 semester.  I can’t wait to include more in the future when we uncover some other fantastic work by these students.

And from all the Cinema faculty here at NOVA, we thank everyone for their support!