Veronika

The September before the start of my junior year, I participated in a Stanford Arts Intensive entitled “Write and Shoot: Narrative Filmmaking,” led by Adam Tobin and Kristine Stolakis. Arts Intensive is a chance for students to spend three weeks before the start of fall quarter diving deep into an art form of their choice. Write and Shoot is a hybrid writing/production course that guided me through the process of completing a 2-3 minute narrative film. As part of the course, I wrote the script for a short fiction film, completed DSLR cinematography instruction, workshopped other students’ script, and directed and edited my film in a pair.

Our film, Veronika, followed a woman who murders creepy men who treat her or other women badly on first dates. This was my first experience in making a film with sound and it was an entire experience to get everything to match up and deal with background noise; especially since we were filming in a very public space. I learned a great deal in writing, doing the pre-production for, filming, and editing this project. Working with my peers, in particular, helped me and pushed me to elevate my own standard of artistry.