Sean Duffy 262747 Part 1: Biography Sometimes self-doubt get the best of me and I start telling myself that

I will never be a great artist because Ive lived too privileged of a life. I grew up in the clean, quiet, always green suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri. My parents, still married, have always brought in considerable income from their business jobs. Im going to my dream college to study filmmaking. Who am I to think I have something to say? Ive always been an introvert and an idealist, or as I was labeled by my teachers at an early age, too shy and too distracted. I was always writing stories, but my handwriting was awful. I loved to read but read too slow. I spent too much time watching movies and playing video games and not enough outside. I was a nice boy, yes, but I wasnt normal. So I started getting taken out of class to go through things like physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. It was miserable, but I wanted to be normal. So I accepted it. Fast forward to high school. I was an honors student, highly involved in theatre, and had lots of friends. Was I cured of my abnormality? No. I embraced it; I got self-respect. So I started raising my hand in class. Not to just get points, but because I wanted to others to hear what I had to say. The same goes for why I got on stage, started making films, and became more social. Pain alone doesnt need to drive art; the passion of self-expression is much stronger. I see things that others dont see, and the best way to show them is through a story. And to me, the modern medium to do so is in film.

Sean Duffy 262747 Part 2: Essay Unlike an orgasm, the genesis of a great idea rarely has a build to it. It comes without warning and it comes without explanation. And like where so many come in college, the most important idea I had during my first semester at Columbia came in the shower; I had figured out the idea for my final and most important film project of the semester. My film was going to be the story of a young man who, decked out in a cape bearing his nickname Scoots, goggles, and his trusty stead of a push scooter, goes on a wild quest for love. The film starts with Scoots in a coffee shop, sipping his latte alone and feeling down. But from the window he sees a beautiful girl outside getting on her bike. Scoots is smitten. The girl rides off and Scoots goes on a long and comedic chase after her. But right when he finally catches up to her at her apartment, she is greeted by her boyfriend, and Scoots heart is broken. As Scoots gives up on love and waits for the bus, a girl on roller skates rides by and almost trips on his scooter laying on the sidewalk. Scoots saves the girl just in time, who also happens to be wearing goggles and a cape, but with the name Roller. With one look, the two fall in love and walk off into the sunset. And so, Scoots was born, weighing in at 200 feet of film, thirty pounds of equipment, and an immeasurable amount of creative ecstasy that would be the culmination of everything I learned about the medium up to that point. Theres a fine line between being a control freak and being creatively assertive, and its a line that I often balance between. Perhaps thoroughly figuring

out an idea for a project before even being assigned into groups for it would be considered behavior of the former, but this was the most important project of the semester and my chance to really stand out amongst my peers; if I wanted it be as incredible as possible, I had to have the power to make it so. Luckily, my three group members turned out to be pretty much clueless on what we should do for the film, and when I pitched them Scoots they were happy enough that they had to do less work that they agreed immediately on the idea. While the conception process was over, the bulk of the pre-production logistics for the film were due the next week. These logistics included information on locations, actors, costumes, storyboards, and more. We all agreed that we should split the work. So I divided up the work evenly; that is, about 10% to the producer, 10% to our cinematographer, and the remaining 80% to me. Our sound designer also had a 10%, but he forgot to do it, so I had to last minute. Its not that I didnt trust my group to do the work; its just that I trusted myself to do it a lot better. I had done similar work for theatre productions in high school, and in much greater volume, so I knew what I was doing. Time on set was going to be limited, and I had to make sure we werent going to waste a second of it over details that we could have figured out way in advance. And when the next class came, every group met with our instructor in his office to green light their production. The group before us was in there for an hour; we came in, handed him a neatly organized binder, and were out within five minutes. But even the best of planning cant prevent every problem. The first of two days of filming we shot at a pastry shop my friend Bailey worked at. The shop would be closed by two oclock, which was the time we were getting there. However, it was

mid-November, and the sun was starting to set as early as five. That meant we only had about three hours to set up and get all eight shots. With all our pre-planning, I thought we would be fine. I was wrong. First, we ran late because we had to wait for another group to return the camera to us. I let them borrow it because theirs broke and they didnt have time to rent a new one; my heart got in the way of my head and I immediately regretted the decision. But I had given us more than enough time in the schedule to get to the location that we werent more than five minutes late. Second, one of our lights, the one we planned on using the most, didnt work. My crew quickly figured out a solution by diffusing a different light to match the broken lights brightness. Third, the group that borrowed the camera forgot one of the film spools, and we had to wait twenty minutes for them to return it before we could even load the camera up. By the time we were completely set up for the first shot, it was around two-thirty. But once we started filming, things went smoothly. While I may not have trusted my crew so much in the pre-production process, this was where we all truly came together. Our producer, Jenkins, and sound designer, Dakota, quickly and safely moved furniture and our lights as needed, as well as helping solve any problems that arose and giving input on how to best get a shot. But it was our cinematographer, Grant, who really shined that day. The shots we had planned out werent always easy to get in the cramped and small space we were shooting in, but Grant would always figure something out, putting himself in whatever uncomfortable position to get a shot. With my crew at work, I was able to focus on working with the actors, keeping things on track, and making

sure my vision was being met. We finished the last shot right as the sun was starting to set, packed up our gear, and left the location in the same condition that we found it. Day one, even with our setbacks, was a success. Day two was longer, spanning from around noon to five. This time we were shooting around my friend Baileys neighborhood in Bucktown. We didnt have any real setbacks to work around, so we had the time to get every shot right, try out different ideas, and have a whole lot of fun while doing it. To me, filmmaking is always best outside; it feels more natural when youre capturing fictional characters living in a very active real world. We ended day two early, energized, and with incredible excitement to see how the developed film would look. A week after we finished shooting and turned in our film, we came back from Thanksgiving break and I picked up the processed footage. Im an idealist, so things usually dont turn out as I had planned, and Im disappointed. But our footage looked good, and I quickly edited a rough cut within a few hours. But the film still needed one vital component: sound. While the film had no dialogue, we still had to create a soundscape and a musical score, so my sound designer Dakota and I spent eight hours one night doing so. We had recorded no sound on-set, so we either pulled sounds from online databases, or recorded them ourselves. After we figured out all our sounds, Dakota broke out his midi-keyboard and we created a simple, but distinct score using GarageBand. Dakota would watch a few seconds of the film, play a melody, and Id give him feedback. Slowly but surely, we made our way through the three-minute film doing so. The added effect of the sound and music brought an extra layer of personality to the film that I had never thought wed achieve. Dakota

drove me home as the sun was just rising and I felt like I was starting to become strong enough of an artist to be worthy of a city as majestic as Chicago. The last day of class came and we were ready to show the final cut of Scoots. Our class and another would screen our combined eight films and then vote on one from each class to send off to be judged for the Take-One Festival, a film festival run by Columbia that showcases freshman film projects. With as much modesty as my ego allows, Scoots destroyed the other films. Not only was it clear that we had put in more effort that any of the other films, but we also had the one that was most cohesive, error-free, original, and one of only two that didnt have murder as a major plot-device. Scoots won the vote and was sent to the Take-One jury. I wont know if we got in till February, but I have high hopes that Scoots will not only get in, but place highly as well, giving me a chance to be showcased in front of staff and other students, and cast off any self-doubt that this isnt the job Im supposed to have. Columbias Film & Video program is the largest in the country, and the most common major amongst the students here. Theres a lot of people and a lot of competition, so how can you stand out? Many of my peers think their senior year will finally be their time to shine, but I disagree. No ones going to make a Citizen Kane of a short film here, but why try and do anything less? Taking that approach with Scoots turned a simple idea I had in the shower become a film that showcases my ambition, ability, and originality as a filmmaker. Every class, every project, and every idea I have at Columbia is an opportunity for greatness. Youve got to hone your craft over time. You cant expect it to come randomly and without work. Youve got to orgasm.