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Last weekend, I was running errands with my sister. I won’t mention if she’s older or younger, because like most of the people in my family, she’s been afflicted with an over sensitive vanity gene. (Besides asking someone’s age is rude.) She led me to the window of a stationary store and pointed to a fancy appointment book carefully displayed. “I love appointment books,” she said, “it’s like living your life a week at a time.” It made me think about a typical week for a Columbia Film & Video MFA student.

First of all, let me start by stating. There is nothing typical about being a directing student. You have to be observant, pushy, and innovative. And that’s just to take the “L” train into the city. So let me describe seven days in the life of…me. Traditional calendars start on Sunday, Business calendars on Monday. However, the Bubba calendar will start on Tuesday. I’m not going to explain my rational– just work with me.

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Tuesday: On Tuesday my Production II class met with potential composers for our focus films. We took a quick trip to the music building and watched clips of our films with different music tracks. I’m always amazed how different people can interpret your work and how adding music can intensify emotional impact. After class, I went straight to the library to finish up my proposal for my final theory paper.

Wednesday: In Film Theory class we took an in depth look at John Carpenter’s Halloween. Every time I saw young Jamie Lee Curtis, I couldn’t help but hum the Activia theme song. After class, I edited. There was nothing flashy here.  I was just trying to make a movie.

Thursday: We had another screening  of our rough cuts in production II. It was humbling. But after getting notes, I found myself editing again.

Friday: There was no class today. Instead I spent a few hours editing before going to a meeting with my soon-to-be-composer. The meeting went well. We discussed what I wanted as far as musical styles, and then I gave an example of what inspired me. But I was kicking myself in the head because I missed seeing Jane Espensen speak. She is a major television producer who had written on some of my favorite shows including Buffy, Battlestar, and Star Trek TNG. She is working on ABC’s Once Upon a Time. Anyway, I missed it.

Saturday: I had some re-shoots. Let’s just leave it at that.

Sunday: I watched my nephew play in his first exhibition t-ball game. Have you ever seen the Bad News Bears? I mean the good one, not the Billy Bob version. Well…at least the kids are having fun.

Monday: Today I’m kicking myself for missing Paula Cole. I really like her music. Oh well. Instead I went to editing class to get more notes on my film. I was not disappointed. I received many notes and many things to think about. So guess where I ended up after class? That’s right. The Editing lab!

And those were my seven days.