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The guy or gal that called Chicago the Second City never visited during the Chicago International Film Festival. If they had they would have seen that this city has a love for film and storytelling that is second to none.

So you don’t have to guess that this festival has been pretty big news around campus. It has been a great opportunity for students to see fresh work from all over the world and network with established Chicago filmmakers. Even better, Columbia College Chicago gave away hundreds of free tickets to the students. Films like 12 Years a Slave are stealing the headlines. Now, I love a deep emotional experience, but what does a guy like me who loves gore and the occasional musical go to see? I snagged a ticket to Go Goa Gone, a Bollywood zombie flick. Now that’s culture! Hopefully my schedule lets me attend. But if any people out there go to see any of the films, let me know what you thought.

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The festival isn’t all that’s going on. I’m a filmmaker. I’m making films. This week I started shooting my music video. We just completed what we call a test shoot. A test shoot is where you film elements of your piece that you want to literally test. It’s pretty self explanatory, I know. The importance of the test shoot is to learn what works, and more importantly, what doesn’t. My video uses multimedia platforms and slow motion so it is imperative the concepts make visual sense.

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During the shoot we did not worry about costuming or blocking. This was all about the lip synch. I was pleased to see the concept was solid and we discovered unique ways to frame the shot. The last few weeks have been full of discovery. I can’t wait to see what comes next.