The Breakfast Club scene performed by the Acting for Film class is now up. You can find it here. Enjoy!
YPI Filmmaking 2011, Week 2
We had another wild and wacky ride in week two of filmmaking class! This week, since we had the opportunity to work with the delightful Acting for the Screen class, we spent a lot of time thinking about character.
The exercise on day one was for each filmmaker to take two very simple lines of dialogue and create a unique scene. They each had to come up with a backstory for each character as well as a context for the scene, direct the actors, and shoot no more than four shots to tell their story. No two scenes are alike!
YPI Filmmakers – Week 2 – Exercise 1 – The Question
Then as the final group project, all six students decided they wanted to work together on one film about a man living a double life – a YPI-style twist on the Fincher classic Fight Club. Check it out!
YPI Filmmakers – Week 2 – Final Project – Tickle Club
Tickle Club Crew - hard at work!
We Came, We Saw, We Jazzed
Last night was a great night. I was as proud and humbled as I have ever been in almost 20 years at YPI. We are all about work in progress here, and both hard work and progress were very much in evidence. Though it is always hard to say goodbye, I feel good knowing that everyone who came to camp last week grew and changed because of it. Now that our two weeks have come and gone, we’re going to change the format of the blog a bit. Everything that’s up is going to migrate to the blog on the YPI website, which will be a central hub for all things YPI, a place to share memories as well as new thoughts and new art as we create it throughout the year. Any future posts will appear there, and this blog will be set up to redirect there as well. We anticipate an easy change from one format to another, but please bear with us as we figure things out. Whatever it takes, we will make sure that there is a space online for us to stay connected. Best of luck to everyone as you go back to your old lives, or forward to start new ones. Don’t forget to take a little piece of YPI 2011 along with you.
We Jazz Is Almost Here!
It’s just before lunch on Friday, and We Jazz is almost here. The endings of the stories have all been written and revised, and all across campus, the students are putting the final touches on their work. Once We Jazz is complete, we’ll be posting as much student work as we possibly can on the blog, so please check back in the coming days. Our goal is to create a little space on the internet where everyone who participated can recapture a little piece of YPI during the coming year. As Jeff always says, this group will never be together again, but what we’ve experienced over these two weeks will always stay with us. So enjoy the performances this afternoon, and come back to the blog whenever you want or need a little reminder.
YPI Filmmaking thinks outside the box
Week one at YPI this summer was a great success! Watch footage from some of our in-class exercises, and check out a pair of hilarious camp comedies (which got raving reviews after Week 1 screenings to the camp), posted under “YPI Filmmaking Week 1.” See what you can write, shoot, and cut, all in one week!
Featuring:
-Paul: A Mockumentary
And
-The Cardboard Casket
Week 1 Stories Complete
After languishing in the editors’ inbox for too long, all the Week 1 stories are up for your reading pleasure. You can find the table of contents on the “Week 1 Short Stories” page, with links to all the individual stories. Whether you’re in the mood for epic fantasy or gritty crime drama, you’ll find it in the week 1 stories. Happy reading!
Week 2 Is Here!
Welcome to YPI 2011 week 2. Now that it’s Tuesday night, things have gotten underway. I’ve seen poets, photographers and songwriters roaming the campus chasing inspiration, trying to capture vanishing moments to share with the rest of the camp on Friday. The actors and screenwriters share our building and always seem to be zooming around at a frantic pace, with Emily and Bat-Sheva sitting serenely in the eye of the storm. The artists and music theatre students are quieter, save for the odd pair of disembodied legs in a tree, but I’m sure they’re hard at work as well. And amid all the chaos, short story is trying its best to create as well. This week, we have a new plan: each student is writing a serial story, to be released in four installments. The first comes out tonight–you can find them under the page “Week 2 Short Stories.” A new installment will come out each night, preparing you for the exciting conclusions which we will share at We Jazz on Friday. So do yourself the favor of reading along; I doubt the stories will disappoint.
Hot Off The Presses!
Week One Short Stories have begun to be released! Snap up your favorite stories and catch up with characters from YPI’s Short Story class. Just follow the link to the page above.
Acting Prepares for Big Night
As the actresses prepare for their opening night of “Where the Wild Things Are” I had an opportunity to speak with each of them about their experience.
Acting, Week 1: Where The Wild Things Are
“This show gave me more experience with acting. I perform mostly musicals, so it was nice to have more of a focus on acting by itself.” – Stefanie Greer
“This was amazing because I learned to think outside the box. I learned how to be louder and be my character. I feel so much more confident about my acting.” – Rory Chagnon
“I learned that in life you might not get the chocolate chip muffins, but acting is worth it 
!” – Morgan Keyt
“I learned actors and actresses can make or break any script. We did a lot of two person scenes with the exact same script, but we ended up having two totally different scenes.” – Rachel Kaplan
After intense script work, memorizing, character building, dance class, drum workshops, costume fittings and rehearsal after rehearsal, these actresses are ready to rock the house tonight!
-Sara Lukasiewicz aka “Luka”
Songwriting Symposium
Songwriting in the Studio
We have so much exciting variety in our Week 1 Songwriting class this year. Our songwriters’ unique sounds, from simply serene acoustic to slam-jam rock, echo the likes of Ben Folds to Ingrid Michaelson, Megadeath to Soundgarden.
We’re working on the writing process, the essence of performing, and lastly, the production and recording aspects of music. In all, it’s been a panorama tour of all songwriting encompasses. I can’t wait to show everyone what we’ve been doing all week!
-Helena, Songwriting Master Teacher
Songwriting at Work
