Tag Archives: Guy Mor

Top 5 Take-aways from the DFA Open House

Audio, DFA Instructors, DFA Students, Directing, Editing, Events, Sara McDermott Jain, Web series, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

True to form, the DFA Open House did not disappoint! The two hours were packed with three informative demos that gave attendees a wealth of information.

Here are the top 5 take-aways from the open house:

1. “The director is king… but the audience is GOD.”

This is at the core of what the DFA advocates and how they teach their students. As DFA President Patrick DiRenna says, “The most important ‘person’ to a production is not the star or the DP or even the director… it’s the audience.” The entire goal of film is to get the audience to feel what you want when you want them to feel it – and the DFA is the place to help students figure out how to do just that!

Patrick DiRenna teaches the DFA philosophy.
Patrick DiRenna teaches the DFA philosophy.

2. Film requires skill sets – including how to be a business person.

People sometimes forget that, in addition to being an expert in a particular craft or skill set (lighting, camerawork, audio, etc.), they also need to be great business people in order to succeed in film.

Attendees got a taste of how to think about and market their work and themselves.

3. First Accredited Web TV Production Program!!!

In huge news, the DFA now has the country’s first accredited Web TV Production program. In an age where entertainment is moving online – and the opportunities for development in that area seem endless – this presents a major opportunity to enterprising students.

Corey Christian walks the room through the finer points of editing.
Corey Christian walks the room through the finer points of editing.

4. Avid Media Composer (and RED camera footage) are AMAZING.

You probably knew this already, but Equipment/Facilities Manager Corey Christian showed attendees why. AMC not only has an amazing ‘warp stabilizer’ feature which can help filmmakers steady shaky camerawork after-the-fact, but it can also take wide shots and turn them into excellent close-ups. Corey taught attendees how to use these features.

Essentially, filmmakers now have the option to take previously unusable footage and sculpt it into great shots – saving time and money.

A volunteer becomes Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
A volunteer becomes Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.

5. ADR is not as hard as you may think!

Director of Operations and audio wizard Guy Mor handed out flash drives and guided attendees into the world of additional digital recording. One lucky volunteer got to replace the voice of Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, saying “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Mor showed the class how to replace Judy’s original line and make it sound seamless – in less than fifteen minutes.

All of the above is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what students could learn when they enroll at the DFA. So what are you waiting for? Sign up today!

By Digital Film Academy Blog Manager Sara McDermott Jain.

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Why the DFA Open House is a Must-See!

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You know the regular school open house drill: sit in a chair with some strangers, hear a few words from a professor about what you would do in his class, maybe hear some success stories about former students…

But the Digital Film Academy Open House is no regular open house.

The DFA is all about getting students working in film – and their open house on Saturday, March 8th from 3-5pm in NYC is no different.

At this totally free event, attendees won’t just get to see the facilities and network with current/former students and professors. They’ll also take part in three hands-on demonstrations:

Directing

Directing Demo: Ever dreamed of commanding your own set as a director? Taught by Patrick DiRenna, the President of the DFA, this directing crash course gives attendees the “magic formula to create the perfect shot.” Guests will learn how to set up two different, dramatic SteadyCam shots and will also be taught the primary functions of a director.

ADR

ADR (Additional Dialog Recording) Demo: Imagine this: you’ve yelled “Cut!,” you’re bursting with excitement over what you filmed, and you get into editing – only to discover that the sound is a garbled mess. Something went wrong – so now, is your project dead?

Absolutely not, because you can replace that original dialog – if you know what you’re doing! Guy Mor, the DFA Director of Operations and an audio wizard, will show you how to both replace bad audio and record audio for animation… the best part? Attendees can take part in a fun exercise, re-recording audio for famous movie lines such as “Hasta la vista, baby” – and enjoy the results.

Media composer

Avid Media Composer Demo: Two things are hot right now in the world of film: Avid Media Composer, the most widely-used non-linear editing program for professional film, and the Red camera. (In fact, most DFA grads report being able to easily find work after graduation thanks to their continued free access to the expensive Red camera through the DFA membership program.) In this demo, DFA Equipment/Facilities manager Corey Christian works with both, showing how to load footage from the Red camera into Avid Media Composer and use the software to create a perfect final image.

If you’ve ever considered a career in film, what are you waiting for? Come to the DFA Open House to make connections, learn tricks of the trade, and see if you’re ready to take the next step to “monetize your media!”

RSVP today at DFA Open House.

By Digital Film Academy Blog Manager Sara McDermott Jain

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Avid Re-Certification Course

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When the Digital Film Academy was founded, Avid was one of the few programs taught.
Now, years later and with a much larger course selection, things came full-circle when the DFA hosted the Pro Tools 11 ACI (Avid Certified Instructor) Re-Certification Webinar/Seminar. The event was presented by Avid’s Andy Cook and Jon Connolly.

Jon Connolly
Jon Connolly
Andy Cook
Andy Cook

I was fortunate to be a fly on the wall during the seminar, in a room with ten ACIs (in addition to the 20 attending online). Only certified ACIs are qualified to teach Avid courses at Avid Learning Partner schools, guaranteeing that only the most up-to-date and capable instructors are teaching ALP students.

“We’re very happy to be an ALP and very proud to have been chosen to host the event,” said Patrick DiRenna, the DFA’s founder and president. “I look forward to hosting more of their events in the future and offering Avid certified courses.”

Having Guy Mor as Director of Operations certainly puts the DFA a cut above other film schools when it comes to Avid training. Mor is the only Master Pro Tools instructor in the New York/New Jersey area, and he also holds a long list of other Avid certifications.

Mor insists that “the Avid certified curriculum is the best and most complete way to learn Pro Tools.” As a former working engineer in broadcast television, Mor was already very skilled with Avid. However, it’s only been since getting certified that he realized he had “holes in (his) knowledge, holes that were plugged up by this extensive curriculum.” He now teaches these courses at the highest level, and can work faster and more efficiently than ever before. He sees his students go through the same transformation all the time.

Beyond being a master instructor, Mor is also very active in the community of Avid Certified Instructors. He was recently asked to be a moderator on Avid’s list serve. It was partially due to Mor’s relationship with Andy Cook, one of the presenters, that the re-certification event was hosted by the DFA.

According to Mark Matthews, a dedicated ACI from St. Petersburg College attending the event, the value of the certification is growing as Avid’s approach becomes “more progressive.”

As discussed at the seminar, in order to be re-certified, ACIs need to be up-to-date on the changes that come with Pro Tools 11. The presenters reviewed not only PT 11’s new capabilities (for instance, the faster-than-real-time offline bounce feature, which has many audio engineers excited), but also the reasons behind the upgrades.

Most importantly, they addressed the move to a new plug-in format, AAX.

“We needed to start from scratch (with AAX) to be able to work in the 64-bit realm,” Connolly said. The main goal was to enable greater interoperability between native and DSP environments.

Some people wonder why DSP remains necessary, what with the power of native, but Connolly discussed how DSP offers the power to handle extremely large sessions. While it might no longer be necessary for everyone, there is still high demand for it as projects continue to get bigger and more complex.

It’s often been said that, no matter how polished a movie looks, if the sound isn’t up to par, it just isn’t going to be impressive. For that reason, every filmmaker should make it a priority to find out more about Avid courses at the DFA.

By Digital Film Academy Blog Manager Sara McDermott Jain

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