Off to the Windy City!! - Part 3

So our final day had finally come and we weren't sure what else we wanted to do.

Of course, there was something that most of us girl wanted to do - shopping! I was speaking to a guy in one of my classes who advised me to go to Michigan Ave in Chicago...good advice indeed! Michigan Ave is one of the main streets where there are a lot of high-street clothing stores (well, something similar to high-street stores).

Of course the guys weren't as enthusiastic on the shopping idea and wanted to do some more exploring, as did another girl in the group. So they did their own thing and so did we, and they met up with us later in the day. I really enjoyed our day out shopping. To me it was the closest thing to shopping in Buchanan Street in Glasgow and that was something I really missed about home. Although it's cool to get clothes from foreign stores because when you get home, no-one else has the stuff you bought - I found it hard to find clothes shops in America that are similar to the places I shop in the UK. Especially as America does not have Topshop (except the exclusive, very expensive one in New York City). I feel like America has good quality clothes shops, but that the clothes they sell are expensive and very plain-looking. I think if I'm gonna buy something that looks plain then I'd rather buy it cheaply than expensively. If I want a very decent pair of jeans, a good jacket or a dress then I'm willing to splash out a bit more. I found it hard to find cheap trendy stores in the US.

This was before I went to Chicago. It was in Chicago I discovered Forever 21. Although I liked it for its trendy clothes at a cheap price, the clothes were consequently just that - cheap. Cheap clothes are never long-wearing and the stuff I bought from there certainly wasn't, however, it was handy for when I wanted a change in my wardrobe. I don't think I actually bought very much but it was good to have a girly day out and try on clothes. I did buy a dress from a place called A'Gaci (I think that's what its called) but again, the clothes were very cheap and the dress ended up getting a hole in it. I must of put on weight which probably didn't help either!

Guy playing the Simpsons tune outside the Greyhound Station!

Michigan Ave also holds the best Victoria's Secret I have ever visited. Victoria's Secret is a chain and me and my roommates went there when we went to Kansas City. However, this one was like no Victoria's Secret I've visited before...

First thing we were told as soon as we arrived in the shop is that the store had a computer which could measure your bra size by scanning your body. Of course, we all wanted to try it out! Most of the girls I was with wanted to try on bra sets too, so we looked around and waited to try out the scanner. So we waited...and waited. Then about an hour later of waiting in line, we eventually got measured! I was told my size and what style of bras to go for...turns out my boobs are 'too far apart' so I should buy bras to bring them in and lift them up. That's a complex I didn't have before going to Chicago.

All in all, it had been a fun day. However, it was also leaving day, so afterwards, we met up with the others and headed for the Greyhound station...for the long journey home. Back to Kansas we went.

Off to the Windy City!! - Part 2

Mardis Gras Etiffoue

The following day was a busy one!

Lucky for us - one of our fellow travellers had brought a guide book with him to the Windy City! So we decided to go for breakfast in this place which was highly recommended in the guide - Heaven on Seven. It is a restaurant that specialises in Cajun recipes located on the 7th floor of a building on North Michigan Ave. The slogan says..."People who come back from Heaven all say the same thing...try the Gumbo!" - and it's true the gumbo is amazing. Gumbo ...is quite hard to explain. Its like a soup, but its really thick more like a stew and it has rice in it. Most of us had this for starters and we chose different stuff for our main meals. I think I had the Mardis Gras Etiffoue, although I can't remember for sure. All I remember is that is was seafood in cajun sauce and I think it was served with rice - it was really good!

After our satisfying breakfast/lunch we took a wander through Oz Park which is a park dedicated to the author of 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz', who settled in Chicago later in his life. We took a lot of photos there as it had statues of the Wizard of Oz characters and also, it was a very nice location.

From there we went to Lincoln Park Zoo. It was quite a small zoo with various different animals including, tigers, snakes and otters (I can't remember them all now!). It wasn't busy when we were there...probably because of the time of year. Some of the girls I went with were uncomfortable because they felt like they were in small enclosures/cages and that the location was too cold. I had to agree with them, but at the same time - I couldn't believe there was a real tiger right in front of me. It's different from seeing these animals through a television. Their enclosures were rather small though and I was completely split emotionally, I was amazed at the same time I was appalled.

The zoo experience was cool but it was absolutely freezing! From there we took a bus to a different part of the city. I can't remember where exactly it was, but it was a place where we were able to see the Chicago skyline. It was near a beach. Of course, we took a lot of pictures (all of which I looked ugly in because of the intense sea breeze). I think at some point someone's hat nearly fell in the water but for some reason this memory doesn't stick out too clearly to me. I think one of the guys rescued it though and we were crapping it that he might fall in.

By this point it was late afternoon and we took another trip to a different part of the city. I didn't know much about Chicago before I went, but I had heard about the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower) which I really liked the idea of visiting. I heard that it was the second tallest building in the world, however, according to Wikipedia, its the fifth tallest building! Who cares, its a tall building - and we went up it! The view was astonishing - it was like being on an aeroplane. From one window apparently you could see accross three states! I can't remember which ones but I think it coulda been Illinois (obv), Indianna and Michigan. It was really cool though. I think the most exciting thing about it was the section with the glass floor. It was terrifying but at the same time - thrilling. It almost looked like a screen-shot from Grand Theft Auto or something.

Our night did not end here. By the time we had visited the Tower, we decided to go to Navy Pier which is basically a famous pier there with lots of different attractions. We had dinner there and then took a look around. The night we were there, there was a party or a wedding or something going on as there were very dressed up people in a big place near the end of the pier. We walked down and walked back up. One thing I remember about this was going into a place which was like a garden centre (I think its the same place that's in that Vince Vaughn movie - 'The Dilemma'). I remember it because there were powerful jets of water that arc over you, yet you don't get wet. As gay as it sounds, I was fascinated by how they worked. Then I remember coming out of there and there being this 'Circus' show thing on. The place was done up, but the style was street theatre. We went to Chicago in October so it was close to Halloween and I think this is why the show was on. Basically these dressed up people took on characters and interacted with members of the public. Some of them really freaked us out, especially as some of them jumped out at us lol.

This one speaks for itself.

 All in all, it was an exciting day out. I couldn't believe how much we done in one day. It was fun, if a little tiring. Found out how the last day went by checking out the blog next Monday!

Off to the Windy City!! - Part 1

Because most of the people I met in Kansas were foreign, like me, we all agreed that we wanted to do a good amount of travelling.

Me and my roommates had discussed that one of the reasons we wanted to study in Kansas was because it was centrally located in the States, making it easier to travel to other states. We all decided we would go somewhere at Fall break but we weren't sure where yet...and we all had different ideas.

One of my roommates had family in Houston,Texas - so she decided to give them a visit during the break. My other roommates made plans to go to New York City together, as they both really wanted to go and one of them was meeting her brother there. As much as I knew I wanted to visit NYC, I fancied going nearer Christmas time and our fellow British/European friends were making plans to go to Chicago. So I decided to join them.

Me on the Greyhound

We went to Chicago by Greyhound bus, which was my first experience with these coaches. We had around two or three stops and it took us about twelve hours to get there. It was a bit of a nightmare...not the whole journey though. The trip to both Kansas City and Des Moines, Iowa was fine because the first journey was short and the second one wasn't busy so we had most of the bus to ourselves. However, the trip from Des Moines to Chicago was a nightmare. The bus was packed and we had to be separated. I was stuck next to this guy who wouldn't shut up - which I didn't mind at first, but when I was tired and wanted to sleep I wanted to kill him. Then he went to sleep and tried to rest on my shoulder and cuddle into me! Not only was I freaked out - I didn't sleep in fear that he would try and rest on me...which is not something I'm willing to do with a complete stranger. So I was extremely irritated.

Eventually, we got there in the early hours of the morning. Although Chicago is amazing - I would have been more excited had I gotten more sleep. Plus, it was still dark. The group decided we should get a coffee and breakfast somewhere before heading to the hostel to drop off our things...it was too early for us to check in anyway. So we found the nearest subway and a friendly man took us to a diner where they serve good food. We started the day with a good breakfast.

We then made our way to the hostel.

The hostel we ended up staying in was horrible, but it was in a good location and was very cheap - so we couldn't expect much from it. Plus, we had read reviews that it wasn't very nice, so we bought sleeping bags with us. Also, we were pretty lucky because the eight of us managed to share a room together and we didn't have to sleep with strangers so that was good. Although the room wasn't very secure seeing as we had to leave the room key with the receptionist every time we left the hostel, which made me slightly paranoid they might steal our stuff. However, as the people I was travelling with pointed out - they wouldn't get any customers if they stole stuff as people would have mentioned it in the reviews!

So we got to the hostel and got settled and showered. I wanted a nap, but also wanted to go out and explore as it was early in the day and it seemed pointless to go to bed now. We all agreed that we should go out and explore.

The first day felt like a dream and I can't remember now everything we got up to. However, I remember going to a place called Millennium Park which had loads of cool art and architecture. This included a big bean-shaped reflective mirror thing. One of the girls joked it was 'Chicago's Bean' and that we were flicking it! This became an ongoing joke during the trip...

I think we spent most of the first day exploring the city, looking at some cool buildings and looked around the shops briefly. The same day/evening we went to the Chicago Art Institute which wasn't really my kinda thing to be honest, but it was still cool to look around and experience! I think it was also on this night that we went to a traditional Chicago pizza place which served traditional Chicago-style deep dish pizza pies! They were amazing! It was also my first experience with pink lemonade which was delicious! It was pretty cool to have Chicago-style pizzas in Chicago!

The delicious deep dish pizza!

It was a really tiring day, but amazing at the same time! I wish I had appreciated it more when I was there. We did a lot on the first day and it was the start of more exciting things to come! Check out the blog next Monday to find out what happened on the rest of the trip!

Basic Screenwriting - Discovering a Dream!

I know I complained a lot about my other classes, but there was one class I couldn't complain about - Basic Screenwriting.

I loved the class for several reasons. One, the subject interested me and two, the professor was amazing.

The aim of the class was to write the first act of a full length feature screenplay. We would be marked on this and we had to create a beat-sheet to show what happen in the rest of the film. Before I even went to KU I had some film ideas and was glad I had taken a note of them, as I ended up using one of them for the class. 

The idea I had was based on a true story, although not knowing the people involved personally I had to recreate the characters and entire story. At the time I thought this was a good idea, but now - as the screenplay is still unfinished - I've realised that because I don't know enough about the experiences of the people I'm writing about, I can't really write the play  until I'm free to take the time and do research.

My story revolved around a pupil-teacher relationship. These are often a subject of controvery in the western world and I was interesting in exploring the morals around this topic. In real life story (which happened in a school near the area where I went to school) the pupil was seventeen (which is over the age of consent in the UK) and the teacher was a lot older. However, the sex was consensual and I think the relationship continued after the pupil left. The teacher was male and the pupil was female. Like most of the general population, I was disgusted by this story. However, it wasn't until my sister, who knew the girl (very vaguely) through a friend at the time, told me that the paparrazi had been chasing her down and hassling her. My sister told me she felt sorry for her.

This is what made me think about it differently. It was the first time I had ever heard of someone being sympathetic towards the relationship...and although I didn't think that the relationship was ethical, this did make me consider the stigma attached to the people involved. These kind of stories are always a source of gossip and I think this makes us forget that the people involved are real people with feelings, just like you and me...they just happen to be in a relationship with each other which other people don't approve of. Of course, it's different if a teacher exploits a pupil - but if it's consented...does this make a pupil-teacher relationship acceptable??

It's a fine line and controversial topic to approach. People will have very different opinions about it but it got me thinking. What if a girl is sixteen or over (the age of consent in Britain) and a guy is in his early twenties, they meet in a club and they start going out/having sex etc. This is acceptable in terms of the law but is this socially acceptable?? Although I'm in my twenties and most guys I know who are my age wouldn't go out with a sixteen year old, there are some who do. So, what makes it different if it is a younger teacher and an older pupil? Well...their professional relationship certainly makes it different, but if they're in love - can they help it?? Does it matter?? I don't know the answer, but these were the issues I wanted my screenplay to explore. 

But like I said, I don't have enough experience having never been sexually involved or sexually attracted to a teacher that I don't even know how such a relationship would actually begin. Then there's the question of who comes on to who?? If the teacher does it he's a straight-out pervert and if the girl does it then she's a full-on slut which is not the way I want the characters to be! So this screenplay is being forgotten about for the moment.

I think I've went on about Professor Willmott enough...but basically he had a combination of professional experience and a kind and caring manner which made him the best professor I've ever had. He took interest in all of us and every one of our idea. He never said an idea was bad, but would point us in the right direction or encourage us to look at it in a way we hadn't previously. 

It was a bit weird bringing up the idea of the story, especially as we were in a classroom situation...I hope he didn't think I was getting at something lol. Especially the way I've went on about him on this, sounds like I well fancied him.

I just really liked him and his classes! The classes we had didn't even feel like classes: there was never any pressure and it didn't feel like we did any work. Although I still felt like I learned a lot (which is rare for me - I'm used to writing essays and taking notes furiously for exams). He explained a lot of concepts, such as creating character, narrative and writing naturalistic dialogue (appropriate to your story). Each class was spent, talking about our ideas and how we were developing them. We were encouraged to ask questions to help us along with our own screenplays and to help others...we often ended class with reading out a scene from another student's work. It was very interesting to see what the others came up with and very exciting - it was so much fun!

The best thing about the class is that it made me realise what it is with film I want to do - write! I've realised that as much as I hate writing sometimes, I'm good at it, I enjoy it when I can write what I want freely and I find it therapeutical. Sometimes writing down my problems helps me get over them. Then I rip it up and throw it away, never to be seen again. I sometimes use what I've written to inspire ideas. I didn't want to fully forget what it was like to be an emotional teenager because this is when I felt most inspired to write stories for films, different from the typical Hollywood standard. This is when most things in a person's life change and the stories of any teenager are relevant for most of the living human population...to write down what it was like helps me remember, and helps me to create relevant characters. I couldn't write now what it was like to be a child...so I hope I can recreate teenage moments which are relevant to an audience.

Anyways, I 've rambled on here long enough! But check out the blog next week to find out about my trip to Chicago!! Fall break woo hoo!

Documentary Film and Video - They lost my exam paper??!!

I took this class hoping it would broaden my film taste and introduce me to films I had never seen before. This never happened.

If I had known what Professor Small was like I would never taken this class. But there was no way I could know and was determined to continue with it.

One of my roommates was in this class with me. This was either my first class (or one of my first classes) and my roommate had already had been to her other classes. I remember when it ended the first thing she said to me was that it had been her worse class so far. I had to agree it was particularly boring but I was still willing to give it a chance.

It didn't take long for me to realise she was right. It ended up being my worst class too. It was boring, unhelpful and they lost my mid-term exam paper. So yeah, it was pretty bad.

The worst thing about it was, not only did they lose my exam paper - the teaching assistant (Rich Housh) decided it was my fault rather than apologising for it.

Part of it actually had been my fault. A lot of exams in the States are multiple choice, and having never taken a multiple choice exam before, I didn't know I had to score my name using the boxes at the top. I just wrote my name on it, but then the computer system didn't pick it up. I wasn't told I had to do that though, so how was I supposed to know that?? Surely they should give you all that information at the start, no matter how stupid it seems. Any exam I've ever taken in Scotland, they tell you exactly what to put on it before you start.

So yeah, I took the exam. I was definitely there and had evidence as I asked a girl nearby to borrow her eraser. But basically most people in the class, including my roommate had got their grades back so I emailed the teaching assistant to find out mines. He then got back to me saying that I 'obviously' hadn't taken the exam which is why there was no result. Why would I have asked for the results for an exam I never took??? Retarded or what...

As soon as he emailed me that back I was angry. I put it all over my facebook, and was like how the fuck can they accuse me of not taking an exam even though I have proof I was there! They obviously had lost it and tried to blame it on me. I emailed him back assuring him that I had taken the exam and that I had proof. A lot of my friends on facebook were supportive and agreed it was a complete disgrace. Cheryl then told me to email the head of the film dept and said she would go to the Dean for me. I didn't think it had to go as far as the Dean, but I emailed the Study Abroad office straight away who then offered to complain to the head of the dept for me. Of course, after this they obviously made more of an effort to look for my paper.

Housh then got back to me saying, 'Well, we never found your paper, but we did find one with no name on it so we can assume that's yours and give you the grade. It's a B+.'

Thinking a B+ wasn't bad, I agreed that that was okay. Professor Small then offered me a personal apology and explained my paper was sitting on his suitcase in his living room and that we could go over the grades together if I wanted. He said he had looked over it and was certain I had got a grade around a B+. I accepted the apology and agreed that was okay (my real grade was probably shittier to be honest). I was just grateful I didn't have to sit the exam again.

Small gave us a lot of background knowledge in this class. Well, at least I had thought it was background knowledge. It turned out it was actually stuff we needed to know for our exams. Yeah, apparently knowing the original name of the film building at KU is useful in the field of documentary. The most annoying thing about it was that so many people failed the midterm, that Small was made to give us a list of possible exam topics for the final exam. So apparently, I was an idiot that studied the possible exam topics - none of which appeared in the final exam! I was mad.

Ended up getting a B- for the class overall. Which I didn't mind...until I realised this was the equivalent of a 2D-2F in Stirling grades! Ugh...worst class of my life. The most recent documentaries we studied in that class were from the early 1990s (if we were lucky). Did not see any documentaries from this century, you know which would have been nice but oh well.

Bit of a downer reading this eh? Well it gets a bit cheerier next week when I talk about the best class I took at KU, Basic Screenwriting. Check out the blog to read all about it!

International Women Filmmakers - An Opportunity Comes!

I liked and disliked this class for a number of reasons...

First of all I am glad I took this class because the most amazing opportunity came along with it. Second of all, I got to look back at the film I first acted in when I was seven years old.

Let me explain the film thing first. I never ended up in the final cut of the film - so you won't find me credited in it. I ended up being an extra in the film. The film is called, "Gasman" (UK, 1997) and was made by an award winning director from Maryhill, Glasgow called Lynne Ramsay. I should also point out that we didn't study this film in the class but we did look at her feature film, "Ratcatcher" (UK, 1999) and so I borrowed the DVD from the library and watched Gasman (as it is on the same DVD). It was funny to look back. I'm that sad that I actually found the one frame I was in...

You can guess why we watched the film if you look at the title of the class - International Women Filmmakers. We looked at British films in one of the weeks and this was the week Lynne Ramsay's film appeared, along with Sally Potter. We also watched films from countries such as France (Agnes Varda), Tunisia, Iran, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and other places (I can't remember them all without the syllabus in front of me) - all which were made by women. It was pretty interesting to see films from a variety of different cultures.

The KU Student Activities committee (or something like that) put on a film screening for students to go and see. It was for the film, "Good Dick" (US, 2008) by Marianna Palka. There was a poster for the event in Jayhawker Towers and I had thought about going to it, but never took a note of it or anything. Then we got an email about it through the class, so I thought why not? Plus it mentioned that she was Scottish so I thought it'd be pretty interesting.

So I watched the film - and loved it. I thought it was an interesting story and loved the main character (played by Palka). The film was funny at the same time it was tragic and I thought the character was crazy before you realise she's a victim of sexual abuse and incest. Plus, I thought it was beautifully shot. At the end of the screening, they mentioned that the cast was coming out for a Q and A and the next thing I knew, Palka and her boyfriend - Jason Ritter came out on to the stage. 

I suppose you could kind-of tell she was Scottish - it was clear her accent had become Americanised though. (Can't blame her, the Americans probably never understood her). I thought to myself, she's from Glasgow and here she is making movies, I had to ask her a question. So I went up to the microphone and asked her what her inspiration was behind the film. She recognised my accent immediately. She was like, 'Are you Scottish??' and I replied, 'Yes'. She immediately took interest and asked whereabouts I was from. I told her Glasgow and she was like, 'Ah me too!'. Then she answered the question. 

Interestingly enough, another person at the screening asked her if she considered herself to be like another female Scottish director- aka - Lynne Ramsay. Palka then mentioned that they were similar in the way they were both from Glasgow, and in fact the same part of Glasgow - Maryhill! I was thinking - oh my god - that's where I'm from - I have to tell her!! So basically (like a creep) I waited til the end of the Q and A and then I saw her and was like, 'Sorry - you're from Maryhill?? So am I!'

She was like, 'Oh my god, that's amazing! We should swap contact details!'. So I waited in line to get my DVD (which I ended up buying) signed by her and Jason. Jason was like, 'I've been to Glasgow, I love it!' and I was standing there thinking - I used to watch his dad on '8 Simple Rules'. Then Palka was like, 'Aw come sit next to me, tell me how you ended up here.' So we spoke for a while, but we didn't really get in-depth because she was busy signing autographs. She told me that she moved to New York, really broke. I told her about GAMTA and how I wanted to do acting, but went to university instead and ended up in Kansas. Then I told her how I was moving to Santa Barbara and she gave me her number and told me we should meet up (we never got round to that lol). So I was really grateful to have met her and that I took the initiative to go and see the film (after getting an email about it lol)...I didn't even know who she was before that night, but I was excited that I met her. I could not believe she was from Maryhill.

I went home, really excited that night and I think my roommates thought it was weird. Especially as they didn't know who she was, and that I hadn't known who she was beforehand. I didn't care to be honest. She's obviously successful in her own right (and even more so now because of Peter Mullan's 'NEDS'

Anyways, back to the class. Well, Professor Preston had interesting ideas - but took a while to get to the point. She explained things in so much detail, she always forgot what she started explaining in the first place - and so did we. Even though her classes were three hours long, she never got all the work planned done in each class, so everything ran over and this fucked up the syllabus. She revised the syllabus several times and continuously changed the dates of assignments, so when the time actually came to do a 10-page research paper - she told us a week in advance. Bit short notice. Then she responded by saying, 'Well, its in your syllabus.' Bit useless when we never stuck to the syllabus for anything else.

I remember complaining about this to my roommates, mainly to let off steam. They seemed to think it was my fault for not consulting the syllabus which annoyed me considering my syllabus was basically useless. I was kinda hoping they'd be more supportive, but obviously they couldn't be bothered listening to my problems. Which is fair enough - no-one wants to listen to a moaner...and I did moan a lot.

I complained about that class a lot, because we were required to write journal articles every week and as a class, we had no idea what to write about. She told us to write about the films we watched and what we thought about them, with relation to film concepts. That wasn't very helpful - did she want us to write a page or what?? It didn't explain how much we were supposed to write or what film concepts to write about. I just wrote 2 or 3 pages with and talked about common themes the films had and hoped it would be good enough. Which we never find out as we didn't get them back til mid-semester and the rest of them we got at the end - so I didn't know what I was doing wrong or how to improve on it. A girl in the class explained to her that the journals would have been a lot easier to write if we had been given a question each week - which made a lot of sense.

Anyhoos, after a lot of complaining and moaning and stress that this class gave me - I got an A! So I was happy in the end, although she didn't send her feedback back to my university. Not a lot of help, seeing as her feedback could've improved my Stirling grades. But oh well, no point getting stressed about it now. I still passed, didn't I...

Check out the blog next week to find out how stressful my Documentary Film class was!

Basic Film Production - Back to the basics of film!

I thought I would tell you about each of my classes at KU in more detail - the highlights, the stressful parts and the overall journey of the courses themselves.


As I said before, I took Basic Film Production which was taught by Professor Small. I took the class hoping it would give me an introduction to film production, including working collaboratively to make a short film.

Bell and Howell 70

This wasn't what the class was about.

The basic part didn't mean easy (like I had hoped), it meant back to the basics of film. We learned how to use a 1930s camera, 16mm film and how to edit using a splice. Basically we learned how people made films in the olden days by doing it ourselves.


Having no experience in photography myself made the class especially difficult, especially as there were many ways that things could go wrong or you could make a mistake with. We had to take special care as the equipment we were using was ancient (probably from the 30s) and it was very expensive and difficult to replace.

Professor Small had an unusual grading system. He had an 'A' option and 'B' option which meant you had to make 2 films to get an A. Even if you sat the exam and did well in it and/or if you're first film was good - it was impossible to get an A unless you made two films. At first this seemed fair because working in film or media industries means you have to meet deadlines. But after undertaking the course this was actually very difficult - especially as aspects of the course were time consuming. Things were slightly more difficult for me as an exchange student because I was still adjusting to living the US in general and this created problems for me in this course.

First we had to learn how to use the camera- which is very difficult (at least it is for me). The cameras we used were not like analogue or digital cameras you could just switch on. We had to learn how to load the film into it (which got easier with practice) and it was important to do this correctly, otherwise we could damage the film and waste it. We had to learn how to set exposure with a light meter (which could very easily go wrong) and we had to learn about the focal lengths of the lens and how to set this correctly (otherwise the picture would be blurry). Although professional photographers probably use this on a day-to-day basis - most digital cameras do these things for you and you only have to fix the lighting conditions. With 16mm film, you didn't know whether you did it right until you're film was processed - and this took a lot of time.

First we had to order the film. That wasn't too bad as we were told which film to purchase, but it took a while to be delivered. Then when I finally had it I had to book the camera equipment. This actually wasn't too difficult either. However, as I couldn't drive or have a car I couldn't get around easily with the camera. Thankfully, a guy in my class suggested that we film on the same day and offered to drive me around.

Being naive, I trusted that he was doing me a favour and took the offer. Little did I know I was about to be betrayed (whether it was intentional or not). The weekend came and we agreed to film. I waited to be picked up from Jayhawker Towers. Fifteen minutes passed and he still hadn't came. So I phoned him.

No response.

Half an hour passed and still no sign of him. I phoned again. No response. I phoned and phoned and phoned but he didn't answer. I didn't know what was going on. I assumed that if he couldn't take me anymore that he would have let me know. So I went upstairs to check my email. My inbox was empty. He just never showed up without an apology or reason...

...until around 9pm that night. He told me that he had been drinking the night before and that he was sleeping because he was hungover, so that's why he didn't answer his phone and so he apologised. Although I was pissed off, I forgave him and asked him if he could take me tomorrow instead. He said, "Yeah, of course! I still want to help you out and you can help me out with mine."

I should have known by then not to trust him but he seemed like he genuinely wanted to do it with me like we agreed, so I waited for him again the next day. Of course -  he didn't show up. I was so annoyed and extremely stressed out. If I could have got my filming done on that weekend then I wouldn't have ended up so far behind!

My roommates didn't seem to get why I was so pissed off the situation. I planned to do my filming on Mass St to film traffic lights, so they asked why I didn't just get the bus. I explained because the equipment was old and expensive that I didn't want to carry it on the bus, plus I needed a buddy to look after it while I was filming and it made sense to do it with someone from the class. None of them offered to help me, but then again - I didn't ask. I didn't want to drag them with me if they didn't want to go and most of them had other arrangements and studying to do by this point. So I basically grovelled on Facebook that I was fucked.

Thankfully, Cheryl seen the grovelling and offered to help me - including driving me around Mass St and helping me out in general. It was really unexpected and I was so happy when she offered. Eventually I managed to get my filming done just in time because of her!

At home I'm pretty independent and have always been self-reliant. Of course I like to take help if someone offers but I don't necessarily like to ask for it. In the States, I learned that if you need help - you have to ask for it. Americans generally will try and help you out if they can and ask for nothing back. I always felt that back home, people will only help if there's something in it for them and if you give them a favour in return.

This is the ethic I've always followed, if someone helps me out I have to do something for them. But in this situation, I knew there wasn't much I could offer in return which is why I didn't ask my roommates to help me. Also, it made sense to do it with my classmate and I could help him with his film too.

Oh well, it got done in the end - thanks to Cheryl. Filming was only half the battle. Then we had to send off our film for processing. This would have been okay if I was more familiar with the US Post Office system at this point. In the UK, if you stick a 1st class stamp on it you can send it anywhere in Britain. However, as this was a package, I needed several stamps on it to be sent to Massachusetts.

My film ended up being sent back to Oldfather Studios and I had to resend it again, which delayed the film processing. Then when it got back, we had to spend a lot of our free time editing it. This took for ages as we had to learn how to use the splice and viewer and editing itself takes a while. I finished the film with only a couple of weeks left at the end of the course, in which we had to make our second film. I spent so much time on the first film that I knew I would never be able to get the 2nd film done. Perhaps if the 2nd film had been a group project then we could have done it. Only the graduate students in the class managed to do the 2nd film, which meant everyone in the class either got a B, C or failed.

Professor Small decided to give me a B-. Thanks for that Small!

If the teaching assistant, Julie Pitzer, hadn't been in the class - I wouldn't have passed the class at all. It was only after she explained how to use the equipment that the class understood what was going on. Small just assumes that we know what he's talking about before he's even taught us anything. Small liked me though, even though he couldn't understand me. I think its because his mother was Scottish - which he told me randomly several times.

Although the class was challenging, there were good times to be experienced. At first I didn't like Small because I didn't get him. But the more I got used to him the funnier he became (usually when he wasn't trying). One time he randomly jumped on his desk. It was so bizarre that it was just funny. He always ate a banana because he had Attention Deficit Disorder. He always closed his eyes when he explained something and one time when we was showing us how to shoot movement he pretended his banana was a gun and kicked over the bin. I was in stitches because any time something crazy happened it was completely random.

I remember one time I was in Oldfather Studios and the walls had just been painted white (although they were already white). Which is fair enough, except there were no wet paint signs. So a guy in my class learnt on the wall and got paint all over his clothes. I felt so sorry for him but had to laugh at the stupidity of the situation. Why didn't they tell anyone the paint was wet??? Crazy stuff!

Would I recommend anyone at KU to take this class?? I'd say you're best to avoid it if you can. Unless you like Professor Small and like a challenge...and Julie Pitzer's the assistant...and if you want to work on your own...and if you want to learn how films were made in the olden days. Don't take it if you want a class thats relevant to the digital age of film and technology.

Find out more about my International Women Filmmakers class next week! Comments/questions are always welcome!

First couple of classes...

So I had Basic Film Production and International Women Filmmakers earlier in the week. I should of had Basic Screenwriting as well, but missed the 1st class because I was ill...

I ended up going to my first Basic Screenwriting class the following week. Although before that, I had my other class - Documentary Film and Video.

I've never really been a huge fan of documentaries, which may sound odd considering I took that class, but oh well. However, I decided to take the class in the hopes that it would broaden my film taste and engage my interest in films that I would never have watched before I became a film student. Plus I had seen really good documentaries before like, "Rich, Famous and Homeless" (UK, 2009) and I hoped we would see more inspirational films.

That didn't happen.

Instead I sat there - bored - watching the most boring documentaries you could imagine. Of course, that might be because that class was also taught by Prof. Small.

He started the class by putting on a documentary called the "Powers of Ten" (US, 1968) which is one of his favourites. I suppose it was quite interesting, but the drawl from Small made it boring. It didn't help that he spoke to the class with his back to us.

That first class gave us the best idea of what to expect from Prof. Small. His teaching assistant, Rich Housh, ran about after him - doing most of the work; there were no lecture notes and/or slideshows (I doubt Small has ever been near a computer) and Small usually delivered lectures incoherently, taking forever to explain a simple point. I know I'm being harsh but I have specific reasons to dislike that class - which almost failed me when it wasn't my fault (I shall explain the story in another post). I just expected better considering I paid so much to move abroad and study there.

It wasn't all bad though. My screenwriting class made up for the documentary class which I hated. It was taught by Professor Willmott, who I can honestly say is one of the best teachers/lecturers I have ever had.

Not only was Willmott one of the most funniest and nicest guy ever, but he had experience writing screenplays for both independent and Hollywood films. Apparently he is more well-known in the US for his mockumentary film, "CSA: The Confederate States of America" (US, 2004) which explores what might have happened if the Confederates (southern states) had won the American Civil War. I found the film on YouTube and watched it (something I didn't ever admit to him seeing as I technically didn't pay to see it - whoops)! It was pretty good, I would recommend it - some of it was pretty shocking.

So I arrived for the first class - late. I was really embarrased but Willmott was cool about it, he just handed me a syllabus seeing as I didn't get it in the first class. Basically he was telling us about the basic formula for writing a screenplay and asked the class what their ideas were. Some people had really cool ideas, I actually felt a bit intimidated. Some people had ideas with potential, but needed tweaking to be a bit more interesting/conventional. Willmott's advice was always really helpful and he never dismissed anyone's ideas - no matter how ridiculous they were. Although he did try and suggest we do things differently if he thought the ideas wouldn't work for the purpose of the class - which was to write the first act of a feature length screenplay.

I didn't have any ideas for my own screenplay yet as I missed the first class, but tried to contribute by making suggestions for others in the class who told us their ideas. I didn't try and change their ideas or anything but suggested they convey the story from another point of view or whatever, as we were encouraged to by Willmott. The idea is that someone else might help you think about your story in more depth or a different way and so you can use their ideas to improve your story/screenplay.

I was really flattered because whenever I made a suggestion, Prof Willmott seemed to like them, like he thought I had the right idea about it.  It made me feel more confident about my writing. Of course he disagreed sometimes, but it was amazing to hear his opinions as he is a professional writer. I ended up coming up with my story in that first class...although I didn't want to share it until I had thought about it some more.

I left that class feeling really good about it. It didn't even feel like a class, I enjoyed it so much. After it I kept thinking of ways to improve my story and give it more depth. Willmott is an amazing guy and a great teacher. That class was the one that made me decide I'd like to become a writer.

This is an overview of how my first classes went. Over the next couple of weeks I'll tell you about my classes in more depth. Next Monday, I'll begin by telling you all about Basic Film Production - the best bits and the stressful times! Become a follower or check out the blog and find out how they were!

Who's this foreigner? Oh yeah its me!

I remember my first day of class quite clearly...

My very first class was Basic Film Production with Professor Ed. Small. It was nothing at all like I expected...

Professor Small is quite eccentric to say the least. He is no doubt a fascinating man with an interesting past, but I suppose you could say he was set in his ways. As I looked around, I noticed that there weren't a lot us taking the class and that I was the only girl. Prof. Small read out the roster (that's what they call the register in the US), telling us to raise our hand if our name hadn't been called.

So he called out names...I sat there cringing, knowing I would probably have to correct him when he read out mine (which still happens in Scotland as much as it does in the States). Funnily enough, he didn't call out my name. So I raised my hand. He looked at me like I was a weirdo. Then after a couple of minutes he asked me why I had my hand up. I was told him, "You didn't call out my name."

At first he didn't hear me so he was like, "What?"...I should probably note that this was a response I got a lot from Professor Small. He either couldn't hear me or understand what I was saying. Usually it was the latter. So after telling him my name about six times and spelling it out, he eventually wrote it down on his register (or the roster as the Americans call it). I was so embarrased, especially as some of the guys were laughing and smirking about it. So I suppose you could say I didn't get off to the best start. 

Most of the time Professor Small spoke I had no idea what he was on about. I actually found him quite hard to understand myself because he mumbled a lot and took a while to make a point. I remember in that first class  he explained that for this course we would not be using digital film cameras or computer editing - but real 16mm film. Having never done photography before I was a bit worried, especially when he told us that it would be difficult without a background in photography. He also added that we would be working individually and that for group production we should take the video production course. 

I did think about changing to video production in the first place but couldnt because it clashed with Basic Screenwriting, which I really wanted to give a chance. So I stuck with Basic Film as it was approved by my Overseas Advisor at Stirling Uni.

To be honest, I left the class feeling dissapointed as I expected to be working in groups and using Final Cut Pro software and it sounded hard. Plus, I wasn't sure that knowing how using a wind-up camera and 16mm film would be relevant in the digital age of film...but there you are. However, I felt determined to impress him and decided to give it a try. The course did give me a broader understanding of how film works and it was really interesting to learn how they made films in the old days.

My next class, which was on the same day, was International Women Filmmakers which was taught by a woman called Professor Catherine Preston. She was a lovely woman and the course sounded very interesting as she explained that we would be analysing films made by women from around the world.

Although she was a very nice woman the first class was...interesting to say the least. At the beginning she told us that she specialised in visual communication and so took a picture of us so she could get a better sense of who we were. It was a bit embarrasing but not so bad as everyone was doing it. Then after she went over all the introductory part of the course we watched a film called, "Filming Desire" by Marie Mandy. 

The film was a particularly interesting one...it was about how women directors film sex scenes in comparison to male directors. I knew it would have sexual content but I didn't realise it would be so graphic! I wasn't offended by it or anything but it was really awkward sitting in a class full of people I didn't know and watching a stranger getting wanked off (or 'jacked off' for you american peeps) and a guy peeing on a naked girl etc. It was pretty explicit.

"Well this class certainly won't be boring!" is what I thought when it ended...

Find out how my other classes went on Monday by becoming a follower of the blog! Comments/questions are always welcome!

We Caught the Swine!

When I told my friends at home that I caught the Swine Flu most of them seemed to think it was funny!

The swine flu pandemic took place a couple of months before I moved to the States with only several cases being reported in the UK in the comparison to the US. Just our luck that we would catch it while studying abroad!

Basically, we got home on the Sunday night. The next day I had my first two classes, including my Basic Film Production class and International Women Filmmakers. I still wasn't too sure of where I was going or how the buses worked so it took me half an hour to get to my classes at Oldfather Studios! Doesn't help when the uni is built on a hill and you have to walk.

I'll save the stories of my first week of class for another time.

My last class, however, finished at 7pm (its not unusual in the States to have a classes either really early at 8am or finish til late like 9pm). That day I noticed I was developing a cough, I was sneezing a lot and I had a really runny nose. Plus - I wasn't sure if it had been the way I was sleeping - but my joints were starting to get sore (although it didn't feel too bad - like it felt like the pain would go away in a couple of hours). The symptoms got worse as the day went on, so by the time my class was finished and made my way home,  I was exhausted.

At this point (still August) the evenings in Lawrence were still pretty warm and light outside - so I wasn't too worried about walking home alone. That was before I found out about the serial rapist. I did get lost which got me a bit stressed out as I wasn't feeling well....

As I was walking home though, my phone rang. It was my roommate, she said we had stuff to discuss when I got home.

I wondered what was up - was she okay? Had I done something wrong?

When I got home my roommates were sitting together in the living room. It had turned out that the frat guy whose RV we slept in at the Lake...had caught the swine flu! My roommate suspected she had it too because she hadn't been feeling well since the day before and we all had slept in the RV. 

I must admit I did panic a bit. As far as I remember I tried not to overreact when she told me but I think it might have shown that I was worried. I felt really bad for her and hoped she would be okay - but I was concerned because I'm asthmatic. I had a really bad asthma attack when I was four years old and was hospitalised for a week where I couldn't breathe. The whole swine flu hype was still happening at the time and as far as we knew - it was worse if you had asthma.

So basically we decided to discuss our living arrangements. My roommate said she could either move out and live somewhere else temporarily or we could move out temporarily until she recovered. I was already feeling some of the symptoms and thought it would be pointless to move out. I didn't think it was necessary for her to move out either and our other roommates weren't bothered. So we stayed where we were, although my roommate moved into the living room to sleep instead.

I decided that if I still felt bad the next day I would go to the doctor and get tested - I had to get up early anyways to go to my first screenwriting class. Through the night I was coughing quite bad. Then when I woke up I had a horrible headache, couldn't stop sneezing and felt poor in general. So I went to the Watkins Health Centre.

Going to the health centre was a little scary. I was exhausted by the time I got there - it was only a 10 minute walk. As soon as I walked in there were people wearing masks and there was hand sanitiser everywhere. I felt it would be better to wear a mask myself in case I did have it - especially for other people's safety. So I waited with several other people, also wearing masks who suspected that they had it too. 

So I spoke to the doctor and she was really nice about it. I gave her some general information about my asthma and she gave me some breathing tests and asked me about the symptoms. I had them all except the sore throat and fever, which were the more worrisome ones according to her. She said that if my roommate had it then I probably did too but that it hadn't affected me too badly and that I could still go to classes - because its contagious before symptoms show. So basically she wasn't sure that I definitely had it but assumed I did because my roommate was diagnosed with it. She prescribed me an inhaler to help with my breathing and advised me to take Ibuprofen or Tylenol to help ease the cold symptoms. To be honest - I just felt as though I had a cold.

When I came out of her office I bumped into another of my roommates, she seemed a lot more ill than me and it turned out she had it too!

As I only had that one class early in the morning, I decided to skip it to go to the health centre. I thought that would be best in case I did have it, but I took her advice and went to class the next day. I didn't have any other classes that day. When I got home I felt bad because my roommate (who had originally been diagnosed) was lying on the couch and felt really ill. Unlike me - she had all the symptoms including a sore throat and high tempearture. She couldn't move for exhaustion.

My other roommate who I bumped into at the health centre came home soon after me...she was just as bad. I felt bad complaining and going on about my asthma when my two roommates were in a worse state than me. There wasn't much we could do except let them rest until they started feeling better. 

Funnily enough, our other roommate never caught the swine. She must have a really strong immune system - she did eat very healthily, besides the occasional bowl of cereal...

Besides being ill - find out how my first week of classes went by checking out the blog next Monday!

Road Trip! (Part 2) - Lake of the Ozarks

Quite a few of us went to the camping trip at the lake.

It was a long journey...So luckily for us the frat guy took his RV! It was the coolest thing ever - it had a bedroom, toilet, table and chairs all on four wheels...pretty astonishing (well, for me it was)! 

The RV

As there were a lot of us going, two of the other guys from the frat house went and took their cars and a couple of tents...we had a lot of stuff to bring with us! The journey was long and I spent a lot of it reflecting on how lucky I was. Here I was in the States - I had only been there a couple of weeks and already I was travelling with a great group of people. Time to get drunk!


When we eventually got there it was pitch black...I was still pretty excited but a little bit worried. We were in what seemed like the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night - it was dark, quiet and a little eerie, it felt a bit like something out of a horror movie ('Jeepers Creepers' comes to mind)...But the guy from the RV Park came out and got us - so we found the others who had got there before us.


Lucky for us they had already started a fire. They already had drinks, so they offered us one too. It was really cool but I hate creepy crawlies and there were flies everywhere so I couldn't get comfortable. I was petrified that there would be spiders - my worst fear. So we sat by the fire and relaxed for the first night.


The next day was a great one. A lot the guys wanted to go fishing in the morning so we went to this place with a ton of boats. We didn't actually take the boat out the dock, but we sat in it for a little bit. Some of the group were up for swimming while the others weren't. I was split in the middle...I wanted to go for a swim but was scared to do it in the lake...eventually I plucked up the courage and jamp straight into the water! It was freezing - but quite refreshing in the hot sun.


Some people left but a couple of us stayed nearby - so I soaked up the sun while we were waiting. A family on another boat came over and spoke to us. They were from the area and they were curious where we were from...they got a bit excited when they found out I was from Scotland and the guy I was with from England. Then our ride arrived...

The 'beach'

We went to a different part of the lake - which looked more like a holiday resort rather than a campsite. It was beautiful - there was a manmade beach with sand and a restaurant/bar nearby. So finally I could sit out in the sun properly and attempt to tan, plus go for a swim! Which is what I did...even when some of the others went fishing later in the afternoon.


That night we decided to cook a barbeque...with some alcohol for the night. One of the English guys ended making most of it with the French girl...it was like they were our parents. We played a couple of drinking games...(well, we were in the ‘game room’) like ‘Kings Cup’ and ‘I never’ – but not beer pong. Which is weird now I look back...why didn’t we play that?? Oh well.


It was a fun night. The next day we went home, but not before me and the Swedish girl had done a bit of sunbathing at the pool on the campsite...and off we went.


The ride home seemed much longer than the ride in. It didn’t help that most the others were sleeping...I can’t sleep when travelling – I very rarely do it. So I tried to keep our driver company with some chat (frat boy).

I felt sorry for him because he was clearly exhausted and seemed to be suffering from a very bad cough...


What was to come from that cough, we would find out when we got home.

Read about it on Monday by becoming a follower of the blog! Feel free to ask questions...

Road Trip! (Part 1) - Kansas City

Within the first two weeks of living in the States I could finally scream - 'Roaaad Triippp!' as we took a day trip to Kansas City...

What can I say?? Both trips were amazing!!


Kansas City took about either an hour (or 2) to get there. When we finally did I got so excited...Lawrence is a nice town but it doesn't have any industrial buildings like a typical city. Kansas City on the other hand - does!


We drove through the city and saw the J.C Nichols Fountain...(which I didn't know about until right now as I just looked it up) and some other sights...that was most memorable though. We took a trip to the Nelson-Atkins Museum over in the Missouri side of the city. Kansas City (KC) is a city which lies on the state line of Kansas and Missouri, pretty cool that there are two states in one city! It was absolutely beautiful - the art museum and the weather.

We had lunch there and it was all pretty posh and had a look around. Although an alarm went off at some point and we all froze in shock - but it turned out to be a mistake! Was pretty exciting though...


After our trip to the museum we had a look around the shops in the city...including American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, American Eagle Outfitters and Victoria's Secret (which was my first of several visits there).


The frat boy who I first met in the previous week (and who exchanged numbers with my roommate) was the one who took us away for the day to KC. Although he was originally from Los Angeles, he had grown up in there. So we went to his house to hang out afterwards.


His house was massive! It wasn't even one of the biggest ones in the area...and his family were lovely! His mum was friendly and offered us all a drink (non-alcoholic of course) and his dad was pretty funny. We met his youngest sister who was the cutest little four-year old and his other younger sister who was a stunning sixteen year old.


We hung out in his basement and chilled out. We talked about different things like what we'd like to do while living here and the places we wanted to see. As it was the other Scottish girls, a Swedish girl and an English guy on the trip - most of us mentioned that we wanted to go travelling...


We went home that day to intense thunder and lightning...I swear I think it almost hit the ground. But after about an hour or so of that it cleared up almost right away (it did that a lot in Kansas). We went to Chipotle when we got back - our first time there (for us foreign students) and relaxed. It had been a lovely day out.


Find out about my second road trip to the lake by becoming a follower of the blog! Feel free to ask questions!