culture etc, this excellent piece by Drucilla Badurina may be of interest.
Published in Oluja No.31
Conversation with a Croatian American film student
by
Drucilla Badurina, President of Badurina & Associates
Motion pictures. This mighty medium entertains us and sometimes enlightens
us. In the United States, since the early part of the 20th century, films
have become a regular part of the lives of millions of people. Today, while
they continue to patronize movie theaters, the American public also pops
films into VCR’s, disks into DVD players, watches films on cable and
satellite TV and on computer display terminals. Filmmaking is an interesting
hybrid of art, craft and business. Since it generates billions of dollars,
it’s called the film
industry or movie business for a good reason.
Immigrants and children of immigrants have been an integral part of the film
business since the very beginning. From the early 1900’s when “Westerns” were
made in Ft. Lee, New Jersey and shown on the silent screen, to the
blockbusters of today; from small producers with hand cranked cameras to
those who created a powerful motion picture studio system, these immigrants
and children of immigrants laid the foundation for current film
entertainment. Though filmmaking and films have been constantly evolving in
the hands of succeeding generations of filmmakers,
many the offspring of immigrants, it still remains basically the same—a
blend of art, craft and business.
One of the new generation of aspiring filmmakers is
Jason Gabriel Varga, a young Croatian American in his early twenties. Jason
is a graduate student in film pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at the
Graduate Film
Conservatory at Florida State University’s School of
Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts. He is the
great-grandson of Croatians who immigrated to the United States in the early
part of
the last century. They and their descendants successfully maintained their
Croatian identity, language and culture in what was then known (prior to
the nation’s current stance of pride in its ethnic and racial diversity) as
the U.S. melting pot.
On a bright, winter afternoon at the beginning of this new year, Drucilla
Badurina, president of Badurina & Associates, sat down and talked with Jason
Varga.
B&A: When did you discover that you wanted to be a filmmaker?
VARGA: When I saw E.T. at the age of five. No, it wasn’t quite that early
(laughing) but I was fascinated by movies even then. I can’t say exactly
when because it was more of a process. As a youngster,
I was constantly writing little stories or scenarios and drafting my
brothers, sister, cousins or neighborhood kids–they weren’t exactly
thrilled–to play the various parts. My first real stage performance happened
when I was 8 or 9 years old and played one of the children’s roles in a local
high school production of
The Music Man. I continued to act and work in stage productions all through
my high school years. It was a class project when I was around 13 years old
that really started it all. The assignment was to select a character from
ancient history and do a presentation. I didn’t want
to do something boring
like reading a paper, so I decided to make a video
about Hannibal, the
general who crossed the Alps. I rented a camera and
made a video. Everyone
who saw it was blown away. They loved it. It might
have been cheesy and
goofy but I had so much fun doing it and it opened up
my eyes about what you
could do with a movie camera as opposed to working on
the stage. It was then
that I looked at movies and television in a different
light. I always knew I
wanted to do something visual and this made me even
more focused on that.
B&A: What influence did your Croatian heritage have on
your love of
filmmaking?
VARGA: I remember the Croatian picnics, weddings and
even funerals where I
would sit with the adults rather than play games with
the other kids and
listen to the stories they would tell about their
lives and experiences. It
was fascinating. That was also true of family
gatherings or one-on-one times
with my baka, mother or teta or other relatives and
Croatian friends who
would share stories about their Croatian heritage and
its many facets. I’m
sure all of this had both a conscious and subliminal
influence on my love of
the narrative translated into the visual.
B&A: You have an undergraduate degree in film. Has
your undergraduate
experience helped in graduate film school?
VARGA: Only in the sense that my undergraduate
experience solidified my
determination to do narrative films. The university
film school I attended
at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County was
part of the fine arts
department and the prevailing philosophy was that film
was only art, not art,
craft and business. It was geared to the avant
garde–fifteen minutes of
filming a wall, things like that–rather than telling
a story visually. But
I did have access to a lot of nice equipment. As a
creative, artistic
person, I can appreciate the avant garde. In
cinematography, I love
exploring elegance and composition, but that must
serve and enhance and
support the main focus–visual narrative.
B&A: What kind of films have you made?
VARGA: I’ve made a number of films as an undergraduate
student. Most were
short films. I haven’t done any feature length. I
discovered that I was
more successful making a film from stories written by
others or adaptations
of stories by other writers rather than something I
had written. And other
people made films from my stories or screenplays. As
an undergraduate
filmmaker, I also came to appreciate that you learn a
lot from your mistakes.
Sometimes you learn even more from your mistakes than
your successes. It’s
better to learn that early on so you’re prepared to
try and eliminate or
minimize mistakes when you’re in the film industry
working with other
people’s money. A film is made three times: 1) when
it’s written; 2) when
it’s filmed; 3) when it’s edited. The story is written
a certain way and
when it’s being filmed things usually change. Editing
also brings changes.
A good film allows that process to unfold.
B&A: Why did you decide to enroll in the Florida State
University graduate
film program?
VARGA: Even though I had an undergraduate degree in
film, I felt that I
didn’t have enough experience working on a movie set
and I wasn’t sure I
wanted to spend all my time trying to find a job that
might or might not give
me that experience. I knew a lot about theory and
technique but little about
the practical aspect of working on a movie set. I knew
that FSU was one of
the very few schools that worked as a graduate
conservatory, essentially a
mini movie studio making films. Its graduate film
program offers each
student the opportunity to work in all the positions
associated with making a
film. You get a chance to do everything. FSU gives you
two years of
intensive movie industry experience. It’s literally
OJT—on the job
training.
B&A: Tell us more about the program.
VARGA: Entry is competitive since only 24 students are
accepted each year.
That’s why the professors know every student and the
students know each other
in a both a classroom and working environment. Faculty
members are
professionals and veterans of the movie industry and
filmmaking. They aren’t
just teachers but also advisors, coaches and
facilitators. The school acts
as studio production heads and decides the parameters.
Unlike many other
film schools, films at FSU must be made within a
defined, limited budget–a
student can’t add personal funds to enhance the film
he or she is making–and
you sign a “contract” agreeing to adhere to that rule.
It creates a level
playing field among the students and is actually great
experience in staying
within budget, a reality of the film production
business. In the two year
program, graduate students will have rotated working
in all positions on the
set during filming and in pre-production and post
production. Even though
during the two years you eventually decide what jobs
you like the best or do
the best this system gives every student the chance to
learn, understand and
appreciate what everyone is doing or should be
doing–the cinematographer
knows what sound design is doing, and so on–which is
great preparation for
working in the industry A process that might take many
years in the industry
is compressed into two in this program. Since there
are about 20 films made
each semester this system provides opportunities for
everyone to get
practical experience in various jobs.
B&A: What’s it like as a first year graduate film
student?
VARGA: Well there is no typical day. I had regularly
scheduled classes this
past semester–directing, producing, editing,
screenwriting, cinematography,
sound design, etc.–which will repeat in the summer
and next fall. In
addition to the regular classes, there are required
extra seminar classes
that somehow end up being held during what you
expected to be a “free” day on
the weekend! (Laughing.) You might have a night
shooting schedule as well
as day shoots depending on what films you’re working
on and your job on each
film so your schedule is packed and days or nights are
long. We work year
’round with breaks between semesters. For instance, I
was home for Christmas
but won’t get back home again until sometime in
August. The fall semester
classes immediately translate into practical
application on the set. During
last semester, the eight classes I took in the first
four weeks—-directing,
editing, writing and the rest–were focused around
pre-production–story
development, budgets and the like. When classes are
over, production begins
on the sets for the various films, followed by
post-production. Film shoots
last one or two days so you’re involved in many jobs
on many films. Every
film is different although all are narrative; there
are no documentaries.
We’re graded not just on classroom work but the work
we do on the sets. Last
semester I had classes plus production work; this
semester I have no classes
and all production work. The first semester you’re in
the trenches helping
others make their films. If you’re good at particular
jobs, you might be in
demand as others request you for their films. The
highest position a first
year grad student can reach is unit production
manager. I’ll do my producing
project this semester and my second directing project
this coming summer.
I’ll begin work on my thesis film the following
spring. It’s an intensive
program about film as art, craft and business; as
independent and
collaborative effort; theory put into practice. It’s
the ultimate in “on the
job training” and it’s great!
B&A: During your undergraduate years and now in
graduate school, did you
study or encounter any Croatian filmmakers?
VARGA: Not really. From my own knowledge about
Croatians in the industry
right now, the person who comes to mind is Branko
Lustig. He’s high profile
and essentially doing the job on a much grander scale
that I’ll be doing next
semester. I suppose he might be considered a role
model because he’s doing
now what I want to be doing in the near future. Lustig
has worked on a
number of films that I’ve liked, for instance,
Gladiator. I bought it on
DVD, by the way. (Laughter.)
B&A: What about Croatian films?
VARGA: No, Croatian films never appeared in any part
of my four year
undergraduate film studies curriculum or program. You
know, if a Croatian
film is made for an independent art house release,
then whoever is promoting
them should consider putting them on the university
circuit, showing them at
colleges and universities, especially those with film
schools, throughout the
U.S.
B&A: What advice would you give high school or
undergraduate college
students interested in a filmmaking career—-go to
graduate school or
directly into the industry?
VARGA: I’d have to give the same answer that used to
annoy me because it
seemed trite, but it’s true: there’s no defined or
best way to get into the
movie business. It’s whatever works for you.
B&A: What film job is your ultimate goal and what do
you want to do after
graduate school?
VARGA: As far as what I want to do in films, it’s
producing, directing or
cinematography, probably producing/directing. After I
complete this program,
I hope I’ll be doing this and getting paid for it and
working on feature
length films.
B&A: Would you ever consider making a film in Croatia about Croatians?
VARGA: You bet I would, given a good story. I suppose
then my Croatian heritage will have come full circle.
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Brian Gallagher
distributed by CROWN (Croatian World Net) – [email protected]