SLAVIA!! (again)

Yesterday I supported Slavia again in their extremely close game against my ever-so-wonderful enemey, Sparta. Slavia ended up losing, but the game did go into overtime and they still had to have a shoot off. That's right. Put up pictures once I have more time! I've got to power through the rest of this homework because tonight is the big "The Pub"-off. Don't know what that means? I guess you'll just have to keep reading my blog to find out.

Motor Cafe

So I forgot my keys inside my apartment. Typicky Lesia. Right now I'm just chilling inside Motor Cafe a few blocks from my house. Turkish coffee = excellent, but not as good as Cafe Louvre hot chocolate.

Pig Slaughter and Paris

As promised a few months ago, two weekends ago I visited Bara’s village of Kvacice for the infamous pig slaughter. And indeed it was a slaughter complete with blood, bones and intestines.

Need I say more?
It was a little unfortunate that I was only able to stay in Kvacice for one night, but not too unfortunate because the next day I left for Paris! I met up with one of my best friends from high school who I literally haven’t seen in about a year. Paris is a beautiful city, but I was ready to get back to Prague by the time I left. Here are all the lovely details of my trip:

Transportation: Easy Jet flight
Lodging: St. Christopher’s Inn (hostel)
Travel buddies: Erin Klein
Hotspots visited: As many as humanly possible in one weekend. It is a huge plus that most museums are free to students.
Favorite dish: Didn’t get to have too many of these, considering I’m a poor college student and Paris is crazy expensive. Did enjoy a few gyros, though, and french fries with mayonnaise.
Favorite French drink: Red wine, of course.
Words I learned: Actually not too many. French is incredibly hard for me to pronounce so I kind of forgot them all.
Facts I learned: Just about all of Paris’ history on my free walking tour. Also, the Mona Lisa is a lot smaller than I always imagined.
My best photos:

Closing remarks: So before I went to Paris, people told me to watch out for Parisians. I’ve been told they aren’t very nice to Americans. Naturally, I didn’t believe what people said so I decided to find out for myself. And, well, it’s actually kind of true. Many French have absolutely no concept of personal space. I did meet some nice French people I suppose, but
I also experienced a lot of bad luck in Paris so maybe that has something to do with my bitter attitude. Still glad I got to see the beautiful art and architecture of the city, though.

Next post coming up will be all about my Thanksgiving when my family came to visit!

Na Shled,
Lesia

Cinema Dance... or shall I say Camp FAMU

So this weekend was the legendary cinema dance workshop aka Camp Famu. I call it that becuase the "undisclosed location" where we stayed reminded me of a summer camp. In the description, Cinema Dance is even called "bootcamp" (and indeed it was a filmmaker's bootcamp: 48 hours to create a movie. almost impossible). But there were cabins, a dining hall, a beautiful lake and a gorgeous forest backdrop perfect for filming a scary movie (which is exactly what my group did)! I learned a lot this weekend and had a crazy rollarcoaster of emotions ranging from happiness to stress to anger to staying up all night planning/editing to the point where my brain could no longer process any emotion. Zombie status. The main thing I learned, though, was that a group really needs to work together to make a good film and that it's impossible to do overnight. Everyone's films were pretty hilarious yet pretty terrible. It's not that we're bad filmmakers. Actually, it's the opposite. It's that making a film is an extremely long and difficult process, which I obvioulsy knew before this workshop but now it's all been put into perspective. This weekend was honestly the craziest I've had in Czech Republic and will never, ever forget it. Time actually slowed down for once and it was great to be in nature away from the city (and this class may have been the greatest way to earn 3 college credits known to man).

And so, instead of going on and on about cinema dance, I'll just insert a copy of my film as soon as I get it downloaded to my computer. Hopefully you'll enjoy it and not judge too harshly. Remember, this was made in two days starting from scracth (which includes getting into groups of four [I was producer/editor], planning the story, storyborading, screenwriting, rewriting, rewriting, casting, shooting, acting, reshooting, sound-recording, editing, reediting, reediting, reediting, shooting some more, acting some more, recording more sounds, editing, reediting, reediting, etc: the whole process)! So, without further adieu, here's my short film from Cinema Dance.


http://www.youtube.com/user/CarlHuck?feature=watch#p/u/0/wFqPDjZLQEg

This is about to be my weekend

"Dear students,

Let me tell you about the up-coming Cinemadance workshop, which will be held from 10.-13.11.2011 out of Prague. Actually South Bohemia. The accommodation in heated cottages with linen, meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), equipment (camera, tripod and ntb with final cut) and transport tickets will be arranged. The exact place is a secret. What you need to take with you is a towel, enough money in cash - because the place is in forrest (there is no ATM), warm clothes because you gonna shoot in exteriors and in this time of year the temperatures are really low.

Departure: Nov 10,2011, 2:45 pm main train station by the Burger king
Arrival: Nov 13, 2011, app. 6:00 pm

Bellow is further description, what is the main goal of Cinemadance workshop.

"Cinemadance helps prepare beginning filmmakers to create short films within a structured, supportive “boot camp” environment that promotes creativity and maximizes collaboration.

The three-day workshop starts with a journey to a remote location, beginning in the evening with a dance: Turkish belly dancing, Irish Jig, African rock and contemporary disco. The idea is to break down barriers and help the international medley of student filmmakers get to know and be comfortable with each other. Dance embodies many of the goals of filmmaking: individual and group creative expression is achieved through collaboration within a structured ritual that embodies rhythm, pacing, emotional exuberance, and sensual expression through the poetry of motion.

The workshop continues the next morning as the student filmmakers are placed into culturally diverse groups of four and randomly given roles: writer, director, producer and director of photography. Groups choose their own name, and make a pledge to cooperate and work in the best interests of their projects.

Themes and short screenplays are then developed with periodic consultation. After scouting locations and casting actors from among their peers (and faculty) each group develops a strategy for producing their project, and spends the evening finalizing casting, stories, locations and storyboarding.

The films are then shot in one day, and edited in the evening and following morning. On the final afternoon of the workshop, the completed films are screened before the workshop members for review, comment and celebration.

CinemaDance creates a sense of empowerment among the filmmakers. By completion, all the challenges of the boot camp have been met. The filmmakers have completed their shorts as a direct result of the collaborative process. The members have developed mutual respect for each other’s contributions and a deeper understanding of the art and craft of filmmaking.""

and at the end of the email, the professor wrote, "We will return late afternoon Sunday, November 13… but life will never be the same again..."


This is going to be a fun weekend I can already feel it.

Pierogies in Polska

I think it’s safe to say that about 90% of my meals two weekend ago in Krakow, Poland consisted of pierogies. I also learned the Polish word for sour cream in the process: smietana. So good. Well, as you may have already guessed, this weekend was the big CIEE trip to Krakow, including a tour of Auschwitz, Birkenau and the Wieliczka Salt Mines. Auschwitz and Birkenau aren’t really something I want to talk about, because I think they speak for themselves. I just want to say that personally I could not believe the sheer size of Birkenau. I’ve known most of my life what had happened there. I knew the facts and statistics well before I visited. However, walking along those paths that millions have walked and seeing how incredibly large of a concentration camp it was really got to me. It wasn’t something I was excited to see, but I’m grateful for having the opportunity.

But, on a much lighter note, here’s my quick weekend re-cap:

Transportation: Coach bus. Roughly a 7 hour drive.
Lodging: Hotel
Travel Buddies: About 1/3rd of my program
Hotspots Visited: Auschwitz, Birkenau, the many churches of Krakow, Jewish memorial in Krakow, Schindler’s factory/museum, and the Wieliczka Salt Mines.
Favorite Dish: Pierogies, obviously
Favorite Polish Drink: I only really tried the beer. And to be honest Poland’s got nothing on the Czech Republic.
Words I learned: Tak means yes and przepraszam means excuse me (if you can pronounce that because I sure can’t)
Facts I learned: Amber and leather are very cheap in Poland so buy some there if you have the chance, almost 90% of Poland is Roman Catholic, Krakow is a big college town, polish money is called zloty and is incredibly tiny.
My best photos: I forgot my good camera in Prague so I didn’t take too many photos.
Entrance to Auschwitz. “Arbeit macht frei”, meaning work sets you free:

The sheer size of the remains of Birkenau (and this picture only shows about 1/10th of the camp):

Friends in front of a Polish Castle:

(for the rest of the photos, please visit my polska album on facebook, (click it))
Closing Remarks: Krakow is actually a pretty incredible city, but my favorite day on the trip was visiting the salt mines on Sunday. Did you know you could actually lick the walls? I don’t recommend it, though, because they are incredibly salty and might make you sick afterwards. Also, it’s a great place to get souvenirs. I bought a lamp made of salt and I think it may be my best purchase thus far in Europe.

And so I know this post is a week late and I’ve been a little behind on my blogging. Poland was 2 weekends ago, and this past weekend I stayed in Prague mostly except for a day trip to Brno and a day trip to Terezin. But I’ll write about those in my next post!

Na Shledanou,
Lesia