Hello! My name is Ethan Fey, and I am a film student at Freestyle Academy.
Over the last two years at Freestyle, I have thrown myself into every project possible, soaking up as much as I can. Because of this, my skills since coming to Freestyle have increased monumentally, allowing me to create projects I could only imagine before this.
My senior showcase is about cinematography and storytelling. Throughout my time in film class, I experimented with cinematography, VFX, and film noir. I created three different iterations of a noir film: one for my final explorations unit last year, one for my college applications this year, and one that I am still finishing up right now. The one I’m showing to you is my college application film.
As much as I enjoyed Freestyle Film Class, I found a new avenue of my interest opening up: photography. I spent so much time making films with my camera that I began to trust it, understand it better than the back of my hand. It interested me more than just completing the monthly photoblogs; I began every other weekend walking around, wherever I could go, and taking photos, setting up photoshoots with my friends. I began to build a small portfolio of my best photos, taking an interest in documentary and creative lighting photos.
I would love to know what you think. I definitely know that my weakness right now is in sound design and audio recording, but other than that, what do you like? What do you not like? What can I improve on? Where do you think I could go into in the film industry?
My films got me accepted into NYU Tisch, but I decided to go to UC Berkeley to study political economy and filmmaking, and then decide what I want to do from there. My passion is stories and filmmaking, so I know whatever I do, my love of film will follow me.
If you want to contact me personally, you can reach out to my email – ethanfey72@gmail.com.
Thank you for your time.
Midnight On Castro
A young detective is on the hunt for his father’s killer; little does he know his father’s killer is looking for him too.
Film Reel
This film really ignited my passion for filmmaking. I like to think that I was good at making indie films before this, but something about this film unlocked something for me. It was the first time I incorporated purposeful lighting, purposeful frames, and camera movement in my work. I used the skills from our lessons on film mode, story structure, cinematography, and lighting to create this film. I say it jokingly, but this film “unlocked” my film eye. I was able to make purposeful decisions on set, understanding the purposes of different shots and why I would pick one over another. Making purposeful, defined decisions and frames.
When you are working in black and white, it’s a blessing and a curse. You don’t have color to worry about, which is amazing, but because there is no color, everything has to do with composition and how the image looks through lines and textures. So learning how to create beautiful shots while working at nighttime, having limited lighting and location made me think on my feet, how I could use natural leading lines, and natural light to my advantage to create meaningful images. I’m using the lessons I learned from this film and applying them to my latest film I’m making right now, a larger film noir about a detective who discovers he’s in a TV show.
At the same time as creating this film, I started enjoying photography more and more. I found myself walking around town, nature, and beaches with my camera, taking photos whenever I can. I even took everything out of my garage to create a makeshift photography studio to practice portrait photography. I used the lessons of lighting, composition, and black and white filming for my photography. Here are my favorite photos, more can be found at the photography tab on the top of my website.
Over the course of the last two years at Freestyle, I have learned more than I possibly could imagine. I think joining Freestyle is likely one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The freedom to be able to think of a creative idea, and understand the steps and processes required to actually bring my vision into reality is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
Freestyle has also taught me how to work creatively in a team, work with a producer and time restraints, think critically of literature and film, and motivated me to never stop learning.
Thank you,
– Ethan Fey