American Cinematographer - April 2000 - 28

compiled by Douglas Bankston

Faculty and

cinematography, directing, producing,
editing, production design, visual effects
or sound design and mixing, among other
areas. The student-to-faculty ratio is kept
low to optimize hands-on education.
"We're a place where you just do films,"
says Amedeo D'Adamo, dean of the
school. "We are part of the Hollywood
filmmaking machinery. Folks are willing

supporters of
the

new

Los

Angeles Film
School gather
around the
Platinum series
camera

centerpiece
during the
dedication
ceremony of the
Panavision

to come in and talk to our students at the

Cinematography

drop of

Lab. Pictured
from left to

right are: Kelly
Simpson, head
of Panavision's
New Filmmaker

Program;
Amedeo

D'Adamo, L.A.
Film School

dean; Janusz
Kaminski, ASC,

a

school advisory
board member;

Carolyn Pfeiffer,
school

president; Bob
Harvey,
Panavision sales

vice

president;

and Ralf Bode,

ASC,

a

member

of the school's

cinematography
faculty.

Launching the

well

L.A. Film School

technology and services.
Longtime
independent-film
producer Carolyn Pfeiffer, whose most
recent project was the Jamaican digitalvideo picture Third World Cop (see page
64) presides over the school. In addition
to
its faculty of working film
professionals, the school boasts an
advisory board that includes such
industry heavy-hitters as Janusz
Kaminski, ASC; directors Phillip Noyce,
Alan Rudolph and Amy Heckerling;
production designer Richard Sylbert;
editor Dede Allen; and costume designer
Milena Canonero, among many others.
All of the advisory-board members
frequently speak to the students. The
school has strategic partnerships with
several companies, including CFI for
laboratory development work, Sony for
high-definition (HD) production and
Panavision for cinematography.

by Douglas Bankston
On

September 8, 1999, the Los
Angeles Film School launched an effort
to reinvent film school in the heart of

Hollywood with a class of 16 students.
Perceiving a void in Los Angeles for
intensive film-production training, Bud
MaLette, founder of the Vancouver Film
School; producer Thom Mount,

president of the Producers Guild and
former head of Universal Pictures; and
Paul Kessler, president and fund
manager of Bristol Capital LLC, founded
the L.A. Film School and opened its

doors in

a

matter of months.

Located

in

the

former

RCA

headquarters on Sunset Boulevard, the
school is transforming the building to suit
its cutting-edge needs. Its geographical
position in the capital of the
entertainment industry provides the
school with access to exceptionally
talented faculty who work in the "biz," as
22

April 2000

hat, and that isn't always true
school. We make
having a very high
teacher load and very few students per
teacher, about eight to 10 in a class.
They're not lost in a crowd of 25
undergraduate students."
Those students get hands-on
experience in state-of-the-art facilities.
The first floor houses a large soundstage
with a greenscreen cyclorama and a
studio HDTV soundstage. Both stages
are equipped with full 400A lighting grids
with dimmer controls. A complete HD
a

every film
commitments to
at

as

access

to

the

latest film

Students who enroll at the school

intensive, year-long program
gives them the option of studying

enter an

that

control
The

room

mixing

overlooks the HDTV stage.

room

features

SSL Axium console. Also

on

a

96-channel

the first floor

is the film school's 350-seat, THXcertified stadium theater with dual
35mm projectors, a 16mm projector and

digital DLP-based HD projector. On
building, edit bays
house Avid non-linear editing systems
and Pro Tools systems. The school is
constantly expanding, with graphics and
a

other floors of the

3-D animation stations

well

as

HD telecine

theater and all

wired

rooms

on

the way, as

equipment. The
and stages are

together to route signals
throughout the building.
Panavision recently dedicated the
Panavision
Cinematography
Lab
soundstage, and will provide students

SAFncgihleoms.

SMLitlteruoch/Bdensrf,y
Ryan

byPhot
American Cinematographer - April 2000

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - April 2000
