Mi Life

I went to college at Northern Illinois University, a large state college outside Chicago. At NIU there was a building right in the middle of campus where large gen-ed lecture classes were held. ColeHall probably held around 1,000 people when full, or at least that is how it seemed at the time. I spent the better part of my first two years in here taking electives before figuring out what thehell I wanted to do with my college life.

This room is particularly noteworthy because it is in Cole Hall that I took my first cinema studies class, and this it was in Cole Hall that my love affairwith filmmaking began in earnest. I learned about shot selection ad screenwriting and mood and everything else that is awesome about movies, taught by a teacher whose name I can’t remember but she washerself a filmmaker and as passionate about it as the subject deserved. It was in Cole Hall that I saw so many films that have shaped my impressions of filmmaking every since. Annie Hall, where Idistinctly remember a long discussion about the long shot of Woody Allen walking down the into the camera discussing anti-semitism (“No, Djew?”). The Killing Fields – haunted to this day by the scene ofSam Waterston walking through the mass graves, enthralled by the idea of the importance of journalism in our daily lives. North By Northwest – walking out with my mouth wide open, convinced I had justseen the best thriller ever made (I was right.) Rope – Easily seduced by Hitchcock’s gag, loving the fact that he had another side than straight thrillers. The Graduate – it holds up for me less wellas more time passes, but for a lost wandering soul facing the real world, this was like watching my life unfold at 24 frames a second. Titticut Follies and High School – Again, the films don’t hold upthat great now, but the lively discussions that followed only helped to cement a love of documentary in my heart. Meet Me In St. Louis – As a surly punk rocker I had little use for the musical, and...