Charles Weiss UWM film student, sophomore Home: Sun Prairie, Wis.

“When I decided that film was what I wanted to study in college, I envisioned working with a large team of people while making movies and I assumed that I would still be able to direct the film. When I arrived here, I realized that we wouldn’t be specializing in just one aspect of filmmaking. As an aspiring independent filmmaker, I think that I take the ‘independent’ part a little too seriously. I really enjoy being able to go out on my own with my camera and decide that I am going to make a film with just myself as the crew. It limits me technologically but my mind loves it. The creative juices in me start flowing and I start to see things in different ways and create stories for random people. Suddenly I have a film all around that is waiting to be shot. All I have to do is make it. I don’t have to listen to anyone else throwing his or her opinions at me, which frustrates me more than anything else. Making a film alone allows me to achieve a greater intimacy with the piece. My head is full of images and ideas that only I have access to and explaining them to people is very difficult. I never consider my films finished either. Everything I make is a work in progress. Even after it is considered completed and I enter it into a contest or hand it in as a project I usually go back and edit the film some more.”

Shu-Ling Hsieh Video artist/filmmaker UWM film alumna, instructor Home: Taipei, Taiwan www.uwm.edu/~shsieh/IIS/IIS.html

“I often stay home and enjoy being alone. Home is my workplace. The benefit of doing alone art for me is ‘self-convenience.’ I can’t make any appointments with anyone to work together at three o’clock in the morning … My life style doesn’t allow me to work with people at all. However, it is unavoidable to work with a crew if you want to get certain things done. I adjust my sleeping schedule when I am working with a team. The shooting can get done faster when a group of people is helping you. However, trying to recruit a team is like making a piece of art — not easy!”

Brooke Swelstad Sand animator UWM graduate film student, teaching assistant Home: Green Bay, Wis.

“What I miss the most about working with or around other people is the loss of community. I was so envious of the hand drawn animators that worked in the animation room together. They were able to bounce their ideas off one another and see each other's work. When I did hand drawing animation I could say ‘Jen is coming in to work at 10 so if I can get 30 more drawings done by that time I can reward myself by going upstairs and watching ‘The Simpsons’ with her before starting on the next 100 drawings.’
But the community atmosphere was very susceptible to screwing around. An example would be going up to watch ‘The Simpsons’ even though you only have five drawing done just because everyone else is going. When you work alone you don't have as many social distractions and finding your working groove is easier. The most important thing as a filmmaker is to keep producing work. You can't take a class on working habits. So the working habits you form in your undergrad and grad time will hopefully follow into life after school. If you can turn the cell phone and the TV off then you can conquer anything alone. On the other hand to quote ‘Free to be You and Me’: if you want your day to be as sunny as summer weather when there's work to be done do it together.’”

Kate Raney Animator UWM film alumnus, instructor

“What initially appealed to me about animation is that I get to make a lot of stuff to animate. I get to draw and do papier mache and paper cut-outs. I like to be hands on and create everything I'm going to use in a film. The unfortunate thing about this is that some projects can become unwieldy. One of the projects I'm working on now has so many disparate elements that it gets incredibly overwhelming. I have to just focus on small bits of it like just making trees, or just working on the main character. Then I go back to thinking about it as a whole to figure out what to focus on next. When I'm filming or making things for a project it usually reaches a point where it becomes very meditative. I do turn to people for help if I'm completely out of my element (some friends helped out when I was building a plexiglass aviary). I also benefit from advice from friends and professors on what is working or not working in a project. Sometimes I get so lost in the details it's hard to see what's really working or important.”

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