master class with director catherine Hardwicke, of ‘twilight’ renown

Post by Ollie Comet

Catherine Hardwicke’s class introduced me to the concept of a moving master and using floor plans to map out camera movement instead of static storyboards. Clips from her film Thirteen demonstrated this and how shifting the color palette throughout a film's runtime wordlessly conveys emotional tone. Hardwicke's proof of concept slideshow gave insight into the preproduction and pitching process I hadn't considered before. It was amazing to see behind the scenes footage from the climax of Twilight and see how much planning goes into a complex sequence.

We ran out of time before we could finish her class, but Hardwicke said we were one of the best groups she's taught.

The week after her class, we saw a private screening of Lords of Dogtown—a film Hardwicke directed. It was cool to see the lessons she taught at work on the big screen. The camerawork had a frenetic tempo that enhanced the action and emotion in each scene. I want to achieve similar levels of emotional intensity in my future work.

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Ollie Comet's first intensive was the 2018 Object Stories exhibition at the Portland Art Museum, and they’ve been involved with Outside the Frame's programming ever since. They earned a software engineering certificate and worked for Nike and Intel. They are currently working on a book that will be published in 2028.. They keep digital media backed up and organized for Outside the Frame. They enjoy helping their peers cultivate their ideas and create films.

Ollie, front and center, on the set of the forthcoming “Blood and Bubblegum.”