SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT: Andrea Bray

By Emaan Riaz,
BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

Junior Andrea Bray had the opportunity to explore the world of film last summer by attending a three-week intensive at the Berkeley Repertory Theater.

Every weekday, Bray spent three hours in class learning a variety of skills. The first week was all about acting, while the second focused on basic film theory and screenwriting. In the last week, Bray worked with a team to shoot and produce an original short film that was written by members of the class.

In the production of the short film, Bray was the video editor.

“I had to learn a lot more about editing and shot sequencing,” Bray said.”It was also really eye-opening about the process of making a movie and all the things that go into it.”

After attending the film intensive, Bray learned that making a film is not as easy as it seems.

“It’s hard to picture how a movie was made when you’re watching it, but now I can see and understand how difficult it is,” she said.

However, there are many more aspects to film-making; one of the most vital components is teamwork.

“Our director and director of photography were extremely difficult to work with,” Bray said, “they were constantly micromanaging everything and it was really annoying.”

Despite such hindrances, Bray still enjoyed the class and continued to acquire more and more new skills.

For example, she learned that there is huge difference between acting in films and acting in a theater production. Bray says that in the latter, actors must be very expressive with words and body language, but applying that level of emotion to film acting is unwarranted and considered overacting.

Bray’s most memorable experience occurred at the end of the three weeks when families were invited to a screening of everyone’s films.

“That was the most enjoyable part because we got to show all our hard work and it was a really proud moment for me,” she said.

Because Bray hopes to study film in the future, she believes that the film intensive was a really helpful beginning. One day, she hopes to create films that leave a positive impact on the world.

“I really love watching movies because they help me forget about my problems and allow me to think about something else; I want to do the same thing for other people,” Bray said.