Why I love film

Finally, we're done with our cycle films. In addition to directing my film, Obsession, I crewed on several other films. We had a lot of fun and many challenges from shoot to shoot. Racing with the clock to get shots, communicating with each other, making compromises, finding solutions... it's what filmmaking is all about.

I'm directing a 16 mm experimental short with my cycle 2 cinematographer next week. We're shooting on film using the Ariflex SR2 camera. It's a silent metaphorical film about a man trapped in a room. I've always wanted to shoot on film. To me, it's much more exciting than video.

I can't imagine my life doing anything else. I love filmmaking. For my cycle 2 film, I'm making an action comedy about a guy who goes out to retrieve his kidnapped golden retriever. Along the way, he goes through a journey of pain. It's a movie about man's loyalty to his dog.

Classes and the workshops have been great. I look back at what I knew about visual storytelling three months ago, and what I know now...well, I think it's incredible what you can learn in three months.

I've also spent anytime I had outside of school on the rewrite for my Jordanian Feature film debut, which I plan to direct in Amman summer 2006. For this screenplay, I wrote the story over the summer, then made a second draft with about 30% changes. Then I stepped away from the script for a couple of months and started over from a blank page. I re-outlined the whole thing, restructed the story with special attention to point of view, added a major new character, took out unnecessary junk and sped up the plot. I think I now have a very entertaining and emotional story that encompasses all the social classes in Jordan. Imagine, if you will, a serious Jordanian feature film that plays a role on the international film market. That's my goal. Let's see where the journey goes from here.