This ePortfolio is a complement to my current educational expedition
as I strive to attain my Certificate in Video Production at Montgomery College.
Here you can learn About Me, my Goals and Coursework and some of
what I have been doing with my life Outside the Classroom.
WeLcOmE aNd ThAnK yOu FoR sToPpInG bY
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.
Carl Sagan
In case you haven’t noticed from the banner atop, my name is Peter and the above quote expresses where I find myself at this moment in my life. I’m back in school because I’ve been working as a professional actor for over 20 years, and as time passed I started to develop a curiosity, and even an attraction to the world ‘behind-the-camera.’ I also always wondered why there’s so much hurry up and wait going on on a film set. The production team usually makes the talent (a.k.a. actors) show up very early to start shooting, but even once the actors are ready to do their part, there is an enormous amount of waiting before they actually begin filming. So I decided to find out for myself and started taking some classes at a Public Access Television channel. Through the different courses, I began to learn the ins and outs of film and television production. I also discovered that there’s a great deal of planning and preparation that goes into each filmed sequence, but most importantly, there’s a lot of time invested in setting up and perfecting the different elements that make for a successful shoot, for example: the right cameras, appropriate lighting, necessary furniture, actors, of course, and even props.
Having had such a positive and enriching experience with these classes prompted me to become a volunteer at the channel. As I was once bitten by the acting bug, it seemed that this time it was the film and television production bug biting me (if such a thing even exists). In other words, I realized that this was a path I wanted to explore more in depth. I felt that I wanted to become a part of creating and producing great television programming. I want to move people to either laughter or tears, or simply make them reflect on a topic, the same way I have experienced while watching certain television shows and films.
So today, I’m here at Montgomery College starting this new ‘episode’ in my life, an episode that I hope has many sequels and leads me to discover that “...something incredible is waiting to be known.”