#relativity workshops

In an announcement sure to please DJ's and Visual Artists alike, Relativity Workshops and Vortex Immersion Media are rolling out a brand new evening workshop entitled, "VJ 360: The Art of Immersive Vjing."

The course will offer students with varying backgrounds and experience the opportunity to learn the art and technique of immersive VJ'ing, an indisputably fast-growing role in live performance today. The VJ is the creative mastermind who conceives, creates and performs incredible visual experiences inspired by and for music—telling stories while finding new ways to immerse an audience. 

The one-of-a-kind course is held in the Vortex Dome, a 360-degree projection-mapped fulldome theater at the Relativity Campus, LA Center Studios. Topics will include visual content creation, technical aspects of multi-projector hardware and software, 3D projection mapping basics, gesture interactivity, seamless 360-degree projection and the creative and stylistic aspects of VJ performance. 

This new workshop from EDM.Lab will also offer students the awesome opportunity to meet with special guests and VJ's leading the industry like Jeff Smith (Deadmou5, EyeVapor), Tim Hix (Ariel Pink, Taylor Dayne), Will Michaelsen (Philip H Anselmo and the Illegals, Liars, Hank 3) with Audri Philips (Steve Roach, Beastie Boys , Vortex Immersion), Eric Medine (LAVA), Ed Lantz (Vortex Immersion). 

It's the end of one chapter, and the start of another at Relativity Education!

Last Friday marked the final day of #RelWorkshops: Los Angeles, based at our brand new campus in LA Center Studios. The film, acting and dance students began the day with master classes based on discipline. In the afternoon, friends and family began arriving in droves, eager to see the students' creative work from the last 3 weeks. After an awesome reception and final send-off in RS1 Digital Studios, students and company made their way to the Beaudry Theatre for final screenings. And wow, the projects were incredible! From the actors' written monologues, the on-location dance solos, 3-page partner scenes, and final films, everyone in attendance (including the students) was floored by the level of talent and execution for these projects. Subscribe to RelSchool on Youtube to see some of the student projects! 

But this show isn't over quite yet, as session 3 of Relativity Workshops kicks off today with a BIG group of eager storytellers. Here's to another amazing 3 weeks!  

2,500 miles away, #RelSchoolMaui finished its last class in our inaugural 2-week filmmaking program by finalizing  and screening their final short films. The outcome was an astounding success, with a wide variety of genres and styles across all of the projects. The general atmosphere and environment of this group could not have been more supportive, creative and encouraging. Students took to social media in a big way, posting cuts of their films online, participating in class groups on Facebook and consistently engaging in discussions about the state of the industry, future of hollywood and the next-generation of storytelling. 

This week, some of the Maui students will continue the magic in our special Editing & Post Production workshop—where they'll get a all-encompassing look at editing, from syncing dailies, to time-saving short-cuts and finishing projects with sound and color. 

What a day!

Yesterday, students in session #2 of our Los Angeles Workshops jumped into production on their final projects. As the crews assembled in various hot sets around LACS, bringing equipment, scripts and props, there was a palpable air of focus and excitement. 

Guided by their project mentors, the filmmakers worked with acting students to find the heart and cores of their scenes, while DP's, Gaffers and other production members lit and dressed the various narratives.

The originality of the projects, ranging from experimental, to dark psychological drama, to whimsical comedy certainly indicated that creativity was abound during the #collablab last week, when students found inspiration for the projects.

It's going to be a busy final week of classes as the students finalize their edits, enjoy some awesome industry guests and continue collaborating with each other! 

#RelWorkshops students are in for quite a treat. 

Last week, students were able to catch an early screening of Relativity's Earth to Echo at The Grove in Los Angeles. Today, they’re meeting the Writer and Director, Henry Gayden and Dave Green, respectively. 

The #InsiderSeries panel will give students the chance to talk one-on-one with the two Filmmakers—asking everything from production challenges, creative inspirations for the story, working with young actors and more.

Henry Gayden

This being Dave Green’s first directed feature, the special panel will undoubtably offer an insightful experience for the aspiring directors, producers, cinematographers and editors. They’ll talk advantages of digital content creation, teaming up with young collaborators and getting your work seen.

Dave Green

Check out this video from the film’s Red Carpet Premiere, when Relativity Students interviewed the stars and crew—in addition to grabbing audience testimonials.  

When it comes to any kind of production; be it film, TV, web-series, etc, one question will inevitably come up in the planning phase: "CAN WE ACTUALLY MAKE THIS THING?"

It may seem obvious, but a huge factor in determining the success of your project is coming up with an actionable, realistic pre-production plan and delivering "on budget." All too often, content creators, artists and performers nail the creative challenges, yet overlook the logistics.

In today's Insider Panel Series, Relativity Workshops students are getting a dose of invaluable advice from two of the best in the biz: Executive Film Producer Manu Gargi and Relativity's President, Physical and Post Production, Kennith Halsband.

Gargi boasts a diverse slate of film credits including: That Awkward Moment, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Adult World and Leonie. Beginning his Producing career in Mumbai, he worked on Disney TV content for the South Asian market, including more than 220 episodes of "Disney Club." After moving to Los Angeles in 2004, Gargi shifted his focus to Physical Production. Over the course of 9 years, he's overseen a number of projects from big-budget to festival indies.   

Kenneith Halsband has over 20 years of film production experience and currently oversees the budgeting, physical production, post production and delivery for all of Relativity's films. Throughout his illustrious career, Ken has made over 40 feature films including: Immortals, Mirror Mirror, The Fighter, Limitless, and 21 & Over.

Halsband recently talked to Relativity Education about the unique opportunities of a film program based on a working studio lot with industry-developed curriculum. Watch the video here. 

Today, both Manu and Kenneth are collaborating on Relativity's newest endeavor, The Crow.  

The 2014 Hotchkiss Film Festival is officially underway.  

The annual student film festival takes place in Lakeville, Connecticut and gathers some of the best young filmmakers in the country for a night of comedy, drama, documentary and more. Check out the finalist films here. Naturally, Relativity Education was eager to find out how to get involved. 

The winner of the festival will receive a full ride to this summer's Relativity Workshops, with the option to focus on Film Production, Acting or Commercial Dance. They'll spend 3 weeks in sunny Los Angeles, California, learning and perfecting their filmmaking talents at the Relativity campus in Los Angeles Center Studios—a 20-acre backlot for Film and TV. 

The Hotchkiss festival now joins a long list of high school and student film festivals that partnered with Relativity Education this year including: The Archer Film Festival, Newport Beach International Film Festival the upcoming Loyola Film Festival.  

If there's one thing we've learned from these festivals, it's that there are some seriously talented students out there! 

You’ve done the research, picked out the colleges, pictured yourself in each one wearing all the variations of school colors, and at long last you’ve completed the application – well, almost. The only remaining white space occupying your nearly complete college application belongs to the essay section (cue unanimous sighing and groaning).  

To many, the college essay is like a Bridge Troll. You can clearly see the other side (your school of choice) but as your crossing the bridge, a terrifying, ugly essay portion blocks your path, demanding from you perhaps the most important piece of the application: your voice. More specifically, how you respond to the prompt and how your unique experiences in life somehow made you the IDEAL candidate for the school – all in your own words AND within the word limit.

Just breathe. It’s not as bad as you think.

The truth is, a college essay doesn’t have to be the bane of your existence. In fact, when you break it down and understand what the colleges are really looking for, there’s nothing mysterious about it – it’s simply an opportunity to show them what your grades can’t: personality and experience.

Here are some tips to help you take down the Essay Troll and move on.

 1. Just get it on the page.

The worst thing you can do while writing an essay is NOT writing the essay. Obvious yes, but when you’re stumped on how to start your Magna Carta masterpiece of essay-ic proportions, repeatedly hitting the “delete” key gives you nothing to work with. Don’t worry about paragraph order or formatting. Heck, don’t worry about spelling (yet). Just write freely what you’re thinking and feeling in response to the prompt. You’d be surprised at how much easier it is to go back and re-work a rough draft than it is to edit the whole thing in your head.

 2. Do something this summer!

College applicants often worry that their experiences in and out of school aren’t “good enough” or “interesting.” An aspiring actor might worry that she’s never been in a movie or short. There’s an easy fix for that: go do something!  Summer is an ideal time to travel, start a project or attend a workshop. Last summer, Relativity students finished the session with not just completed projects and knowledge of their chosen programs, but with new friends, collaborators, travel stories, surprises, inspirations and more. 

 3. Be you.

At the end of the day, the college essay is really your friend (yes, your BFF the Troll). It’s a tool to help demonstrate who you are, where you’re from, what you believe, who you aspire to be and everything in between. Be honest, be passionate, be you.  

We will be in the Big Apple this Saturday, March 1st for a Relativity Workshops open house. Students, parents and educators will have the opportunity to interface with our Admissions team, asking questions about our workshops and getting more information about the student experience. 

Celina Polanco will lead a Q&A about Relativity Workshops as well as a fantastic workshops on Powerful Introductions & Branding, an informative overview for creating digital content!