Hello!
My name is Emily Ballaine, newly transplanted to the city from Sonoma county. I’m not planning on going into film as a career, but I’m loving exploring the city through movies and venturing out to different venues. I’m not entirely sure what I should say in this intro. Let’s see, I enjoy long walks on the beach… I guess I’m just excited to be living in such an amazing place like San Francisco. Coming from a small town it’s been a bit of shock, but in a good way…
Hello all!
My name’s Jordan Beall, straight out of Nor Cal’s Napa Valley from the tiny, one stoplight, grape-growing town of Calistoga. To give an example of exactly how small my town is: Graduating class = 39 people, school 7th grade to 12th grade = 360 people. It’s not exactly the most exciting place which is one reason San Francisco interested me so much. I love this city and have grown up driving down here on the weekends and exploring the more well known areas. Coming to this school was pretty much a given although I have no idea what I’m doing now that I’m here. I’m a psychology major, soon to change to International Studies. I want to try to double major in Art and minor in business but I’ll settle for at least graduating on time. My two passions are ART and TRAVELING. I love to draw, paint and especially use charcoal. I love to make movies with my friends, very very amateur films of course, usually making fun of well know Hollywood films, but that is as far as my film experience goes. My favorite movies include The Breakfast Club, Amelie, Fight Club, Donnie Darko, Juno, Into The Wild, Dazed and Confused, Requiem For A Dream, Ghost World, Garden State, Knocked Up, The Virgin Suicides, The Labrinth (david bowie!), American Beauty, Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist and many many more. I also love music (although my piano lessons were a failure)and I love love love going to shows. Seeing a band live is by far my favorite pass time. Going back to what I said earlier, I love traveling. I spent a year living in Denmark from 2006-07 and it was the best time of my life. I’ve traveled all over Europe and really gained an appreciation for our small world. But now I’m here, at USF, chillin in Gillson Hall. Hope you all found my life/interests some what intriguing.
Hello my name is Anna Karabachev. 
(The one of the left.)
I am a freshman at USF, even though I am an english major I have always been interested in film. That is my main reason for wanting to be a part of The Independent Cinema in San Francisco class. I love the city and film, therefore got two things I loved with one class.
I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.
However, each summer or break my family and I travel to many places, including: Peru, Ecuador, Spain, Bulgaria and many more. Basically, I love going to as many countries as I can and learning different things from each.
I have many passions, which are all part of the arts. My first love at a very young age was ballet. 
I was trained in a program called Royal Academy Of Dance for thirteen years. It is a very difficult program that includes yearly test. These tests are performed with only three other people in the room, including the examiner that comments on every move the dancer makes.
My next passion is music, which I can’t go anywhere without. 
I listen to mostly everything, except country is difficult for my ears to handle. I am constantly looking for new and old bands that I haven’t heard of. Concerts are also very enjoyable to me.
The last one is acting.
I competed throughout high school through the debate team in acting. I did all sorts of humorous, dramatic, improvisation and duo pieces. That is another reason I wanted to be a part of the film class. It is important to me to see acting in a different way. I feel I have already seen many different aspects within the short period of this class.
In conclusion, I am happy with the move from Las Vegas to San Francisco.
Even though, I do miss home. The city and the school offer so much to people of every walk of life. I am glad to be here and thankful to have these opportunities.
My name is Tessa, or Tessa Sunshine to be more exact; my parent are ex-hippies, which means I feel pretty at home here! My real home is Santa Cruz, just an hour and a half away, and I still go back most weekends. Maybe it’s the ocean calling me. I really don’t have much background in film, and while I don’t plan on making any movies, I love art, music, and writing, all things I’m finding in film. I’ve always liked noticing small things in movies, like the way the perfect song can effect a scene completely. I’m an English major, yet the way film can tell any story using so many different elements, pulling at the emotions at the same time — it’s an amazing thing and I’ve learned a lot about cinema, San Francisco and the world after just a couple months of being here. I’m excited to see where else it brings me!
First off, my name is Caroline Kangas and I’m from Mercer Island, WA but we’ll just round that up to Seattle. I love Seattle, and although I had only been to San Francisco very briefly before moving here, I felt a lot of new energy here that, although it reminded me of Seattle, excited me for something new. I am Undeclared here at USF, so if you have advice on choosing your major, feel free to share. When it comes to this class, I simply know that I love movies, especially excellent stories that take a look at the basic format in a different way. Although I don’t plan on making any movies, I have participated in some of my friends’ projects and consider myself a professional appreciator of film. My favorite movies span from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind to High Fidelity, and from Ratatouille to Two Days in Paris, but of course those are the ones popping into my head right now. Since I love stories so much, you can expect to hear a bit more from me some stories from SF filmmakers, independent venue managers, and the like. Independent cinema requires such passion and creativity that I can only see interesting things coming out of these peoples’ mouths.
i'm on the right. : )
Hello world,
My name is Lukas Martinson. I haven’t declared a major but I am minoring in music. I am from Gaithersburg, Maryland…which is about 30 minutes outside of DC. Needless to say, I am hella stoked on living in foggy Northern California. I don’t really plan on pursuing a career in the film industry but I am interested in making short films. The Independent Cinema in San Francisco seminar has been an awesome way to learn about San Francisco’s film culture through first-hand experience. I have been able to visit famous independent theaters and meet successful independent filmmakers. I already feel like part of the club. Anyway, I’m looking forward to making some films and posting them on the blog. Check back soon! PEACE.
Lukas
GREETINGS. We are Lucy and Elle, roomates who fell in love at first sight.
HI. Im Lucy Rachel Aldridge. I am originally from England, but I have lived in Los Angeles for the past 8 years. I am currently a freshman at USF. Even though I am not a media studies major, I am in the Independent Film Class because I really enjoy movies, especially independent. For the past two years I have been to Sundance Film Festival, which is what really started my curiosity in independent films.
Ahhhhh heyyy, I’m Elle Dailey. I’m from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and made the trip to San Francisco because I love the city more than any other. I am a freshman at USF and will probabbbllyy stay here. I have always been interested in films, especially independent, and am really happy to be seeing a bunch of awesome films all throughout San Francisco. The Independent Film Class is very interesting…and really fun. I look forward to learning about and seeing many more films this semester!
Windy day in the bay
Hello, my name is Rose and I am a freshman at USF! I am originally from Placerville, California(a small city on the way to tahoe) and am so happy to be in San Francisco! I don’t think I’m ever going to leave! For right now I am a media studies major, and up until this year I had planned on becoming a sports reporter, however plans change and mine has, next semester I will be switching to Exercise and Sports Science. But, that does not mean that I am not interested in film, because I love watching movies! Up until this year I didn’t know there was a difference between an independent film and a Hollywood film, so this class has been teaching me a lot about the diversity of film in San Francisco, which I am loving! So, for the next couple of months you will be learning along with me about the different film venues in San Francisco; places I would not have known about had it not been for this independent cinema class. So, I’ll see where this blog takes me and who knows maybe I’ll want to be a film critic when it is all done!
Hello. My name is Caitlin and I am also a freshman at USF, obviously in the Independent Cinema in San Francisco course. I am from New Orleans, LA which remains my favorite city, no offense San Fran. I am a media studies major, and have studied film for the last 4 years and it remains my primary interest, although I am not quite sure where it will take me! My favorite film of all time is probably “Amelie,” and my favorite directors are Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Spike Jonze, Spike Lee, Jim Jarmusch, and of course, Ethan & Joel Cohen. I am not sure where I will go with a Media Studies major, or what I want to do exactly. I guess nobody has it all figured out at 18 though, so I have some time. Who knows maybe this blog will become my life passion?!?!
Hello World,
My names Reece and I am a freshman at USF. I am extremely interested and involved in film. I have started my own film career as a producer already by initiating the process of creating my own production company and have 2 shorts and a feature on my resume along with involvement in a weekly news program. I am looking to transfer from USF after this to USC, UCLA, LMU, or Chapman for film; which is a very high aspiration but i believe i will be able to achieve it. I love all types of films and can talk about movies, the movie business, or film techniques forever. I will try and post one of my shorts, probably my first, for you to see and please i encourage reviews.
Reece
I thought I’d take a page out of David’s…er… blog, and write a little intro about myself as well. (Never mind that I’m sitting in the atrium here on campus at USF, not writing a paper for the very course that spawned this blog… procrastination will be the end of me.)
Anyway, hi! I’m Haley Smith, a freshman at the University of San Francisco. No major, no idea really- I am, however, doing a music minor. I don’t have any prior training in filmmaking or film studies, but I’ve always loved everything about film, my favorite aspects of it being cinematography and plots that absolutely blow my mind (which is partially the reason I’m drawn to independent cinema). My favorite film is Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece A Clockwork Orange, closely followed by the deliciously disturbing American Psycho and Darren Aronofsky’s Pi. (I wonder what this says about my personality?)
Hopefully I’ll be contributing more than just reflections and reviews to this blog… I’m going to try and make some short films that depict life on campus and just here in San Francisco. Keep a lookout :]
My name is David Owens. I am a Freshman, undecided Psychology major here at USF. I love film, and I got hooked into the world of film ever since I had the privilege of taking a Film Studies class in my high school. I am from Seattle, WA, and I know that I will eventually move back. Although I love it here, I love Seattle like a fat kid likes cookies.
Cheers, and stay tuned for my movies that I will be making in the near future.
Foggy Frisco
At a loss for words, we are contemplating what we will bring to this blog. The opportunities are endless, and we are all thinking of what this next year will bring. Many of us are unfortunately absent, so all our voices are not being heard as of now, but this will hopefully change in due time.
The point of this space is for us to express our experiences that are happening throughout every day of our daily lives as Freshmen students here in San Francisco. Some are moving towards the more narrative side of film, that will surely feature landscapes throughout the bay area. Others are moving towards the documentary side, featuring the people and places of San Fran.
Many are trying to also focus on the Independent Film scene here in San Francisco. This includes interviewing filmmakers, and watching Independent Films throughout the many Independent venues that are scattered throughout the area.
Stay tuned…..
First Frames SF - A Fresh Mix 