French High School Diary Part I, Cabbages

Or why I am now going to school in England.

French High School Diaries Part I

  

Back Story

I was moved to Paris from the blissful mountains of northern New Mexico at the tender age of two.   I don't remember much of this, and now It seems to me that I've always been in France.

My father speaks  French, and has always had a thing for the French and France. My mom is linguistically challenged, and is not a great fan of the French. C'est la vie. Vive la différence!

I have had no choice, I have had to adapt. I live inside an English speaking family in a French speaking country. I have always gone to French schools, where it's been trial by fire. It has taken nerves of steel to maintain a positive attitude, and a sense of humor.

So in France I became a "Petite choux", a little cabbage (child). With the hair style called, choucroute, named after an Alsatian cabbage dish.  From children to hairdos, the French are always comparing things to cabbages.

My French School Bag Is Alive

This afternoon I was inspired, carrying around my heavy school bag. In French school  we carry our books all day long because there are no lockers.

I have recently become very interested.

in stop motion film making. This was a lot of fun I made it in one afternoon.

ENJOY

Shakespeare In Paris

Can you believe this?  This is the theater I went to last night. I went to see " As You Like It" By William Shakespeare in ENGLISH! in the middle of Paris.

It was fantastic The acting and the stage coordination were amazing. The lighting and the use of shadow  really interested me. I am studying Shakespeare For My IGCSE. This production was a good experience for me to see, and  I understood it. They did have subtitles for the non- English speakers, and I even helped translate for some of the French people sitting near me, it was fun.

My Big Little Movie The Sequel

Yesterday We had to go back to Normandy to re-shoot some scenes, it's months later, and

I am taller than i was last time we shot these scenes. The film got ruined.
We Had another great time. It was good to see the crew again.

I saw some of the rushes. The movie looks great!!!!

Take a look See the Film vimeo.com/33127666

My director, Oliver McGarvey,  is really talented.

A bientot

Chase

My Big Little Movie Experience Starring Me

Wow! I have just had the best and most exhausting experience ever. I just finished my third movie here in Paris. You might not think so, but this is a very demanding job both mentally and physically.  Even  for me who swims daily in my school's special sports program.  Talking about schools, I am sure you are wondering  how I managed to make a movie, with everything I have to do; school, swimming, homework...

To coordinate this intricate multi-location shooting schedule with my school schedule was very complicated.

Sometimes, one of the members of the crew  would pick me up from my house, take me to the location  where we were filming in the morning,  I would attend school for a half day,  and then I would be picked up again from school and escorted  back to the location, where we worked late into the night. Well it was not easy, that's for damn sure, and my grades suffered. Even though the director tried extremely hard to make sure I did not miss too many hours of class.

Working and preforming in front of  a crew of twenty two people

might appear stressful but it isn't, you get used to it.

Shown here are the dolly tracts, and  the camera mount for a slow zoom.

It's thrilling to go on a location in a place that's not home, and sleep somewhere else other then your familiar bed, well, that's what I did when I went to Normandy with the crew.  Of course I was a bit homesick.

Film making is a collaborative process. Every single person's job must be executed well, and in a coordinated fashion otherwise there is no movie.  For example, the people that lay down the dolly, which is the thing that looks like train tracks that the camera man uses to roll the camera on, could do this faster then their own shadows. If there was a problem with the lights the technician,  who we called the light god, would  come and fix  any lamp before we could blink an eye. This, crew, was, amazing! All the things they had to think about and coordinate, wow! All I had to do was rehearse, remember my lines, and act. It was very rewarding to be part of the bigger picture, each of us doing our part.

 I learned a lot. I got to observe first hand what it actually takes to make a movie. Now when I watch films I am seeing them with a deeper understanding and appreciation of what is really involved.

I was very lucky to work with such a good crew.  This is an experience I shall never forget.

 

French School

Back to school annee scolaire 2009/2010

My school is actually a castle. I am in my second to last year of French middle school which is four years long rather then three like American Junior high school. This year is a decisive year the cumulative grade counts as one third of the Brevet des Colleges. This is our first professional diploma which we need to get into a Lycee ( high school).

The street view of our school. It is massive , it fills an entire city block.

We count down until graduation staring with Sixieme.

Age	Grade	Abbreviation
11 -> 12	Sixième	6e
12 -> 13	Cinquième	5e
13 -> 14	Quatrième	4e
14 -> 15	Troisième	3e
Lycée (High school)
Age	Grade	Abbreviation
15 -> 16	Seconde	2de
16 -> 17	Première	1e
17 -> 18	Terminale	Term or Tle

This is how it goes If you are lucky enough to pass all the tests and follow the academic route.
Otherwise one goes to the vocational schools. All this is determined next year when we sit the Brevet exam. This is a big deal. There are no second chances in France.

By the way my school has a beautiful courtyard inside the castle

We call all this going back to school la rentree.

I made another small film this past summer it is a pilot for an animated series. I did the English voice acting it was a lot of fun in the studio with headphones, and a screen! This film is going to an international animation festival in Denmark. They hope to pick up international distribution.

Cheers,

Chase

Summer Vacation in France

I Finally finished the school year July 2!
I am taking an intensive acting class at BAW for the next 6 days. Today the class is 10:00am-7:00 pm whew!

It is great, Yesterday was the fist day. I am really enjoying the summer already.



Happy July 4th
Happy Birthday America!!!!

Next week I am signed up to take a comic book drawing and design class
at the mueum of decorative arts
With Piero Macola
The French call it Bande Dessinee.


This is the cover of one of his books



here is the character I am developing, it is based on my late cat GUS
who died a few weeks ago. He liked to sit on the radiator, so we called it the "catiator"

I like drawing sequential art
I will tell you all about the class
Next time

A Cry for Freedom in Paris

This afternoon I heard from my apartment window a loud noise.
What was it ?I had to investigate!

It was in fact the Tamils from Sri Lanka protesting about the murders in their country. They are crying for help and freedom.


An estimated 70,000 Tamils live in France. Yesterday, 20,000 of them turned out to demonstate in Paris in an attempt to bring the worlds attention to there plight.




Personaly, I think they are absolutely right demonstrating, and if I could, I would seriously advise President Sarkozy to help them .

This lady said that they were simply there to ask for help to

obtain freedom.