Angel Ramirez, a film major at Cerritos College, recently landed two industry internships, one with the California Film Commission, and another with Fox 11 TV News for the summer. At Fox 11, Ramirez will be inside the studio helping the director of Fox2A8s 9E8Good Day L.A.9G8 and shadowing the news directing process.

3E8I9E8m into staying behind the camera telling the story,9E8 he explained.

3E8I like to film it the way I see it.&98

Ramirez faced stiff competition from others applying for the &38Good Day L.A.9G8 internship. Typically, Denise Luna, Fox2E8s internship coordinator, receives more than 100 resumes a day. She told Ramirez that she took notice of him because she also received a recommendation from Ramirez298 Cerritos College professor, Steven Hirohama.

3E8Mr. Hirohama showed me the door; I just had to walk through it,9E8 Ramirez said.

Ramirez, of Norwalk, came to Cerritos College in fall 2005, after he graduated from Norwalk High School. The 19-year-old plans to finish an associate228s degree and has interest in film directing school.

At the California Film Commission, Ramirez assists in issuing permits to filmmakers. He offers assistance in scanning through categories of locations using a website called CinemaScout that helps production scouts plan a shoot.

Before his internship at the California Film Commission, Ramirez says he had never realized how much preparation and logistics are involved in getting ready to produce a film. Ramirez feels that through his internship, he3E8s getting a good view of the groundwork involved in production.

3E8There9E8s so much you need,9E8 he said.

3E8Sometimes you need highways closed and the police involved.&98

One of the major reasons Ramirez pursued the film-related internships at the California Film Commission and at Fox 11 was to meet people, make contacts and perhaps land a job after graduation.

3E8It9E8s like a ladder you have to climb,9E8 he says.

Both internships are unpaid, and so Ramirez also works at a local CVS pharmacy to help support himself.

Ramirez dreamed of being an actor as a child, using his vivid imagination for everything. A high school teacher inspired Ramirez to pursue filmmaking for a short while, before leaving the high school faculty for a job working at A&E and later MTV, where he helped produce 238The Hills.9E8

3E8Mr. Marin was the one who first taught me what it&98s really like and introduced me to film,9E8 said Ramirez.

3E8He talked about big and small companies and taught about editing and script writing.&38

As teenager, Ramirez received his first video camera. He used it to create short films, which he scripted and directed, using his sisters and friends as actors. Before he even had access to editing software, he would edit his films using two VCRs.

Once he became a student at Cerritos College, Ramirez began learning how to use Final Cut Pro, a video editing software.

3E8The software is really complicated, and there9E8s a lot of stuff to program,9E8 he explains.

3E8But it9E8s so cool to have everything I need to make my film perfect right at the tip of my finger.&98

Ramirez says his favorite film director is Tim Burton, who directed "Batman Returns" and "Edward Scissorhands."

3E8I love his style. He&98s creative, and he likes to use originality,2E8 Ramirez says.

Ramirez sees himself directing an independent film in the future. From his perspective, it would be easier to shoot and produce an independent film, while retaining creative freedom.

His classes at Cerritos College have helped him gain further knowledge of filmmaking. His favorite classes have included a course introducing the history of theatre, and a course on motion picture editing, taught by Steven Hirohama.

In one assignment from Hirohama&38s class, students are given a five-minute video to edit, using sophisticated editing software. Other times, the class is taken outside to film, where they learn about sounds, music, lighting and filtering. They also spend time filming in front of a &28green screen,2E8 which allows backgrounds and special effects to be added digitally behind a film&98s subject after filming takes place. The class also incorporates use of scripts in filming.

Ramirez has a script or two of his own sitting in his desk drawer at home. He is inspired to create film scripting through people he meets, stories he hears--even video games.

He wrote a script for a film called, 3E8Psyched-Enhancement,9E8 but has been unable to cast it.

3E8It9E8s been sitting in my drawer for three years,9E8 he explains.

3E8It9E8s hard to cast when all my friends are busy and in school, and I can9E8t pay them of course. But one day, I9E8ll do it. I9E8m just waiting for the right time.&98

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The Campus Connection Online, May 7, 2007

Cerritos College

Connections 2007

Film Production Student Lands Summer Internship with Fox 11 TV&38s 9E8Good Day L.A.9G8