安东尼·c·费兰特在《鲨鱼王》片场

Who would have thought a kid from Antioch would end up making wild science fiction movies in Los Angeles? Who would have thought he'd get his start in film at Los Medanos College (LMC)?

安东尼·c·费兰特 graduated from LMC with an Associate of Arts in Liberal Studies Degree. He went on to fulfill his lifelong dream and has been making horror movies for years. Most recently he directed the cult hit, ”Sharknado”, 澳门威尼斯人网上赌场 featured flying sharks and tornadoes in Los Angeles. Some of his other movies you've probably seen on the Syfy channel, such as ”Boo” and ”The Headless Horseman”.

One of the secrets to his success in the film industry may be that he got his start at LMC, a community college without a film department, and with minimal equipment and resources. He had to be creative and crafty and strategic, leveraging 澳门威尼斯人网上赌场ever he had to make his dreams come true. Now Anthony knows so many aspects of film making that he can jump into any type of work needed behind the scenes. If someone doesn't show, his diverse skills help keep tight schedules on track.

”我在11岁的时候意识到我想拍电影。 我一直很喜欢电影。 When I was at Antioch High School, I found out about a film course at LMC and with encouragement, enrolled.”

一位兼职电影教授洛林·威斯（Lorraine Weese）教授这门电影课程。 Anthony graduated from high school and continued on at LMC taking all the film courses that were offered, while making short films with editing equipment then located in the college's library. It was there that he met fellow students M. Steven and Catherine Felty, who worked with him on his short films and also work in the industry in Los Angeles.

安东尼还积极参与了学院的学生报纸《体验》。

”I was writing for the Antioch Ledger in high school about film while I was also working for The Experience, plus developed my own interview magazine on the side. I got a chance to interview lots of film idols. My experience in LMC's journalism program allowed me to learn how to interview people and the fine art of transcribing interviews into a story.”

He continued, ”I was lucky because I had access to film equipment at LMC, and everyone was so supportive and encouraging. I still have friends from my time at LMC, and they are all really good people. Some are in the film industry down here in Los Angeles, and others, like journalism chair and professor Cindy McGrath, are still good friends.

麦格拉思教授对安东尼印象很好。 ”Anthony is one of the most creative students I have had the pleasure to work with at LMC. He was full of energy and enthusiasm, and because he had written for the Antioch Ledger while in high school, he knew the importance of a deadline and always met it. Anthony served as photo editor and was the obvious choice as editor the next year because of his creativity and leadership in the newsroom. As editor, he suggested a redesign of the paper and actually carried it out - a complicated and time-consuming task.”

After Anthony earned his Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts degree at LMC, he moved on to San Francisco State University (SF State). He chose SF State because it was close and had a very good film program. He went on to complete his Bachelor of Arts in Cinema while there. He continued making short films – and started writing for Fangoria Magazine, covering the film sets of horror films. Always resourceful, he learned how horror movies were made, and could go back and apply the observed techniques in his short films back in the Bay Area.

God Talk - Behind the Screen: 安东尼·c·费兰特 talks about the making of God Talk in Association with Midnight Productions and Jo Perry Presents ( 点击这里查看第2部分)

几年后，安东尼在LMC取得了另一个成就：导演了电影《神语》。 最初的小项目一旦开始拍摄就变得相当大了。

”我相信LMC想向学生展示如何制作电影。 I was working in LA at the time in film, and English professor Jo Folino contacted me about making such a movie. 我们的预算很有限，所以大多数事情都是用小本资金完成的。”

Professor McGrath explained her thoughts about the film, ”I not only saw "God Talk," I saw it being made, 澳门威尼斯人网上赌场 was quite fun. But I'm really not objective about it because my son was one of the key actors, and I also had a bit part so obviously I thought it was great. But it did win a Telly award, so there are others who thought it was an entertaining film as well. 当然，它是LMC的产物。”

”The neat thing about Anthony,” McGrath elaborated, ”is that he has tried to involve his friends and acquaintances, and other LMC students and staff in his film work. 英语和戏剧讲师Jo Folino是”God Talk”的制片人之一。 LMC student Richard Watkins, also an Experience veteran, wrote the script. A few LMC alumni who worked on 'God Talk' were also involved with his film 'Boo'.”

安东尼解释说：”《神语》成了一个庞大的项目。 It started out as a 30-minute short film and grew much larger. I ended up putting some of my own money in to finish it. 我过去，我们拍了一小段，也许是一半，然后我在洛杉矶剪辑。 A friend of mine, Alan Howarth (composed music with John Carpenter) helped him learn how to deal with sound design in his studio. He showed me all that the sound, all that was required. 我在他的工作室花了两个月的时间才完成。 I got my favorite directors to do voice cameos including John Carpenter, Joe Dante, John Landes, while Bruce Campbell (who did the Evil Dead movies) did narration. Then they found a friend in Texas to 'online' the movie, a process used to 澳门威尼斯人网上赌场 the film, allowing editing into final form. 这部电影最终在当地的布伦登剧院上映。 LMC was very supportive of this effort. 我认为这部喜剧的效果非常好。”

”我很幸运，”福利诺教授解释说，”安东尼同意执导这部电影。 他总是知道如何以尊重、善良和谦卑的态度待人。 He has a very sincere soul and heart. I knew he'd already been doing horror films, and thought he'd be a good director. 他非常善于在社区中争取支持。 Fortunately he was flexible – I wanted a comedy, not a horror movie, and he was okay with that. There were financial issues that came up – the LMC mini-grant designed to support it wasn't nearly enough. 当然，也有性格冲突。 But Anthony was a master at dealing with both challenges.”

It was experiences like this that helped Anthony build a wealth of knowledge in how to succeed with a low budget in filmmaking. And he enjoys combining his two interests of comedy and horror.

Professor McGrath says his humor was very campy, so she wasn't surprised that he would migrate to a movie like 'Sharknado”. His humor set him apart amongst the journalism students.

Anthony explained, ”I love horror movies, however I did a lot of shorts that were comedy. 我喜欢恐怖片，但它们通常也有一些微妙的喜剧成分。 我经常偷偷把东西放进去。 Then along came 'Sharknado' that lets me be silly and have a blast. It made people look at me differently, since I have been thought of as being someone who makes horror movies.”

One of the keys to success of ”Sharknado”, according to Anthony, was that everyone involved embraced the concept. ”We all had to accept the fact that there were sharks that could do amazing things to cars, that there were these , and not worry about anything being factual, being scientifically correct. It was fun and we had to understand that was just the way it was. The only rules that nature had were rules we created ourselves.”

这部b级片的表现超出了安东尼的预期。 And he did it all very low budget, using the skills he had learned from his LMC days, making a lot happen out of little. 现在他正忙着拍《鲨鱼鲨2：第二个》。

When asked 澳门威尼斯人网上赌场 type of guidance he could give to someone who is considering a career in film, Anthony responded, ”Part of the piece of my puzzle of getting into movies was that I studied both journalism and film. For someone interested in going into film, I recommend they learn everything, learn as much as they can. There's no set way to break into the industry. I became a production assistant (PA) when I went to LA. 有一天，有人让我监督一些电影中的怪物效果。 I began working in special effects and for the next six to seven years, I was doing that.”

He continued, ”The only difference between then and now is that one can make movies these days with much less money. 现在你可以用笔记本电脑拍电影。 Unfortunately film is basically gone – it's a shame, but that's the way it is. Now studios use high definition cameras. 你可以把视频放到YouTube上。 这里的机会非常棒。”

但他警告说：”仍然需要教学/学习的部分。 Take a film class, do your own short films. 我没有资源。 I found people to help me learn. While making my short films at LMC, I was learning editing (I didn't realize it.) I ultimately had to make my own curriculum with two different colleges, film and journalism, short films and limited access. We wanted to do big things, but we had to be efficient while never having a big budget. When I do movies, even on 'Sharknado', I was involved in everything because I knew how to do it. I could jump in and make it happen. 有一天我们的化妆师没来，我做了一个化妆器具。 Whenever we needed help and something wasn't available, I could jump in so we could keep moving.”

”人们想进入电影行业，他们急于进入这个行业。 但是，”他建议说，”你仍然需要研究它，学习如何去做。 Some people get in film and they don't know how to work in a variety of areas. A director might not know anything about costuming or makeup. 然而，知识就是力量。 If you know how something is done, then you can often do it with less money. It's important to learn as much as you can.”

”Sometimes people may think that they want to direct, then they direct and they don't like it. I think that exploring the many aspects of filmmaking allows them to discover 澳门威尼斯人网上赌场 they like best. 我建议他们成为制作助理。 They'll learn a lot of different things. If the director sees that you're good at something, they'll ask you to work in a focused area, such as when I went from being a PA to focus on special effects. When you do low budget movies, you rise to the top if you can do certain things. There was a very talented guy who was the casting assistant on my third movie, 'Hansel and Gretel'. I saw a short film he'd done with his brother and I thought it was good. Just a few months ago, he and his brother directed a movie from the same company.”

In looking toward the future, Anthony explained, ”All I want to do is be able to make movies. 我喜欢拍电影。 我想拍更大的电影，有更多的玩具。 I want to continue to make movies that people watch, maybe even enjoy. For all those people who hated 'Sharknado', there were all the people who loved it. All I want is for people to see my stuff.”

Anthony concluded, ”I grew up in Antioch – a small town with no access to the movie industry. 我后来偶然拍了一部很受欢迎的电影。 LMC was very, very important to me. 对我来说，在高中的时候就能参加是很特别的。 There were many people at LMC who were very nice and generous. And without that, I wouldn't have learned as much as I did.”

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安东尼·费兰特的一些电影：

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Los Medanos College (LMC) is one of three colleges in the Contra Costa Community College District. LMC prepares students to excel and succeed economically, socially and intellectually in an innovative, engaging and supportive learning environment. It provides quality programs and state-of-the-art facilities to serve the needs of a rapidly growing and changing East County while enhancing the quality of life of the diverse communities it serves. LMC is located on 120 acres between Pittsburg and Antioch, with an additional education center in Brentwood.