Making Your Mark

an Essay by Victoria E. Rhodes

May 13, 2009

MAKING YOUR MARK

When I graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts (SCA), it was located in what was lovingly called "The Stables," a little wooden, dilapidated square building next to Birnkrant dorm and the tennis courts. I could look out of my dorm window into the courtyard and if I saw anyone sitting around, I knew that class hadn't started yet and I still had time to get downstairs. The classes were small; one-on-one access to the instructors was the norm and you basically took classes with the same people over and over again. That made for an intimacy and a camaraderie that was unknown in other universities and especially other film schools.

When I received the building campaign brochure asking alumni to think about making a gift to the new School of Cinematic Arts Complex, I was intrigued. I contacted the school and they suggested that I come down to campus to have a tour and to see the items that I could name. I'm glad I did.

I was truly amazed at the new complex. The theatres, classrooms, equipment rooms, student production office, sound editing rooms and editorial rooms were all first-rate. But just as exciting for me was to see that the enclosed courtyard, the balconies and the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Café have kept alive the tradition of providing spaces for impromptu meetings and places to collaborate on projects. I'm so glad that the new complex has these areas for students to learn how to work with one another. Cinema is still a collaborative art and the faster you learn to communicate with your fellow crewmembers, the better your project will be.

As part of a long career in the entertainment industry, I had the good fortune to be the first assistant director on a film where the director of photography was a fellow classmate from SCA. We looked at each other that first day of shooting on location in Atlanta and said, "When we were at ‘SC, did you ever think we would be in these positions?" Having that opportunity was sublime. If I can help pass this on to others, I will, and I hope you will, too.


Victoria E. Rhodes
Class of '78, Cinema Production
Gifted a teak furniture ensemble in the courtyard