Check out these Q & A’s with UCSB Film Students: an Instagram-inspired director, a transfer student making new connections, and an Indonesian student telling untold stories.
Visual Pop Culture Inspires FILM STUDENT
By Courtney Collins
Whether filming local surf culture, music videos with dancers in unique settings, or fashion videos, UC Santa Barbara Film and Media Studies major Lindsay Skrabo is always on the hunt for new filmmaking projects.
During her three years in the Film and Media department, Skrabo has worked to produce and direct a slew of side projects as a complement to her coursework. Taking much of her inspiration from the visual culture she scours on the internet, Skrabo also created an Instagram account, @EyeCandy, to showcase her work.
UC Santa Barbara Film and Media Studies major Lindsay Skrabo.
In this interview, Skrabo talks about the benefits of being a Film and Media Studies major, what inspires her creatively, and her most recent project.
Q: Where do you find your inspiration?
A: Instagram, Pinterest, and Youtube are all platforms that have shaped a lot of my inspiration. The internet has opened access for different subcultures and aesthetics that have broadened my compass. Along with media, music and fashion inspire me to create.
Q: How do you pursue your vision? What types of film projects have you made?
A: When I have an idea it usually isn't a narrative, it's a feeling or style, or sometimes an event I’d like to cover. I take a visual note of what feeling I want to pursue, and naturally execute it from either my inspiration with my vision from an artistic content I found or songs.
Fashion montages, dance videos, and experimental films where I have no plot but experiment with props and location. One time I used an old school TV as a prop. I found vintage cartoon CD’s at a thrift store and had a lot of fun filming my actor watching the screen.
Q: Your Eye Candy Instagram account shows your photoshoots with surfers, models and their fashion, and your side project films. How has this account been a creative tool for you?
A: I think its main benefit is that it pushes me to think of new ideas and actually execute them. Without an outlet there's no pressure to make something. Wanting people to find inspiration from my videos, and gaining viewers, pushes me to create.
UC Santa Barbara Film and Media Studies major Lindsay Skrabo created her Instagram account @EyeCandy to share her creative work.
Q: How have you grown as a filmmaker while at UC Santa Barbara?
A: A great advantage to being a film major are the resources the program has to offer: cameras you can rent out, lighting, tripods, microphones, colored gel lenses. This is big because equipment is expensive, and if you want to practice you're not going to want to have to buy it. I have aimed to make my work look cleaner than I did before, and to pay more attention to photographic elements like ISO, exposure, and white balance. Even though what I make is amateur, I’m trying to get closer and closer to being on a professional level.
Q: What is a recent film you have been working on?
A: This week I’m working on a dance video focusing heavily on silhouettes and lighting. I took an untraditional approach by collecting raw material and cutting it together first, then piecing it to a song. What’s cool about this is that the idea is coming second-hand, and I’m making it up as I go. I’m also experimenting with new lighting. I used colored scarfs to drape over the lights, and found how the light hit the dancer.
Q: What's your mission as a filmmaker?
A: A big part of my life is collecting media that either inspires me or reminds me of a certain time in my life. I would love it if someday people find my work and become moved enough to collect it. I want people to find a strong connection with my work, either from transcending them to a time where they felt the feeling I pursue in my work, or connect visually to grow their creative inspiration.
Check out Lindsay Skrabo’s newest project: “Spooky”
Courtney Collins is a third year Communication major, minoring in Multimedia Writing. She wrote this article for her Writing Program course Digital Journalism. Collins is the dancer in Skrabo’s project “Spooky.”
A Transfer Student Transitions
By Alix Skinner
Vesela Ivanova had spent the prior three years pursuing her passion for storytelling through cinematography classes at Santa Barbara City College. Now, midway through her first year as a transfer student in the Film and Media Studies program at UC Santa Barbara, Ivanova has found discovered the value of finding extra-curricular ways to make connections.
In a recent interview, she reflected on the projects that have gotten her to this place in her career journey, including the release of a short film she worked on called “Order,” and some of the highlights and hardships she has faced in transitioning from a city college to a four-year university.
UCSB Film and Media Studies transfer student Vesela Ivanova. Photo by Alix Skinner.
Q: What drove you to pursue Film Studies as a major?
A: I knew I wanted to have a career that wasn’t 9-to-5, behind a desk. I wanted something interactive, social, and that I could travel with. I went to Santa Barbara City College for Film Production, while studying and doing projects on the side at the same time, intending to transfer to a four-year university. When I realized UC Santa Barbara didn’t have a Film Production major, I joined Film Studies.
Q: What is the difference between Film Studies and Film Production?
A: Film Studies is the theory behind genres and technicality. Film Production is the actual physical making of the movie, being on set, and being interactive with equipment and people.
Q: You transferred to UCSB after three years. Was this transition difficult for you?
A: I’d say I’m still in the process of transferring. It’s been a little difficult as the quarter system is very different from the semester system. Everything is going really quickly. At the same time, I enjoy it because I can take more courses to further my career.
UCSB Film and Media Studies transfer student Vesela Ivanova on the set of “Order” in March 2021. Photo by Anthony Bolden.
Q: What has been your biggest challenge while making movies in the film community?
A: Getting a project in the first place. You either have to be called on set, which you’d need connections for, or have the time to commit, because one short film takes about two or three whole weekends. You have to be 100% committed to your work, because sometimes you don’t know what you’re going to be able to do in a few weeks when projects unexpectedly come out.
Q: Tell us about your role in your most exciting project.
A: “Order” was a short film that was filmed in winter of 2020. I was a producer, script supervisor, and crafty — the person who brings snacks for the crew to set. I learned a lot because I worked with people from both Santa Barbara City College and UC Santa Barbara. It is expected to be released in late January 2023.
Q: What advice do you have for aspiring filmmakers at UC Santa Barbara?
A: If you want to pursue a Film Studies major, definitely do it. It’s a lot of fun, but also a lot of busy work. Just make sure you know whether you want to do Film Studies or Film Production because there is a big difference. They are both big time commitments, and you need to know how to schedule everything in order to have a social life as well as do school, work, and projects on the side.
Alix Skinner is a fourth-year Communication major at UCSB. She wrote this article for her Writing Program course Digital Journalism.
Behind the Scenes of “Love Island” with Kalen Sinder
By Maggie Fosmark
As an Indonesian international student in Film and Media Studies at UC Santa Barbara, Kalen Sinder seeks to bring visibility to untold stories as he pursues his passion for film.
“Integrating culture into the digital space has never been so important,” Sinder said. “I want to show the world who I am and what I can do.”
Now in his fourth year, Sinder came to UCSB from Indonesia expecting to learn more about American film techniques and the reality of the film industry. He says he has learned the value of being proactive. “There are resources widely available at UCSB, you just have to seek them out,” Sinder said in a recent interview.
His biggest career opportunity happened this past summer. An advisor emailed him about an opportunity to be a production assistant on the notorious international reality dating show “Love Island” – and he went for it.
In a recent interview, Sinder discussed how his experience on one of television’s most controversial shows has shaped his future career.
UCSB film student Kalen Sinder as a child in Indonesia with his family. Photo by Azhari Boer.
Q: Why did you decide to major in film?
A: Film was a huge part of my childhood. Growing up in Indonesia, movies were my only real connections to America. I became obsessed with Westerns and the idea of the American hero, which ended up forming my idea of what America was really like. The way I saw my culture portrayed on screen never sat right with me, and I wanted to change that.
There was a digital media class at my high school where I learned pretty much everything I know now. I also had a YouTube channel growing up - as I’m sure many other kids my age did - where I learned deadlines, editing, and cinematography all on my own. My digital media teacher put me in the advanced film program, which helped further my interest in the field. Visual storytelling is something really special and has always been my creative outlet.
Q: How have you gained experience as a film and media studies major?
A: The film program at UC Santa Barbara is extremely theoretical and not practical. We learn film theories, and what makes a good film, but not anything to do with the actual filmmaking process. As a result of this, the program forces you to be proactive in order to hunt for opportunities. I learned quickly that there are resources widely available, but you do have to chase them.
Q: How did you get the Love Island opportunity?
A: After speaking with an advisor about how to get opportunities outside of student projects, I got an email with an application to be a production assistant on a high-profile reality TV show. After some reasonable deduction, I concluded that the show was Love Island.
Considering the fact that I was severely underqualified for this job, I began to market myself and make friends with the interviewer. My interview went well, and I learned that this is a people’s business. Networking is huge in this industry and that’s exactly what I began to do.
UCSB film student Kalen Sinder, an international student from Indonesia, in Santa Barbara, California. Photo by Kyle Siu.
Getting the job was a huge turning point for me. It felt like my entire childhood was leading up to this opportunity, and I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy production as much as I thought. Luckily, I enjoyed myself, and got paid for the work. Which made the experience all the more valuable to me.
Q: How has Love Island elevated your career and interests in film?
A: Because of Love Island, I know I am in the right place. Before, I wasn’t sure what part of production I wanted to work in. Because of this opportunity I now know that I want to produce. I love the idea of having a hand in everything and being able to be a part of all aspects of the project.
Q: What’s coming next from Kalen Sinder?
A: As of now, I am the associate producer of a school-funded budget film which we start shooting next quarter. Further down the line, expect to see my name as the executive producer for a National Geographic documentary.
There, it’s in writing now! So I have to do it.
Maggie Fosmark is a third-year UC Santa Barbara student majoring in Psychological and Brain Sciences and minoring in Professional Writing and Applied Psychology.