Cologne day Trip

At the beginning of our third week in Bonn, we traveled about thirty miles down the Rhine to the city of Cologne. During our day trip in Germany’s fourth biggest metropolis we learned that it comprises a distinct city culture, remarkable Roman remains, and lots of Schnitzel.

However, the most prominent feature, undoubtedly, is the Dom Cathedral. Towering over 157 meters into Cologne’s skyline, the Cathedral was once the tallest building in the world. When we arrived at the front of the grand structure, with our backs almost in a full bend just to see the top, we all looked at each other in worry.

Were we really going to climb all the way to the top of that!?

Inner fears of heights, elevators, and even exhaustion from stair climbing kicked in. The carefully crafted, black stained stone, fairytale land gargoyles looked down at us, captivating our interest. How could we not take advantage of an exclusive tour of one of the most beautiful, magical looking, artistic creations of all time?



Our fears and apprehensions simmered, and we all jumped on the elevator to the first tier above ground. The initial step onto concrete after exiting the glass box riding the outside of the building cued a sighs of relief. The Cathedral might have withstood two world wars, but that elevator definitely would not have. We followed our tour guide, as his long black hair and jacket blew behind him, and boots clicked with every step down the tiny hallways through the archways, and around the organ.

Suddenly, we transformed into students at Hogwarts following Professor Snape throughout the castle many of us fantasized about as adolescents. Every component of the Cathedral reminded us of the novel, from the spooky black stone, to the tall ceilings, obscure doorways and tiny stairwells.



As film majors, we tend to let our imagination take over sometimes- and this is what probably was happening - but there was just a Hogwarts aura that we couldn’t shake off. We exited, what in our minds looked like a secret door, to the outside of the first level roof - and our magical wizardry powers quickly disappeared. The railings seemed to disappear as we looked down to the people below us, and our fears became very real again. Embellished stonework and spires surrounded us; and as we learned the time and skill that goes into creating them, our beliefs returned. The statues and stone structures had to have been created with magic. The detail and complexity was so incredible, that we came to the conclusion there is no other way they could have been made.

Feeling more confident and secured in the powers of the Dom, we left the outside and entered a very tight winding stairwell. With each step resembling the way to Dumbledore’s office, we climbed on, and on, and on… Each time we were convinced we had climbed long enough, Professor Snape - I mean our tour guide - would shake his head and signal us to keep going.



When we thought we would collapse if we had to climb one more stair, the real powers of the Dom were revealed. The bright light struck the stairwell as the doors overhead opened and we slowly climbed out onto the highest standing point of the building. A crystal clear view of the two towers in the front of the Cathedral, the Rhine, the Roman Empire arch, the apartment buildings, the street performers, the protesters, the city shoppers… every inch of Cologne was finally in sight. While the Dom is an incredibly striking, massive structure that belongs in a fantasy novel, the true magic of the place is the understanding of the city it gives. Not only could we physically see all of the city, but the Dom has also been apart of the majority of its history. This gave us a full spectrum insight to Cologne.

Although we had to leave our magical fantasy at the Cathedral, we left Cologne with a powerful understanding of the city and an experience we will always remember.

By Jocelyn Cooper

Editing Week

Fresh and energized from the Monday excursion to Cologne, the film program quickly got down to business for their first week of editing class. This week, with the addition of a film screening Tuesday night and two days of casting that ran after hours at the new AIB, proved to be an intense test of academic endurance. On Tuesday morning, the program was introduced to Andreas Frowein, who will be instructing editing classes for the entirety of the semester. Andreas has taught film at various universities across Eu-rope and the world and is especially knowledgeable with editing software and the tech-nical side of post production.

Shortly after Professor Frowein’s introduction, he began teaching the basics of Avid Media Composer, the primary editing software being instructed to the film group from Los Angeles. Avid, along with Final Cut 7 and Adobe Premiere Pro, is a top-of-the-line “industry standard” software that many professional filmmakers prefer. He taught the foundational techniques of editing with Avid to enhance our filmmaking tool belt and help us maintain a well rounded background as we move forward in our film education. To get a hands-on experience, each student received some video files transferred to cut together on their own. It was difficult to get used to the flow of a software program like Avid, but once we got into it, things started moving more smoothly. This little scene we had to edit, would be the class’s first project that would be due at the end of the week.

After spending the first day in the editing lab, the class had more lecture-style instruction the second day, learning more of the theory and conceptual purpose of editing for film. In the second portion of day two, and in order to do a hands-on experiment students shot a scene with two cameras and three actors from the class. Jocelyn Cooper, Nick Logsdon and John Capone acted and improvised a scene. Following the three actors improvising for the class, Andreas decided it would be worth shooting for real and not just experimenting with physical demonstration. Kendall Milton took the helm as director of the scene along with Sam Zook and Victoria McCurrie as camera operators. The content of the scene progressed in a light-hearted and comedic manner with Logsdon and Capone developing an interesting chemistry. But perhaps the most important thing, we learned difficult shooting and editing techniques.

Overall, it was an intense week of work both in the editing lab and in overall discussion and planning for the nearing shoot dates of the narrative projects. The students put many hours in the editing labs not only to familiarize themselves with Avid but to also put together a smooth and polished cut of their scenes.

It’s shaping up to be an exciting semester with Professor Frowein!

By John Capone

Once Upon a Time in Germany

On August 23rd our Bonn Film 2014 group, still strangers to one another, heaved ourselves into a bus rubbing sleep our eyes at 7:45 am, and returned late afternoon on August 25th no longer strangers. Through the course of the weekend we were brought together through a series of interesting activities. We sagged against the bus seats and dozed off as we started our 45 minute voyage to the Eifel. Our first stop was a monastery which was a beautiful church surrounded by remote stretches of grass dotted with various farm animals. Some of us sought entertainment in the monastery in dubbing voices for the rooster and his fifty hen mistresses that were in a pen near our bus, while the majority of the group attended a Catholic service at the monastery lead by the monks who reside there. It was very formal and the entire service was carried out in Latin. Most of us were extremely fascinated by the level of devotion to their faith these men had. We learned that they are rarely allowed to leave the monastery once they agree to be a monk for life, and that during meal times they are not allowed to speak to one another. Judging by the animated conversation going on at all our meals on this trip, I don’t think any of us would make successful monks. Our class loaded back up into our bus, and some of us were engaged in deep conversations about the idea of religion and where we were personally in our levels of faith.

At our next location we shuffled out of the bus and looked up in awe at the rustic castle looming over us. The castle looked so magical I half expected a dragon to come soaring over our heads. Rainer, who served as our own personal tour guide, led the group up to the castle while we all eagerly snapped “artsy” pictures. Rainer proceeded to take us through the castle and gave as an extremely interesting and informative tour. I am not sure if our group was more horrified to learn about the deadly battles that occurred in the castle hundreds of years before, or the fact that people used to have to sleep sitting up right because their hair styles were too complex to lay flat on. We all came to the conclusion that we are thankful not to have been born in the 1500s because of several reasons, including the brutal torture techniques that were used as forms of punishment, the fact that people used to climb through the toilet hole to attack the castle, but mostly because none of us would have wanted to date any of the creepy people gazing back at us from the portraits on the walls.



We loaded back into the bus and continued on our journey. We enjoyed a delicious lunch, and most of us ordered authentic German Schnitzel. After lunch we arrived in Monreal, a quaint little town with a population close to fifty people. The town is a cluster of little houses that appear frozen in medieval times. Glistening rivers flow under little canals and vibrant flower boxes hang in front of every window sill. It’s a quiet little town with only one hotel, and the entire distance can be walked in a matter of minutes. Rolling hills loom over Monreal and the majestic ruins of some castles sit on top of the hills. Rumors told me the Germans are active people and they weren’t lying. Our group endured three vigorous hikes over the course of our next two days at the Eiffel, and one began right when we arrived. Our youth proved little assistance to our hiking abilities, in contrast to Rainer who whizzed straight up to the top of the mountain. On the way up there was lots of stopping to “take pictures”, which really meant stopping to “catch our breath before passing out while keeping up the facade that we are actually, in fact, in good in shape.” However, when we reached the top our trek proved to be completely worth it. The view of the town was incredible and we must have brought some California sunshine with us because the weather was perfect. Some of us were not satisfied with just being on top of the hill, and we climbed up a winding stair case in one of the castle towers so we could be as high up as possible; proving we do have the mentality it takes to be film makers in Hollywood.

Later that night we hiked up another mountain. During our night hike we carried lighted torches. It proved for a very entertaining experience accompanied by lots of off key singing and myself nearly lighting my friend Kiana’s hair on fire. The hike following that one was not as carefree. It was a sunrise hike at six am the next morning, and despite the fact that we had to be up before the sun, the hike was extremely worth it. Rainer led us through a mystical forest and past fields of corn and little farm houses. We saw lots of sheep lounging in little pens, and sampled lots of sweet raspberries growing on the bushes. When we returned and had our morning eggs and coffee they tasted extra tasty after our morning workout.

We spent our days at a quaint little wine house that also doubled as a hotel for the duration of the weekend. The girls slept there, while the boys had houses to themselves. We ate most our meals at this wine house and all of the meals were delectable. We enjoyed a variety of delicious German foods including roasted pig with a delicious sauce, fresh eggs, fresh ham, some of the best bread I have ever tasted, Crčme Brulé with berries, homemade soup and more. All of our directing classes were also held in this place, and by the end of the weekend it felt like home.



We had several classes and exercises which included pitching the top eight narrative script choices and selecting the four the class wanted to make into movies. We also learned a lot about how to tell a story and convey emotions through visual images. One exercise we had to do was all about conveying an emotion just through pictures. In groups of two we had to draw a slip of paper from a pile of others and on these pieces of paper were written two separate emotions most of which were opposites of each other. Some examples of these emotions included bored to excited, naive to mature, and indifferent to excited. We then had to go out into the town with our partner and photograph images that captured these emotions and then juxtapose them next to one another to create a story. After lunch we presented the images on a projector in front of the class. People came up with all kinds of creative and clever ways to tell their stories utilizing nature, animals, buildings and inanimate objects. Our conversations over everyone’s projects became very philosophical and carried out for quite some time.

This project was also a great experience because it seemed to bring together partners who initially had not known each other very well and overall proved to be a great activity for our group.

After classes, and mandatory activities each night included sharing meals with our professors and having heart to hearts with one another about politics, our personal lives, our futures and what constitutes a good Tinder profile picture.
Overall the Eiffel was a success: the views were spectacular, the castles were pretty, the food was appetizing, we learned a lot, experienced a lot and most of all formed bonds with one another and our teachers.

By Kendall Milton

My Host Family

Arrival time at the AIB in Bonn: six in the morning. It’s closed until eight. Fantastic. Michael Hibbs and myself have two hefty packs filled with the stuff we’d been wearing and using for a week during our pre-program trips to Stockholm and Copenhagen. Surely there was a stench, but our trained noses had gotten used to it by our arrival.

It’s closed. Okay. We decided to take a cat nap in a park, not sure of the legality, and not sure how much we’d stand out. I don’t know if two kids toting backpacks and setting up hammocks in a public park describes the locals. Regardless, we slept. And it was a well deserved nap, although not nearly long enough. By 7:30 we were awake again, and packed. We returned to the AIB in hopes of the door being unlocked, but alas! It wasn’t. We were ready to cry. Our week previously had taken it’s toll on us. We’d been unprepared for everything Stockholm, Copenhagen, and the rest of Europe had to offer and there we were stranded outside of our school craving a long nap on anything softer than a park bench.

As we start toward our park encampment, we are called out to by someone from behind. And wouldn’t you know it, he lets us in! Although I promptly forgot his name, we thanked him profusely and immediately fell asleep on one of the many supremely comfortable couches. Finally, the routine had begun; we made it inside the AIB.

The next couple of weeks would require more adjustment but our host families made the adjustment bearable and actually enjoyable. My host mother arrived with an enormous smile. She stretched her arms out for a hug as if we were the prodigal sons returned. It was perhaps the warmest welcome from someone I didn’t know. She helped us load our bags, and drove us through Bonn for a quick tour. Along the way she told us she really just picked up English, about a year and a half ago. That says dedication to the kids she hosts. She emphasized how her and her husband worked hard to learn English not only for the students but for themselves as well. The students get something out of it, and so do the families.

Our home for the semester is fantastic. It’s nice, but it never overwhelmed. Cozy is the best word to describe the place. From pickup at the AIB, I felt at home. I was not nearly as nervous as I was initially.



Because we had just arrived, our host parents prepared a traditional German dinner for us. It was the simplest thing, but every part of the meal felt just right. We met one other student they were hosting for a month and us three immediately connected. Natalia, is her name. She was friendly and cordial right from the start. I really believe it’s my host parents’ desire to respect and care for other kids as if they were their own, that can bring people from multiple countries together. At the dinner table that night, there were two Americans, three Germans and one Grecian. The conversations we had were beautiful, profound, silly, sometimes meaningless but always wonderful.
First nights so often go terribly, but that night was absolutely one of the best first nights I have ever had. I can’t wait for the rest of the semester with this wonderful family.

By Nicholas Logsdon

Former AIB Student Launches Career

One of our film students from 2013, Christopher Helkey, has been doing very well in LA, after he returned from Germany. He is finishing up school and running a small film production company that he just started in LA.

„I used my "The Magic Moment Film" I made in Bonn as a portfolio video which helped me get two huge contracts from two very big clients. I still work with Steven, my composer and I have been able to hire him to create music for several of my clients which is very cool.
I want to thank the AIB for putting on such an amazing program. It really helped me launch my career and jump ahead in my professional film life.“ 

Christopher Helkey

AIB Welcome Party 2014

Shortly following the intense soccer tournament, all AIB students and host families gathered together for fun and merriment. The event was started off right with an introduction from the mayor of Bonn, which included a short history of Bonn and a welcome to all the students. There were mountains of delicious foods and great live music from the local band, Steal a Taxi. Each AIB program had the opportunity to introduce themselves to all the host families and fellow study-abroaders.



The LMU groups opted for just a simple introduction, while the students from Penn State and Texas A&M showed the crowd some famous football chants. The Italian students had the entire audience involved with their crossword that eventually spelled out the opening lines to their national anthem. The AIB did a great job putting together this event where all the students and host families were able to make connections and spread the international love.

Written by Janette Danielson

AIB Soccer Cup 2014

Saturday morning, hoards of American AIB students gathered together in Hofgarten for a friendly and sweaty game of German Fußball, or American soccer. The students were divided into twelve teams of five or six players, each team consisting of a variety of students from the LMU programs: Film, Engineering, New Europe and the Penn State and Texas A&M Landscape and Architecture Programs.

The first games started at 11 a.m. sharp and it was soon clear which teams were going to champion over the rest. Each group was able to take the field to play at least five games while the other students hung by the playing fields, cheering on their friends. Even though the games only lasted a total of four minutes, each one was packed with plenty of action, heart-stopping goals, and amazing saves.

“I really enjoyed the fun competitive nature of the Fußball tournament,” says film student Nick Logsdon. “And it was great meeting students from other schools.”

As the hours passed and the weaker teams were eliminated, only two teams remained, the “Keystone Chillers” and “Team Einstein.” After a nail-biting final match the victor team, the “Keystone Chillers”, was crowned and awarded a bucket of a Bonn specialty, Haribo gummy bears. At the end of the day, all participants learned the value of friendship and the value of wearing cleats.
Written by Janette Danielson