Domenic Iannacone
BFA Film and Media Arts
Expected graduation Spring 2025
After the College of Arts and Letters had their new student convocation, the larger group of students dispersed into smaller groups based on specific majors. That is when I was granted the best tools for filmmaking, connections. Professor Gregg Perkins offered to all of the students an open invitation to sit in on one of his classes, Virtual Production. Only one other student and I took that chance. Within that class, I met many people who offered me opportunities to work on sets and learn hands on from others who knew a lot more than me. Being given an opportunity from Professor Perkins to engage with other students was one of the best tools I could have been given as a beginner filmmaker.
Being able to learn from others has been the greatest gift I have been given. Working with people who have a larger skill set than me and fully understanding why they are making the decisions they are is what has made me better at my work. Everything I know about gaffing comes from my experiences working with alumni. Being given the opportunity to be the key gaffer on projects has been an amazing experience. I believe that my strengths lie in lighting. I am able to figure out lighting set-ups prior to arriving on set and implement them with the equipment granted to me. I have had the privilege to work with a plethora of high quality gear including Aputure lights, and now owning one myself. I have also grown great skills as a script supervisor, and I believe my ability to point out imperfections within lighting has helped my attention to detail in that aspect as well.
I am a hands-on learner. I need to work with a piece of equipment for long periods of time on set or on my own before I can fully feel comfortable with using it. I think my biggest weakness is camera work for that reason. On sets, I don’t typically get put onto camera team, I am used more as someone in G+E or as a script supervisor. I understand shot composition and how to make something look good compositionally, but outside of that I do not have full confidence with a camera in my hands. What I have done to fix that is begin working with the camera’s we have in the Equipment Cage as often as possible. When I am working on shift I will practice putting together the gear to familiarize myself with everything so that when it comes time to go on a set, I will have a better grasp of what I am doing.
I am grateful for what I have been granted here at the University of Tampa. The large variety of opportunities given to me have been nothing short of amazing. After I graduate, I hope to pursue creativity. I want to continue working in G+E, utilizing the skills I have learned to bring a vision to life. I believe telling a story that you want to tell is the most important virtue of filmmaking, and I believe that I will be able to help make that a reality.