Work Day 3

This last week in class, we planned on digitizing our footage. However, as we waited for our turn to get digitized we realized that we really don’t have much to edit and digitizing now would be a waste. We decided to film over what we have so that it wouldn’t just be us yelling at each other. I also suggested to my group that since my schedule wasn’t flexible at all, I wouldn’t be an actor and that way our group could have more time to film. I also thought that having all of us in the movie, made the movie too stiff because it was non-fiction. With different actors, I felt like the comedy would be more effective.

Things got a little heated in class because our director wanted to go back to the second storyline about the mountain boys. I was just really upset because I didn’t want our film to turn out looking like a home video of college kids kickin’ it on a mountain. So after we convinced him that changing our plot again was not an option, we decided to film that weekend and continue with the movie about a movie story.

Even the Wednesday before yesterday’s class period, I was worried because we still had no footage and I had hoped that our group would have it so that the editors wouldn’t have to do so much editing during finals. However, I didn’t exactly go out of my way to ease any of our troubles and so I can’t really complain. I am just glad that things got accomplished and we can start editing!

Work Day 2

About two weeks ago, our film group met for a short time. Because it wasn’t our turn to have the camera anymore, we just laid out our schedules and came up with a more cohesive storyline. We decided that our characters needed identities and that our main events needed more substance. At first someone suggested making another screenplay, but then I pointed out that our group does not ever follow the screenplay, so an outline of events would probably be better. Destiny has been a great team member and always ends up with the creative tasks; so naturally, she volunteered to do the outline. The shooting locations would be around Farris and New Hall dorms and we were the main actors.

Because we only managed to get maybe 10 minutes of useful footage the week before, we couldn’t digitize and begin editing. I did leave class feeling very confident about our film once we get our pick-up shots days.

Work Day 1

So about three weeks ago Donna and Eric, gave us a work session during class. Because our schedules would not sync up, we decided Thursday class night would pretty much be the only time we could film while we still had the camera.

Our director and our cameraman, Sam and Tommy, began filming on a mountain with a few actors before class started. Katie, Destiny, and I met in the classroom to sign in and went back to the dorms to collect our supplies. We then thought we were en route to the mountain to continue filming, but Sam and Tommy call us to tell us they were on the way back. We were frustrated and confused because this was the only time we had to film and we were clearly not finished filming. Sam tells us that we have to let the actors leave because they had things to do and we were frustrated because we now had no actors.

We get back to campus and try to regroup in Sam’s dorm room. We watch the footage to see what we have and to see what kind of editing magic us girls were expected to do. Well….the footage looked good…but there was NO SOUND.

The group as a whole got really irritated and frustrated at eachother and situation we put ourselves in. So we changed our story once again. We are now filming a comedy about a group of students making a film project for a class. Sound familiar?

When we started filming this storyline, we all realized how much better and practical this idea worked out and we all felt the tension ease up. I was definitely excited because the new locations on campus and new actors (ourselves) would definitely make it achievable to film quickly and efficiently.

Adaptation

I am usually not a fan of Nicholas Cage. In fact, I was so repulsed by him in City of Angels that I just never watched a movie starring him again…until last Thursday. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the film, too. I thought it was hysterical—the movie completely transformed from a semi-depressing/boring film to a completely entertaining and ridiculous series of bizarre events!

We watched Adapatation—a film about a screenwriter, Charile Kaufman, who struggles with writer’s block and making his mark in the “industry.” I was humored by Kaufman’s neurotic voice-overs. I think voice-overs are normally utilized to simply narrate and accessorize the plot, but in this movie, the voice-overs really gave us another dimension of the characters.

It was very obvious that the movie was exploring the good ole’ sell out/get rich vs. stay true/starve theme. I didn’t really have a problem with it, though. I am still stunned at the level that the filmmakers chose to portray this. However, in discussion, it seemed like most people agreed that most innovative and real movies are not successful. On one hand, I think that this is sad because talent is probably wasted everyday because someone is told that their ideas are too “out there” or “not right.” On the other hand, I know I am part of the problem. I like movies that are different—not your average happily, ever after flick--but even those have a mold that they fit in.

Within five minutes of viewing Adaptation, many people got excited because it was very reminiscent of The Enternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Why do we do that? I do it…daily! Every work of art will always be compared and contrasted against some other work. It is almost like we can’t let anything just BE. Why can’t cliché movies just be? Where’s the line between cliché and reality? I know a lot of people and a lot of real life situations that just are cliché. So what makes these other movies so innovative…so “real?” Should we all strive to think outside of the box? I’m pretty sure almost every young writer is doing that, does that make them cliché now?

Okay, so I got on a rant…I haven’t slept in 24 hours. I’m sorry, blog world!

Making Progress

The last class period was primarily spent discussing how our short films were coming along. Group 2 gave us some helpful advice—they had discovered that not all members of the group had to be on location to shoot since they (editors, sound operators) were doing post-production.

We began the class by watching a short film created by a senior honors student. I was very impressed to see someone not too much older than us write, direct, act, edit his own film. The movie was about 15 minutes long and it was a biopic. The plot was about the student’s own experience the summer before he went to college. Although I thought that his film was certainly something to be proud of, many of us had a problem with the lighting. Many in the classroom were turned off from the film because sometimes the characters’ faces and bodies weren’t visible, which caused a disconnect between the audience and the characters. We were overall very grateful to see the importance of lighting in our own movies.

After a discussion with the film student, Eric showed us some short films and guides to give us some pointers on how to make props, sound effects, use shots, etc. Then we divided into our little groups again. Our group finally came together and committed to one idea. I am stoked about it! We jotted down some ideas and were able to make an outline. We decided a couple of people would initiate the script, then a couple of different group members would make revisions and additions to it, and then Sam (our director) would have the final proofing of the script. I feel really good about our film now because it really will be collaborative creation. We begin shooting sometime after Spring Break but I am not quite sure if we decided on actors yet. I know Sam really wants to be in the movie!

The Creepy Player

On Thursday, March 16^th, we watched, The Player, directed by Robert Altman in 1992. The film is about a man named Griffin, a studio executive whose job is to find good screenplays and writers. At the beginning of the movie we quickly find out that Griffin is being threatening through post cards by an disgruntled writer. Griffin does some investigating and decides to confront the writer he believes is behind the scary post cards. He ends up killing the writer but makes it look like a mugging. I began feeling uncomfortable when Griffin becomes involved with the dead writer’s girlfriend. After a string of cover-ups and lucky events on Griffin’s part, he gets away with murder, even though he murdered the wrong writer.

The player was a film noir, which I have decided I appreciate but do not like. I was grew progressively uneasy and squeamish throughout the movie. I thought Griffin would be our “hero” but he was just so vulgar and BAD. After discussion, it turns out that what he was in this movie was the “anti-hero,” because he is the bad guy, however, the audience is still on his side (what a freakin’ art). June, the dead writer’s girlfriend and Griffin’s new girlfriend, also gave me a bad vibe. One, she gave way too much information to someone looking for her boyfriend on the phone. Two, she doesn’t mourn the deaths of her parents nor her boyfriend. To top her creepiness, she engages in the most grotesque sex scene I have ever seen with Griffin, even though SHE KNOWS he killed her boyfriend. Any sympathy about her oblivion to Griffin’s crime was brushed away after this scene, because he was TELLING HER at this point.

In the end of the film, the couple lives “happily ever after.” There is a scene that shows him on the phone from a convertible that is just like a scene early on in the movie where he is on the other end. At this point, it is evident that any good in him has been lost and he has totally transformed into a bad guy. We see this transformation of Griffin throughout the film though. As the story progressed he becomes more disheveled in his appearance and he becomes conniving and manipulative towards his co-workers and girlfriend. I usually enjoy endings that don’t end happily, but I don’t like this ending. It ticked me off so bad! However, it was a perfect ending for what Altman wanted to achieve with a story of evil triumphs good.

Not Another Teen Movie

Scripts were due on February 27^th. We turned in a 5-7 page script which was okay. We were set to base our comedy around the first day of college for some freshmen. When we sat down to discuss our script again, it was clear that we had created a stereotypical teen movie. After much debate, we sought advice from Eric. It wasn’t that anything in particular was wrong with story, only that it was so predictable and tired altogether. We ended up changing our idea completely. Eric also pointed out to us that 7 pages is far too long of a script for comedy. Sam showed us a clip from the Flight of the Concords that we all agreed was funny. It was apparent that situational comedy was the direction we needed to steer towards. When we finally got going on ideas, we couldn’t stop. Each one of us would come up with a great idea inspiring the rest of the group. The energy we have for this film is really good and I am excited. The only problem we are running into right now is committing to one idea and allowing that one to shine.

Eric also provided the entire class with a handful of advice during this class session. He strongly suggested that we have a producer. The producer’s job would consist of setting work-days, keeping the cast and crew on the same page, arranging shooting locations, etc. Having a producer would just make this project happen more smoothly. Eric also said it would probably be best to make a list of every scene we plan on shooting and the order in which we plan to shoot them. This is going to help us be more efficient with our time and resources since we’ll go ahead and shoot all the scenes at one location at once rather than driving back and forth everywhere.

I always enjoy when Eric shows us videos to inspire our projects. The video he showed us in an earlier class depicting three guys reenacting an entire battle scene from Saving Private Ryan made us realize that it doesn’t take a whole professional production crew to make something good. This week Eric showed us a documentary on Robert Rodriguez. It was about the production of Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I have seen this movie before and was always amazed by the special effects in it. However, never would I have guessed or imagined how low budget this movie was to make. It was very inspiring to listen and see how innovative Rodriguez was about the special effects to keep a low budget. This documentary reinforced the idea that we don’t have to sacrifice quality to maintain our time and budgets!

Blow-Out

On February 25^th, we watched the movie Blow-Out. Unlike the two movies we had previously watched, Sunset Boulevard and Singin’ in the Rain, this movie had a much more vulgar and slower plot. In addition, this movie also had nudity, cursing, sex, murder—much more stimulating elements than we had been experiencing in other films. Like the other two films though, Blow-Out did look at aspects of the film industry. The unique quality about this film, though, was that it also had a strong, underlying theme about America.

Before the movie began, Donna warned us that Brian de Palma was a “puppet master” and we were his puppets. Usually movies that come with that kind discretion, do not actually follow through. But I had a rather weird experience watching this movie; while I was annoyed with its predictability (we all knew the girl would die at the end), I was also very tense throughout the movie. The plot, the action, everything moved too slowly for me. I have never discovered how much I disliked slow motion shots until I saw this movie. However, I do think it was because the plot also moved at that tempo. I even found myself annoyed at the long shots, even though I usually am very intrigued by them. Overall it was just too much slowness for me.

The movie had two main themes that we discussed at the end of class. We spoke heavily about the fake elements of the film industry and how that was basically reflective of de Palma’s reflection of the American way. Throughout the film, we get subtle insinuations and metaphors about how we try to cover up anything that is ugly, especially truths. For example, the female lead in the movie’s name is Sally and she’s a make-up artist with the philosophy that every one’s face could use some make-up.

Also, the scene when the woman gets ambushed by a killer in the streets and then taken behind a wall to be killed was also symbolic to this theme. Obviously, in real life, someone would have thought a man quickly shoving someone to the other side of the wall would be peculiar, but like in this movie, some people would ignore it. The final scene is an even stronger depiction of the same message de Palma wanted to deliver. A murder was occurring right above everyone’s heads but they were too enthralled by the music, lights, and fireworks to see it. We ignore the ugly truth and become oblivious to truth all together.

Donna also showed us a clip from a 1966 film, Blow-Up. Blow-Out was a remake of this movie, though I wouln’t have picked up on it had I not been told. After further discussion, I got a better understanding of re-makes in general. Filmmakers tend to replicate elements of cinematography from others, but two visions stemming from the same root will never be exactly the same, or the same at all.

I am glad that we watched this movie. I didn’t like it but I learned a lot about cinematography from it. I would not have ever watched this movie otherwise, so I am extremely thankful for this class!

It is officially time to start working on our short films for class. The class was split into small groups and each group was assigned a different genre-comedy, drama, horror, romance, experimental, and action. Our group was assigned the genre comedy. Each film must be two to five minutes long and include the following: a mime/clown, the lines “Why is this happening to me today of all days?” and "It would be better for us not to talk about that,” a guitar, a cheese grater, and skull.

Our group is very excited and has come up with a few ideas about our film. However, we are all a little bit nervous about screenwriting. The art of screenwriting/direction/and sound all coming together to create a masterpiece is intimidating but definitely our ultimate goal.

Before Eric assigned genres we came up with a really neat idea for a film that is centered on a dollar bill. We wanted to depict the lives of different people who all had that dollar bill at some point in the day. That probably could have been really neat had we gotten the genres drama or horror. When we got assigned comedy, we were a little disappointed, because we liked our original idea so much. But when we started brainstorming again, the excitement returned. I also think our group will be able to produce more usuable and creative ideas when we get the input of Sam and Tommy. Sam was away on a conference and Tommy was learning the tricks of a camera-man.

I was very impressed with the short film “The Spider” that Eric showed us in class. It started out pretty boring and I did not pay attention until the characters started driving. If you haven’t seen it, the ending was very shocking and I was speechless. Even though we have comedy, I am confident that we could create a very fresh and original twist to our plot.

For our genre, dramatic lighting throughout wouldn’t be appropriate. I think it would be neat to create the same lighting that is present on sitcoms. We talked about the importance of dialogue in our film. That might be our biggest challenge because any dialogue in a comedy needs to be strategically structured to include witty one-liners, awkward silences, etc. We decided that two things in life that are always funny are farts and falls. Therefore farts and falling will most likely be incorporated in our final cut. Haha

Basically, we want to produce something that we are proud of and will make people laugh.

Singing in the Rain

So I failed to take useful notes while watching the movie, again. It’s so hard for me since I’m enjoying these films so much that I feel incapable of noticing the cinematographic elements.

Last class period we watched Singing In The Rain, a 1952 musical based on the transition from silent films into films with sound, or "talkies, " as the characters in the movie referred to them. This was my first time to watch this movie, and I can't tell you why. I actually thought it would be boring, but I was completely wrong. The movie was so colorful and cheerful (especially compared to Sunset Blvd). My face literally hurt after watching that movie because I smiled the entire time.

I really enjoyed the humor in this movie. Lena cracked me up; her voice was slightly reminiscent of Karen’s from Will & Grace. Haha. Cosmo’s wit and Don’s charisma made the perfect duo for this movie. I also enjoyed the frustrating triangle between Lena, Don, and Kathy. I wonder if movie stars really do get disillusioned by tabloids that easily. My favorite scene in the movie, however, was the beginning when he was telling the reporter his story, only we were watching what actually happened. It was really neat and humorous to get that perspective.

I liked the insight that I got during discussion about how musicals are done today compared to Singing in the Rain. The famous street scene was filmed in only 5 shots. I actually prefer this to the series of shot changes we see in today’s musicals because scenes just seem to be more cohesive and flow.

I want to own this movie!

Cinematography

Perhaps, one of the most critical aspects of film is lighting. After workshops, we’ve been able to dissect the three components of lighting and how they will enhance our films. By manipulating the key light, back light, and fill light we could emphasize or de-emphasize the subject. Not only does it help set the mood and tone, but it also helps strengthen the characters’ roles.

I was really intrigued by the technique of changing the images shown following the look on a certain character’s face. For example, if you show a man that is happy and then a clip of happy, children playing, the audience assumes he likes children and they might even be his own. If you show a man that is happy followed by a clip of a woman in a bikini, then the audience believes this is a dirty, perverted man. Tonight, as I was watching American Idol, I even noticed how this technique was used as the camera went from the contestant to the judge. This technique is very clever and would help prevent meaningless dialogue to help build our characters.

I also think that the variety of camera shots we have been exposed to could be utilized in our film. By using dolly shots or close-ups we could really make our film seem more impressive. We could give more angles and more depth to our characters by using an over-the-shoulder close-up between interacting characters. We could set the tones and convey moods by creating severity with an extreme close-up.

All in all, I know there are many other techniques that we will use to make our short film but I feel like these three will be involved in every film inevitably. All of these techniques can be created with accessible equipment (camera, lighting tools, editing software). Even though we are inexperienced film-makers, these techniques can still be done with basic software and basic knowledge. As long as we utilize all of our resources and really pour our effort into this project, I believe our team will produce a film we’ll be proud of.

"Insert Sunset Blvd. Quote Here"

I enjoyed watching Sunset Boulevard so much last Thursday night! I had planned on taking notes during the movie, but after the first 15 minutes, I was completely captivated. However, I got so much out of our discussion at the end. To listen to 30 different perceptions led by Donna after one viewing, gave me the insight I would gain after about 30 viewings on my own.

After class, I started thinking about Film Noir in general. Overall, I enjoy darker movies so I think this is a genre that I need to venture into more. In our discussion about the elements of Film Noir, made me realize how intentional and deliberate every detail in every frame is. In this genre, the films are dark and end unhappily. If the film is done correctly then the audience is meant to feel uneasy, and even guilty. Then there is also the play on how a film noir film is made "correctly," because their unique trait is that they are so imperfect.

I'm having a little trouble with my short film project, but I'm about dedicate the next fews hours on it, so hopefully I can get it together!

Last week's class session completely altered the way I view film-making. I have gained a tremendous amount of respect for everyone involved in the process--editors, sound effect specialists, directors, writers, etc. For example, prior to the class I always praised the actors and actresses after watching a really good movie. Now I know that EDITORS have more power in how a film turns out because of their ability and skills to make a really terrible actress seem like a great one.

I also never realized the rigorous amount of time and effort it took to create appropriate sound effects for a film. After class, I watched Fracture that night--just out of curiosity I muted the movie for about 10 minutes and tried to imagine upbeat music playing. Needless to say, I think the original music and sound effects in this film was perfect and perfectly conveyed the mood the audience was meant to feel. I am certainly more aware and more appreciative of sounds effects in film.

Overall, I felt extremely overwhelmed as I watched all of the clips about film-making. It is baffling to me that a 2-hour long movie could be prepped for production for months and then take another few months to actually shoot. I always knew that films took a while to produce but I did not realize the amount of time and effort that everyone involved spent---it looked like they were up all hours editing and meeting about editing for months! I am very excited about the film project in class, but at the same time terrified!

This is the First Day of Our Class.

We learned about metaphors in early motion pictures.

-Edward Muybridge gave us the first instance of moving pictures by attaching still pictures of a galloping horse together. I must admit that the tidbit we learned about the misconception that horses galloping with at least one foot on the ground was used many times as conversation starters this weekend!

-George Melias used motion picture to imitate the theatre. He created magic videos with fixed camera and in the clip we saw he gave us the first examples of "stop motion" to create illusions. I found the clip quite amusing and I even showed it to a friend this weekend and he chuckled at it as well.
-The Lumiere Brothers approached film differently and used motion picture to show real life. We watched the Train Station which I found very ordinary and insignificant. However, once Donna explained to us that in this approach the camara becomes our "eye" that allows us to witness something we cannot actually be at, I was more appreciative.

-Edwin Porter used motion picture to tell stories. We watched a clip from the Life of an American Fireman and saw the first example of "cross cutting" which sequences events that are happening simultaneously. I thought this was interesting because cross cutting is a technique so commonly used that I've never even thought it was ever a technique, let alone a revolutionary one.

-I am extremely excited about this class because I learned so much in the first session and left challenged to think beyond the characters I am watching when I watch film!