At the beginning of class last week, we watched a short film created by a senior film student. This movie was about 15 minutes long and had maybe 5 or 6 main characters. The film centered around one male character that was about to leave for college in the late summer. He was a very indecisive character and all of his friends teased him about his upcoming decision. Through talking to the creator and writer of the film afterwards, we learned that it was an autobiographical film. The plot was centered on him in that time of his life. It took a lot of guts for him to create a film basically about himself. The production of his film took a little over a year. It’s crazy to think that he spent that much time on just a 15 or so minute movie. I think his overall idea came across just as he had planned it. He seemed very proud of his work and his creation.
Although I thought the film was a great piece of work, there were still things I found wrong with it. The lighting was bad in many different instances. You could hardly see the characters’ faces or body language. The writing seemed superb but the execution in the acting seemed very amateur. I also wasn’t a huge fan of the ending that didn’t really leave the viewer with a feeling of closure. We still didn’t really know what the main character decided. I know that type of ending is great in some films, like ones that have a sequel, but I just wasn’t feeling it for this movie. Then again, I’m used to watching movies made with hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions, and he spent maybe one hundred dollars if even that? He did a fabulous job with his budget and his experience. My judgment comes from comparing amazing studio-made films to his, so don’t listen to me! I still think he did an awesome job, even though some improvements could be made.
The next part of the class was spent watching a few short films and guides on how to make props. We then broke up into our short film groups and continued to work and plan for our own films. Since I’m the sound editor in the film, I haven’t done a whole lot of work so far in our pre-production. I know what kind of sound I want to use in specific places in the film but I haven’t been able to match anything up to actual film yet. This is a tad bit frustrating, but it’s not anyone’s fault but the fact that we are group 6 and haven’t had our turn with the camera yet. We’ve had so much time to plan ahead that I think once we start filming it’ll all turn out great. I’m nervous about what amateur mistakes we’ll make, but I know we can recover from anything. I’ll be sure to keep you updated!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
I like words and letters, but I'm not crazy about complete sentences.
Tonight’s movie, The Player directed by Robert Altman, definitely sent the viewer on a crazy and twisted journey. Right from the beginning, you’re not really sure what type of movie you’re watching or what it really is going to be about. You know you’re located at a large studio in Hollywood with big name people all around. There’s a conversation about something film in every room and at every corner throughout the entire lot. There are relationships and trickery to get the best plot and actors. A random threatening postcard shows up to a Vice President of a film company. Then, out of nowhere, the main character Griffin Mill, played by Tim Robbins, murders an innocent writer in the back lot of a theater. Talk about crazy?!?! What’s more, he then begins to fall in love with the girlfriend of the writer he just murdered. WHAT?!? Obviously, this film keeps the viewer guessing throughout the entire movie.
At first, this film just seemed odd and out of place. I felt uncomfortable, like I was seeing and hearing something that I wasn’t supposed to. But after the initial craziness in the film, I started to feel at ease with the movie. I began to get to know the characters and feel acquainted with the set. Then random scenes would push me back out of my comfort zone in the film. Every time I felt settled, the movie didn’t want to let me remain there for long. This film definitely pushes the viewer out of her comfort zone to keep her involved in the story, which is all part of its genre of film noir.
Throughout the entire film, I constantly changed my mind about each character and idea presented. I think that’s the main reason why I enjoyed the movie. It kept me interested in what was going on but also allowed me to come up with my own endings. Although there was obviously an ending to the film, many different things could have happened. Altman set the film up so that the viewer could have an active role in predicting what would or could happen in the end.
This film portrayed Hollywood and filmmaking as a nasty, nasty business. It’s all about money, who you know, and what resources you can scrounge up. It even made me feel like it’s not really about talent. If you want to make it in the film business, you have to be quick on your feet and have connections. This film also showed that Hollywood is full of lies and deceit. It’s all one big cover up of the truth. And most importantly (at least to me), it revealed that anything can happen in odd situations. I enjoyed this film and I think it’s worth everyone's while to watch it at least once.
At first, this film just seemed odd and out of place. I felt uncomfortable, like I was seeing and hearing something that I wasn’t supposed to. But after the initial craziness in the film, I started to feel at ease with the movie. I began to get to know the characters and feel acquainted with the set. Then random scenes would push me back out of my comfort zone in the film. Every time I felt settled, the movie didn’t want to let me remain there for long. This film definitely pushes the viewer out of her comfort zone to keep her involved in the story, which is all part of its genre of film noir.
Throughout the entire film, I constantly changed my mind about each character and idea presented. I think that’s the main reason why I enjoyed the movie. It kept me interested in what was going on but also allowed me to come up with my own endings. Although there was obviously an ending to the film, many different things could have happened. Altman set the film up so that the viewer could have an active role in predicting what would or could happen in the end.
This film portrayed Hollywood and filmmaking as a nasty, nasty business. It’s all about money, who you know, and what resources you can scrounge up. It even made me feel like it’s not really about talent. If you want to make it in the film business, you have to be quick on your feet and have connections. This film also showed that Hollywood is full of lies and deceit. It’s all one big cover up of the truth. And most importantly (at least to me), it revealed that anything can happen in odd situations. I enjoyed this film and I think it’s worth everyone's while to watch it at least once.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Lights! Camera! Action!
It’s officially time to start organizing and filming our short movies. I must admit, initially, I was really worried about this project. I thought there was no way that five regular students could accomplish something of value. But after all of our training in filmmaking, I am truly confident in our abilities. I think we have a great team dynamic that will really help us create something magnificent.
Our script is all done and we have actors picked out for the main roles. The plot of the film is somewhat of a spinoff of an idea we originally thought of for comedy. Once we were assigned the genre drama, we were able to fit that concept we thought was really neat into what we needed. I don’t want to spoil the plot, so I’ll just leave it at that. But, I will say that our short film will blow you away!
My official role in making this film is sound editor. I am in charge of adding in all the extra sounds that you would normally hear when actually doing what the actors will be doing on screen. I also add in special effect sounds and background music that can’t be recorded while on set. I’m really anxious to start putting some sounds with film and seeing how it works out. I’ve never done anything like this so I know it will for sure be a new experience. I’m also a little nervous because I want our film to be the best that it can be, which means the sound has to be just right. I’m confident that I can figure out how to most effectively use sounds in our film that highlight what we want the viewers to notice.
In class last week, our groups got the opportunity to discuss the plan of attack for our film production. It was great to have that time to communicate with each other since we are all very busy during other times in the week. As long as we have a structured plan that maps out when we film, how long it will take, and what we need for each scene, I think we can get everything done in a timely manner.
The last comment I want to make is about the clip Eric showed in class before we broke into our groups. It was a video called “Minesweeper-The Movie” that can be found on YouTube. I personally thought this faux movie preview was hilarious! It was just about the game minesweeper that is on all regular computers and why we play the game. It was definitely a funny parody about the game and I suggest you all go and watch it for a quick laugh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHY8NKj3RKs
Our script is all done and we have actors picked out for the main roles. The plot of the film is somewhat of a spinoff of an idea we originally thought of for comedy. Once we were assigned the genre drama, we were able to fit that concept we thought was really neat into what we needed. I don’t want to spoil the plot, so I’ll just leave it at that. But, I will say that our short film will blow you away!
My official role in making this film is sound editor. I am in charge of adding in all the extra sounds that you would normally hear when actually doing what the actors will be doing on screen. I also add in special effect sounds and background music that can’t be recorded while on set. I’m really anxious to start putting some sounds with film and seeing how it works out. I’ve never done anything like this so I know it will for sure be a new experience. I’m also a little nervous because I want our film to be the best that it can be, which means the sound has to be just right. I’m confident that I can figure out how to most effectively use sounds in our film that highlight what we want the viewers to notice.
In class last week, our groups got the opportunity to discuss the plan of attack for our film production. It was great to have that time to communicate with each other since we are all very busy during other times in the week. As long as we have a structured plan that maps out when we film, how long it will take, and what we need for each scene, I think we can get everything done in a timely manner.
The last comment I want to make is about the clip Eric showed in class before we broke into our groups. It was a video called “Minesweeper-The Movie” that can be found on YouTube. I personally thought this faux movie preview was hilarious! It was just about the game minesweeper that is on all regular computers and why we play the game. It was definitely a funny parody about the game and I suggest you all go and watch it for a quick laugh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHY8NKj3RKs
Friday, February 26, 2010
"No one wants to know about conspiracy any more!"
Yesterday in film class we watched Brian de Palma’s 1981 film Blow Out. In this thrill ride, the main character, Jack Terry (played by John Travolta), is a sound editor for some low budget films. While capturing “real” sound outside one night, he records the sounds of a car crash. After the car crashes into the river, he saves the girl in the car, Sally (played by Nancy Allen), and finds out later that the driver of the car was a famous politician. The sound he recorded that night ends up being more valuable than he could have ever imagined. What Jack accidentally caught turned out to be the proof that this politician’s car “accident” was actually a murder. This crazy twist turns out to lead Jack and Sally down a ride full of danger.
This film was much different than the movies we’ve watched so far in class. We began with movies made during a time where modesty was in style. Then suddenly, we are thrust into the 1980’s where things have certainly taken a turn in the other direction. From the initial scenes of nudity to the world full of lies the characters live in, things have definitely changed.
One main difference I noticed about this film as compared to Singin’ in the Rain was the flatness of the colors on screen. Everything seemed dull and dingy rather than bright and happy. Blow Out just screamed “dirty” to me throughout the entire film. It seemed like a low budget movie with a low amount of quality. If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve learned about film techniques in class, I would have thrown this movie aside into the “do not like” pile. But, when you actually analyze the film, you can see the greatness and beauty in it all. The director, Brian de Palma, meant to do every single thing seen the on the screen. Nothing was unintentional or by accident. If it looks dirty, it is meant to be dirty. If the transition or backdrop looks fake, it is supposed to look fake. I think it was incredibly brave of de Palma to do this film in the way he did. He didn’t let anyone change his vision, and for that, I applaud him.
One of my favorite scenes in the entire movie is when Jack Terry goes to his sound editing room and discovers that all of his sound has been erased. The camera continuously spins in a circle while Jack paces about, knocking things over and messing with all sorts of tapes. This shot really put things into perspective and made watching this scene particularly enchanting. You couldn’t look away because you didn’t want to miss what was going on in the shot. That shot must have been terribly hard to pull off, but pull it off de Palma did!
The last thing I want to comment on is what this film says about America. I had never really put this idea into thought, but after our class discussion about the film, it all made sense. Blow Out portrays America as one big lie. One conspiracy after the next and the next and the next. A lie to cover up this and another lie to cover up that first lie. It’s all one big puzzle that no one really wants to solve. And unfortunately, this concept has some truth to it. Politics is a horrible game that we like to think of as noble, when really it’s just one big scam after the next. Doesn’t that just make you feel happy? The film Blow Out really pushed me to think outside of the box and I encourage all to watch it. I promise it won’t disappoint!
This film was much different than the movies we’ve watched so far in class. We began with movies made during a time where modesty was in style. Then suddenly, we are thrust into the 1980’s where things have certainly taken a turn in the other direction. From the initial scenes of nudity to the world full of lies the characters live in, things have definitely changed.
One main difference I noticed about this film as compared to Singin’ in the Rain was the flatness of the colors on screen. Everything seemed dull and dingy rather than bright and happy. Blow Out just screamed “dirty” to me throughout the entire film. It seemed like a low budget movie with a low amount of quality. If it weren’t for the fact that I’ve learned about film techniques in class, I would have thrown this movie aside into the “do not like” pile. But, when you actually analyze the film, you can see the greatness and beauty in it all. The director, Brian de Palma, meant to do every single thing seen the on the screen. Nothing was unintentional or by accident. If it looks dirty, it is meant to be dirty. If the transition or backdrop looks fake, it is supposed to look fake. I think it was incredibly brave of de Palma to do this film in the way he did. He didn’t let anyone change his vision, and for that, I applaud him.
One of my favorite scenes in the entire movie is when Jack Terry goes to his sound editing room and discovers that all of his sound has been erased. The camera continuously spins in a circle while Jack paces about, knocking things over and messing with all sorts of tapes. This shot really put things into perspective and made watching this scene particularly enchanting. You couldn’t look away because you didn’t want to miss what was going on in the shot. That shot must have been terribly hard to pull off, but pull it off de Palma did!
The last thing I want to comment on is what this film says about America. I had never really put this idea into thought, but after our class discussion about the film, it all made sense. Blow Out portrays America as one big lie. One conspiracy after the next and the next and the next. A lie to cover up this and another lie to cover up that first lie. It’s all one big puzzle that no one really wants to solve. And unfortunately, this concept has some truth to it. Politics is a horrible game that we like to think of as noble, when really it’s just one big scam after the next. Doesn’t that just make you feel happy? The film Blow Out really pushed me to think outside of the box and I encourage all to watch it. I promise it won’t disappoint!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Time to Make a Movie!
It’s time to start the show! We’re finally getting started on creating our own group short films for class. These films encompass an array of genres and must be anywhere from two to five minutes long. My group was given the genre of drama, so we should be able to do some very exciting things with that! In our film we must also include the following elements:
1. Must have a Mime/clown
2. Must have the line “Why is this happening to me today of all days?” and "It would be better for us not to talk about that."
3. Must have a guitar, a cheese grater, and skull
Obviously, this film making project will be very fun and interesting. Luckily, we’ve learned a lot about cinematography, editing, and screenwriting, and are well prepared.
Our group has come up with a few ideas for our film, but nothing concrete just yet. We’ve thought about a stalker girl who “just happens” to run into this boy over and over on campus. The idea of a mix of different scenes that don’t make sense and then all come together at the end seemed like a very interesting idea to our group as well. One last idea we’re toying with is that of a blind date. Maybe the man and woman were meant to be or maybe they hate each other and it’s one big dramatic show down. Maybe some elements of miscommunication? All of these ideas have just been thrown around between us but I can tell that we’re going to come up with a great final product.
With the calibration of our talents together, we can really accomplish a lot of good things in this film. Personally, I have a few ideas in mind that I want to see in our film. I want a wide variety of camera angles throughout the movie. I believe that this will keep the viewers interested in the film the entire time while also giving them different perspectives of what’s going on. These different angles will definitely be accomplishable with the camera equipment and resources we are given. Also, I would like to have dramatic lighting to enhance the mood of our genre. Since our genre is in fact drama, I think some dramatic lighting on the characters will portray that mood. We can do this by using extra lights that we each own and placing them in opportune spots. Lastly, interesting dialogue is something I personally want to see in our film. I would love to throw a few one-liners and witty comments in every once and a while. Dialogue like that really pulls me into the story and incites an entirely different emotion from me. I want the viewers of our film to feel as though a wide spectrum of their feelings were aroused while watching the movie.
Basically, my overall ambition is to create something that others enjoy and that I am proud of. I want people to like the movie and appreciate it for all of the hard work that was put into it. It will take hours of sweat and blood (not literally), but I know we can do it together. I hope that my classmates truly take delight in viewing our short film during our finals week film festival.
1. Must have a Mime/clown
2. Must have the line “Why is this happening to me today of all days?” and "It would be better for us not to talk about that."
3. Must have a guitar, a cheese grater, and skull
Obviously, this film making project will be very fun and interesting. Luckily, we’ve learned a lot about cinematography, editing, and screenwriting, and are well prepared.
Our group has come up with a few ideas for our film, but nothing concrete just yet. We’ve thought about a stalker girl who “just happens” to run into this boy over and over on campus. The idea of a mix of different scenes that don’t make sense and then all come together at the end seemed like a very interesting idea to our group as well. One last idea we’re toying with is that of a blind date. Maybe the man and woman were meant to be or maybe they hate each other and it’s one big dramatic show down. Maybe some elements of miscommunication? All of these ideas have just been thrown around between us but I can tell that we’re going to come up with a great final product.
With the calibration of our talents together, we can really accomplish a lot of good things in this film. Personally, I have a few ideas in mind that I want to see in our film. I want a wide variety of camera angles throughout the movie. I believe that this will keep the viewers interested in the film the entire time while also giving them different perspectives of what’s going on. These different angles will definitely be accomplishable with the camera equipment and resources we are given. Also, I would like to have dramatic lighting to enhance the mood of our genre. Since our genre is in fact drama, I think some dramatic lighting on the characters will portray that mood. We can do this by using extra lights that we each own and placing them in opportune spots. Lastly, interesting dialogue is something I personally want to see in our film. I would love to throw a few one-liners and witty comments in every once and a while. Dialogue like that really pulls me into the story and incites an entirely different emotion from me. I want the viewers of our film to feel as though a wide spectrum of their feelings were aroused while watching the movie.
Basically, my overall ambition is to create something that others enjoy and that I am proud of. I want people to like the movie and appreciate it for all of the hard work that was put into it. It will take hours of sweat and blood (not literally), but I know we can do it together. I hope that my classmates truly take delight in viewing our short film during our finals week film festival.
Friday, February 12, 2010
"Lina. She can't act, she can't sing, she can't dance. A triple threat."
Singin’ in the Rain. This film hooked me from the opening scene! Of course we all know this movie is considered one of the ultimate classics. If you haven’t seen it, you better go out and get a copy to watch! The film is not only funny and full of songs, but the story is captivating and incites real interest. I can’t believe it took me this long to finally see this film. Words cannot express how glad I am that we watched Singin’ in the Rain in class last night. After experiencing one horrible day, this film cheered me up instantly. It is not only a new movie in my top ten all time favorite movies, but it is now my all time favorite musical.
Gene Kelly is mesmerizing in this film. He dances, sings, acts, and looks brilliant while doing it all! I’ll admit, I’ve always thought musicals with random dance numbers were cheesy, but I thoroughly enjoyed the numbers throughout this movie. Each and every part was fun, appropriate, and truly entertaining. Not only were all of the dance and singing numbers awesome, but they appeared flawlessly done. I could not even tell that they pieced a few sections together. This film had the best flow I think I’ve ever seen in a movie. It was like one continuous shot with different settings the entire time. I was thoroughly impressed.
On to my favorite character: Cosmo Brown. Cosmo is the guy you want to be your best friend. He’s absolutely hilarious with all of his one-liners and comedic segments. Without this sidekick character, the film would lose a lot of its allure. Although I love Cosmo, I can’t help but feel sorry for him. He’s the most underappreciated character in the film. Cosmo possesses just as many, if not more, talents than most of the other characters. He can act, dance, sing, write music, be a comedian, come up with better ideas for films, and much much more! I just don’t understand why he wasn’t given more credit throughout the film. Maybe it’s just the school girl crush I have on him that makes me feel this way, but I just want to yell, “SOMEONE TELL HIM HOW AWESOME HE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!” I guess there always has to be that character in Hollywood that doesn’t get what he deserves. That’s the business, right?
The last thing I want to comment on about this film is the little tidbit of information our professor shared with us after the movie: the fact that another voice was used instead of Debbie Reynolds’ for the character Lina is just extremely paradoxical. The character Kathy Selden does the voice for Lina’s character, but in reality a completely different voice does the voice for Kathy in one of the songs. Crazy! It’s a winding road of lies and deceit. Oh Hollywood, you evil mistress you!
Gene Kelly is mesmerizing in this film. He dances, sings, acts, and looks brilliant while doing it all! I’ll admit, I’ve always thought musicals with random dance numbers were cheesy, but I thoroughly enjoyed the numbers throughout this movie. Each and every part was fun, appropriate, and truly entertaining. Not only were all of the dance and singing numbers awesome, but they appeared flawlessly done. I could not even tell that they pieced a few sections together. This film had the best flow I think I’ve ever seen in a movie. It was like one continuous shot with different settings the entire time. I was thoroughly impressed.
On to my favorite character: Cosmo Brown. Cosmo is the guy you want to be your best friend. He’s absolutely hilarious with all of his one-liners and comedic segments. Without this sidekick character, the film would lose a lot of its allure. Although I love Cosmo, I can’t help but feel sorry for him. He’s the most underappreciated character in the film. Cosmo possesses just as many, if not more, talents than most of the other characters. He can act, dance, sing, write music, be a comedian, come up with better ideas for films, and much much more! I just don’t understand why he wasn’t given more credit throughout the film. Maybe it’s just the school girl crush I have on him that makes me feel this way, but I just want to yell, “SOMEONE TELL HIM HOW AWESOME HE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!” I guess there always has to be that character in Hollywood that doesn’t get what he deserves. That’s the business, right?
The last thing I want to comment on about this film is the little tidbit of information our professor shared with us after the movie: the fact that another voice was used instead of Debbie Reynolds’ for the character Lina is just extremely paradoxical. The character Kathy Selden does the voice for Lina’s character, but in reality a completely different voice does the voice for Kathy in one of the songs. Crazy! It’s a winding road of lies and deceit. Oh Hollywood, you evil mistress you!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Film Techniques For Me
Tonight presented our class with many new useful and interesting techniques for filming our team movies. Although some of the techniques seem out of reach for inexperienced and poor college students, some techniques seem very doable. One filming method that I know I want to use in my team’s project is a close-up. There are so many different types of close-ups and each serve a specific purpose. One type in particular that I like is the extreme close-up. This type could be very functional in a scene where the character is worried or has some sort of distinct look on her face. We can also do an over the shoulder close-up when two characters are in conversation with one another.
There are also many lighting techniques that I believe our team can definitely handle. If our movie turns out to be one oriented around horror, we can light the characters from below. This type of lighting casts many shadows on the villain’s face and makes him appear more ominous. Lighting from both sides and above also seems very plausible. This type of lighting creates a studio-filming feel for the set. Backlighting and lighting on the main characters face is also something we can make happen for our short film. All of the different lighting techniques seem achievable as long as it doesn’t involve some sort of crane to raise the light extremely high!
Another technique that I thought was fascinating was changing the images presented after showing the look on a person’s face. If you show a man that looks sad and then a coffin, the viewer believes he is sad because he has lost a loved one. If you show a picture of a small child and then a man that looks sad, the viewer believes he may not like children or had a bad experience with a child at one time. This technique saves time because you don’t have to re-film characters but can just film objects instead. Our team project will most likely use this technique as well.
All of the techniques mentioned above are within our reach because they don’t take a whole lot of experience or filming equipment to make happen. Even new filmmakers such as ourselves can use basic editing software to create interesting effects. We can also orient the camera to produce different depths in our footage. As long as we utilize the light sources available to us, we can definitely create some interesting lighting on the characters and in our scenes. We will utilize all of these techniques and more because we want to make our short film as awesome as possible. This is our first time and we intend to give our all!
One other source of inspiration for film techniques would definitely be the classic movie, Citizen Kane. I watched this movie with my roommate after we started this class. It was such an amazing movie filled with all sorts of different camera angles, lighting, and special effects. This movie is still looked at today for inspiration by true moviemakers. Citizen Kane is the ultimate movie for finding techniques for producing a new film. Orson Welles is someone that I look up to for sure when it comes to making movies.
There are also many lighting techniques that I believe our team can definitely handle. If our movie turns out to be one oriented around horror, we can light the characters from below. This type of lighting casts many shadows on the villain’s face and makes him appear more ominous. Lighting from both sides and above also seems very plausible. This type of lighting creates a studio-filming feel for the set. Backlighting and lighting on the main characters face is also something we can make happen for our short film. All of the different lighting techniques seem achievable as long as it doesn’t involve some sort of crane to raise the light extremely high!
Another technique that I thought was fascinating was changing the images presented after showing the look on a person’s face. If you show a man that looks sad and then a coffin, the viewer believes he is sad because he has lost a loved one. If you show a picture of a small child and then a man that looks sad, the viewer believes he may not like children or had a bad experience with a child at one time. This technique saves time because you don’t have to re-film characters but can just film objects instead. Our team project will most likely use this technique as well.
All of the techniques mentioned above are within our reach because they don’t take a whole lot of experience or filming equipment to make happen. Even new filmmakers such as ourselves can use basic editing software to create interesting effects. We can also orient the camera to produce different depths in our footage. As long as we utilize the light sources available to us, we can definitely create some interesting lighting on the characters and in our scenes. We will utilize all of these techniques and more because we want to make our short film as awesome as possible. This is our first time and we intend to give our all!
One other source of inspiration for film techniques would definitely be the classic movie, Citizen Kane. I watched this movie with my roommate after we started this class. It was such an amazing movie filled with all sorts of different camera angles, lighting, and special effects. This movie is still looked at today for inspiration by true moviemakers. Citizen Kane is the ultimate movie for finding techniques for producing a new film. Orson Welles is someone that I look up to for sure when it comes to making movies.
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