I'm hoping to shoot the final shots I need on Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. I'll bring the hoodies to have Julia and Jimmy wear and then get a camera from the school, along with a digital camera to take photos with.
I decided that I would lay my old interview over photographs and stills from the footage I already shot and will shoot in the near future. This way I won't have to redo the interview and will have very little work left to do.
I still need to finish editing the footage I already shot, but I'm starting to think that I won't finish in time for the film festival. True, it's about three weeks away, but I'm nervous. I should probably edit tomorrow after my history class until I have to work, and make a list of the things I need to shoot still. That way I'll know for sure what's left to do.
For now, I might as well go out and buy my own Rubik's cube because I won't be able to borrow Jane's before Tuesday. Maybe I'll have the two actors pose in Delaware Park, where we're shooting, with books instead of a Rubik's cube and a book.
And don't get me started on the DVD stuff. I haven't even thought about compression and design or anything. I totally forgot how to do the compression of the movies, and the music I have I haven't even imported yet into Final Cut Pro. Sooo much work. Sooo little time.
And no credits, done, either.
Showing posts with label team members. Show all posts
Showing posts with label team members. Show all posts
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
First Day of Shooting: A Success!
I just got back from today's shoot and while we ran into several problems (broken tripod, forgotten lines, patron interruptions, accidental pressing of buttons that influence received light), it was overall a major success. We shot about ninety-nine percent of what I had planned in the storyboards.
Due to the weather being crappy, we couldn't shoot outside at Delaware Park because the swings weren't up, and it was fairly dark and cloudy and too many people were outside to shoot the flowers scene.
I also realized that I can't have the guy who plays Simon play the person who pops up in Cassandra's thoughts after each clue, so I'll need to find someone else to go through the motions of the three short scenes.
The quality of the camerawork isn't as good as I'd have liked, but I believe I grew from the experience. Joe, unfortunately, had to work today, which is why I was stuck doing the camerawork, but Ryan (actor who played Nick) and Julia (actress who played Cassandra) alternated with me to get the sound recorded correctly.
We had a few instances where the microphone wasn't turned on and we had to reshoot three scenes due to bad audio and poor lighting. It took me about an hour to figure out how to use the camera in the first place, and we didn't start shooting until about ten, but we finished around two.
The opening credits I shot last night, and they're beautiful. I just hope my other credits and my actual footage isn't awful, 'cause we spent a lot of time working on scenes and I really would be upset if the quality isn't as good onscreen as it was on the camera.
As I see it, I'll rent the equipment for a Monday or Tuesday afternoon in April, when the weather is nicer, and I'll shoot the final scenes then.
As for editing, I booked the editing suite at school for Monday night from four to six, though I'll stay until about nine to see how much I can get edited. I need to download the music from No Time to Think's website (their permission has already been given) and move the songs to either a jump drive or e-mail them to myself. I also need to find some more music to use for the introduction and/or conclusion credits.
Due to the weather being crappy, we couldn't shoot outside at Delaware Park because the swings weren't up, and it was fairly dark and cloudy and too many people were outside to shoot the flowers scene.
I also realized that I can't have the guy who plays Simon play the person who pops up in Cassandra's thoughts after each clue, so I'll need to find someone else to go through the motions of the three short scenes.
The quality of the camerawork isn't as good as I'd have liked, but I believe I grew from the experience. Joe, unfortunately, had to work today, which is why I was stuck doing the camerawork, but Ryan (actor who played Nick) and Julia (actress who played Cassandra) alternated with me to get the sound recorded correctly.
We had a few instances where the microphone wasn't turned on and we had to reshoot three scenes due to bad audio and poor lighting. It took me about an hour to figure out how to use the camera in the first place, and we didn't start shooting until about ten, but we finished around two.
The opening credits I shot last night, and they're beautiful. I just hope my other credits and my actual footage isn't awful, 'cause we spent a lot of time working on scenes and I really would be upset if the quality isn't as good onscreen as it was on the camera.
As I see it, I'll rent the equipment for a Monday or Tuesday afternoon in April, when the weather is nicer, and I'll shoot the final scenes then.
As for editing, I booked the editing suite at school for Monday night from four to six, though I'll stay until about nine to see how much I can get edited. I need to download the music from No Time to Think's website (their permission has already been given) and move the songs to either a jump drive or e-mail them to myself. I also need to find some more music to use for the introduction and/or conclusion credits.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Production Date
So I am officially filming on Saturday the 12th of March. However, my first actor who wanted to be Simon said he can no longer be in the movie because of his commitment to the school play. I can't reschedule the date so I just recast his character and gave the position to the person who wanted to play Nick, the secondary character, and found a replacement for Nick. The guy I chose to play Nick has a very similar personality to the character so I believe it shouldn't be too difficult for him to remember his lines or physically perform.
Friday, March 4, 2011
The First Problematic Encounter
So I ran into my first real problem for this project. My artist friend and I had a falling out after she completed the first sketch of the storyboard. What I learned after we fought was that her cat had passed away, but that still doesn't excuse the way she spoke to me and treated me when I didn't know what had taken place. Before I knew of the death, I asked her when she thought she would be done with the final version of the storyboard and she freaked out because she had been skipping her other classes due to depression at the loss of her cat.
Therefore, I will be finishing the storyboard myself. I will cut out each frame, place six of them together on a page, and copy them. Now, she drew the initial sketches on tracing paper so I'll need to lay a thicker page or a solid white piece of paper over the back of each sketch so each frame comes out when I'm done copying it.
With roughly seventy to eighty frames, I have my work cut out for me. But I will do my best to get this storyboard completed. I will still give her credit for doing the storyboard but because she didn't finish it or put in specific details, I'll probably have to add my name to the credits as well for the work that I'll do. Hopefully the next post will contain some pictures of the storyboard, or segments of it. Her work truly is amazing. It's just too bad she won't be a part of the team anymore because we share a similar aesthetic preference and she would have been an incredible, helpful co-director.
Therefore, I will be finishing the storyboard myself. I will cut out each frame, place six of them together on a page, and copy them. Now, she drew the initial sketches on tracing paper so I'll need to lay a thicker page or a solid white piece of paper over the back of each sketch so each frame comes out when I'm done copying it.
With roughly seventy to eighty frames, I have my work cut out for me. But I will do my best to get this storyboard completed. I will still give her credit for doing the storyboard but because she didn't finish it or put in specific details, I'll probably have to add my name to the credits as well for the work that I'll do. Hopefully the next post will contain some pictures of the storyboard, or segments of it. Her work truly is amazing. It's just too bad she won't be a part of the team anymore because we share a similar aesthetic preference and she would have been an incredible, helpful co-director.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Storyboarding: The Final Cut
Today my friend and I finished working on the storyboard as she didn't have time to finish on her own over the weekend. She said she'll scan the pages she has so she can edit them on her computer and print out a copy of the final storyboard for me to turn in Wednesday. Let me tell you, it looks fan-freaking-tastic!
My only concern is that because there are so many frames (I believe about 75 to 100 frames total) I'll have a stack of papers larger than my script and organizing them is going to be a pain in terms of figuring out what to shoot each day of filming, which I've yet to decide since I don't have all my actors yet. She mentioned being able to fit only four to six frames per page, and of course she has to scan all of these into her computer to edit them and organize them. I hope she remembers to number them.
I don't know if it will be worth it to post the entire storyboard here, so maybe I'll only post the first few pages or link to a Flickr gallery with everything posted there.
Depending on how I turn this production journal in, I may just wait to export this blog, print everything out, and then turn in a additional copy of the storyboard as a standalone post.
My only concern is that because there are so many frames (I believe about 75 to 100 frames total) I'll have a stack of papers larger than my script and organizing them is going to be a pain in terms of figuring out what to shoot each day of filming, which I've yet to decide since I don't have all my actors yet. She mentioned being able to fit only four to six frames per page, and of course she has to scan all of these into her computer to edit them and organize them. I hope she remembers to number them.
I don't know if it will be worth it to post the entire storyboard here, so maybe I'll only post the first few pages or link to a Flickr gallery with everything posted there.
Depending on how I turn this production journal in, I may just wait to export this blog, print everything out, and then turn in a additional copy of the storyboard as a standalone post.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Storyboarding: Take 2
I finally heard back from my artist friend today and we met up to discuss the storyboard. It turns out her storyboarding class is a lot more thorough than I am and she didn't need any help from me at all with terminology or templates. She got straight to work on designing the template herself, no word from me to include a directional box below each frame.
I went over what happened in the script, told her what I envisioned, and with the skills I only wish I had, she sketched Rubik's cubes, people, desks, bookshelves, and so much more with the ease of a trained artist.
We made it about a third of the way through the script before I only had to read her the scene from the script and she knew me well enough to draw the shots I envisioned without me saying a word as to what I wanted drawn. At two-thirds of the way through the script, I had to leave and I gave her the script to keep to finish up on her own.
We'll meet up Monday after class to go over her rough draft of the storyboard and make any adjustments that need to be made for the Wednesday deadline. She's an amazing artist and I'll hopefully remember to upload all the storyboard pages to a picture account (Flickr, PhotoBucket, etc.) and link them in a separate post.
She said she would do this for free, which I'm very grateful for as I'm a poor college student with no budget for this movie. Though she has a slight obsession with Mountain Dew (being the gamer that she is), so I think I can afford to indulge her there.
I went over what happened in the script, told her what I envisioned, and with the skills I only wish I had, she sketched Rubik's cubes, people, desks, bookshelves, and so much more with the ease of a trained artist.
We made it about a third of the way through the script before I only had to read her the scene from the script and she knew me well enough to draw the shots I envisioned without me saying a word as to what I wanted drawn. At two-thirds of the way through the script, I had to leave and I gave her the script to keep to finish up on her own.
We'll meet up Monday after class to go over her rough draft of the storyboard and make any adjustments that need to be made for the Wednesday deadline. She's an amazing artist and I'll hopefully remember to upload all the storyboard pages to a picture account (Flickr, PhotoBucket, etc.) and link them in a separate post.
She said she would do this for free, which I'm very grateful for as I'm a poor college student with no budget for this movie. Though she has a slight obsession with Mountain Dew (being the gamer that she is), so I think I can afford to indulge her there.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Storyboarding: A Tale of No Artists
As in, I officially have no artists to draw my storyboard for me. I asked my friend who is an art major to storyboard since she's taking an advertising class in which storyboarding is something they're learning at the moment. However, she's a busy person and I'd have to sit down with her and go over what I want drawn, give her a list of specific examples of shots and camera angles, and possibly provide a link to a more extensive list of film terminology.
And this is all assuming I make no further changes to my script, which has yet to be graded and has only received feedback from one person.
My friend is difficult to find, even though she lives on campus, so I'm hoping to snag her on a weekend and entice her with a homecooked meal in exchange for her services. Not to mention the fact that she can keep a copy of the storyboard as a part of her list of experiences (and get her name in the credits list, which I think is way cooler).
And this is all assuming I make no further changes to my script, which has yet to be graded and has only received feedback from one person.
My friend is difficult to find, even though she lives on campus, so I'm hoping to snag her on a weekend and entice her with a homecooked meal in exchange for her services. Not to mention the fact that she can keep a copy of the storyboard as a part of her list of experiences (and get her name in the credits list, which I think is way cooler).
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Expectations and Ideas
As of this moment, I know that the following are requirements for this semester's production:
Working in a group has given me great insight into the phenomenon known as "delegating responsibility". Now that we're back to doing independent work again, I feel more in the zone because I learned which students in my class were best at certain aspects of production that I am capable of doing but not the best at. Therefore I can ask specific students if they would be willing to take a certain position within my production group.
So far I've asked Joe W. to be my cinematographer and he agreed. John S. also agreed to work with me on writing and playing piano music, as we aren't allowed to use copyrighted music for this project. I may ask Gabe S., John D., or Travis C. to assist me with editing since all three know how to use Final Cut Pro more effectively that I do.
I admit that I'm a bit nervous about making a professional DVD and treating this project like I'm preparing to submit it into a film festival. You see, over the winter break, I wrote a nine-page screenplay titled "Puzzle to My Heart". It's the tale of a puzzle-obsessed girl who works in a library, the co-worker boy who admires her from afar, and the puzzle she met and then fell in love with. Not that interesting of a story, is it? So with all the expectations of this project, you can see why I'm hesitant to use that script. I have several other ideas, you see. One involves a twist of dreams and reality, another a fabulous female indie character, and the last telling the story of a mime's dreadful curse.
With so many ideas competing for one slot, it's tempting to go with the idea I already wrote to save myself work, but then I feel like I might miss out on an opportunity to create a truly great movie from one of the other ideas. Due Monday is a paragraph about my movie concept, including a logline (definition: a movie's description in thirty words or less). I can scrap the idea after I pitch it and choose another concept, but I can't pitch all my ideas and then work on the one that receives the most feedback.
- Marketing plan
- DVD of the final video
- Professional DVD case with cover art, synopsis, movie stills
- Trailer
- Production stills
- Behind-the-scenes footage
- Interview with the director (me)
- Press release
- Budget plan
- Production Journal/Blog
Working in a group has given me great insight into the phenomenon known as "delegating responsibility". Now that we're back to doing independent work again, I feel more in the zone because I learned which students in my class were best at certain aspects of production that I am capable of doing but not the best at. Therefore I can ask specific students if they would be willing to take a certain position within my production group.
So far I've asked Joe W. to be my cinematographer and he agreed. John S. also agreed to work with me on writing and playing piano music, as we aren't allowed to use copyrighted music for this project. I may ask Gabe S., John D., or Travis C. to assist me with editing since all three know how to use Final Cut Pro more effectively that I do.
I admit that I'm a bit nervous about making a professional DVD and treating this project like I'm preparing to submit it into a film festival. You see, over the winter break, I wrote a nine-page screenplay titled "Puzzle to My Heart". It's the tale of a puzzle-obsessed girl who works in a library, the co-worker boy who admires her from afar, and the puzzle she met and then fell in love with. Not that interesting of a story, is it? So with all the expectations of this project, you can see why I'm hesitant to use that script. I have several other ideas, you see. One involves a twist of dreams and reality, another a fabulous female indie character, and the last telling the story of a mime's dreadful curse.
With so many ideas competing for one slot, it's tempting to go with the idea I already wrote to save myself work, but then I feel like I might miss out on an opportunity to create a truly great movie from one of the other ideas. Due Monday is a paragraph about my movie concept, including a logline (definition: a movie's description in thirty words or less). I can scrap the idea after I pitch it and choose another concept, but I can't pitch all my ideas and then work on the one that receives the most feedback.
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