"Wind reel and print"

Well, it has come to that time of the semester here at Ithaca College when things start to get a little hectic with finals, finding a ride home, re-shoots, laundry, Kendall day, figuring out textbook rental return dates etc. Living in the college world, these stressors are supposed to be taking over my life, However, while working on my Fiction Field Production class short movie assignment, I quickly found out that "Manage Your Time 101" should be offered and be a requirement for all Parkies, if not every student in college.My experience working with my crew was one I will never forget. It was my first time writing for this type of assignment, and also taking on the job of Script Supervisor, never did I ever think that I would be in the local supermarket passed midnight on a school night. I wasn't expecting the amount of time I was about to spend with my classmates outside of out normal classroom setting. I wasn't sure how well we would all get along, if our ideas would even work well together, or if I even felt comfortable sharing my ideas aloud.

 I quickly had a reality check at our first shoot when it was 2:30am on a Monday night, cigarette smoke clouded the living room from our countless takes of cigarette puffs, and I realized that at that moment, this was what I came to college for. This is what I am meant to be doing. I then didn't even want to imagine where else I would be if i weren't in that clogged up smoky living room.

It always amazes me when its the end of the semester and in some of my classes, I maybe know the persons name who is is sitting next to me, the professors name, and thats about it. In others, I know everyone, everyone knows me, I am invested, and overall enjoy my time spent in the classroom. In this class, on the first day I knew about half of everyones names solely from being in classes with them in a previous semester. Once our "teams" were made for our movies, I had two ways of approaching the situation. One, I let my position be assigned to me, don't put too much opinion, and just flow. Or two, speak my mind, let my personality make its way out, and genuinely enjoy my time working with these 7 other people until the semesters over. Im happy that I chose the second route, because what came out of working with those 7 other people, was so freaking cool. I had no idea the amount of talent I was surrounded by, and if I was just open to it, I could learn a lot from these kids. Not only were we able to work together, share our ideas, and produce an amazing short film. We were able to have fun, and work as friends We created awesome memories together, and some pretty amazing friendships that I will forever be grateful for.

End-of-semester Reflection

As the semester comes to a close, I have a lot to think about and a lot to reflect upon; mainly, the new-found appreciation I have for the field of film production. Before this class, I can confidently say that I already knew much more about the industry than the vast majority of my friends. I've always had an appreciation for the film industry and for those who work in it, but not to this level.

Last year, I took an intro to field production course, and I certainly learned a lot from it, but my overall opinion of film production was not at all affected through the experience. Fiction Field Production 1--through the semester-long project we had to complete--taught me a whole lot more about the industry than I ever would have thought possible.

What was so different about this class was the fact that, for the first time since I've gotten to this school, we were assigned a legitimate project that really put everyone's skills to the test. The project was simple (or so I thought): make a film that's based off a news story. The story can cover any topic and can be from any time period. Everyone in the class brought in a story, we voted on the two we liked best, and then we split ourselves into two groups.

With two groups of seven students, everyone was able to have their own crew position, instead of having everyone split the work evenly like in the intro class. The most exciting part was that we, for the most part, chose the group and position we would stick with for the entirety of the semester. As one who has never been particularly fond of preproduction work, I was ecstatic to be able to step aside and let someone else take care of it.

Now, while this was an especially exciting part of the project for me, it was also one of the more nerve-wracking aspects of the process. While it was no longer my responsibility to write, schedule, direct, or shoot the film (I was given the position of editor), it also meant that a whole lot of things were out of my control. Sure, I could give my input on whatever I wanted--and it was often well-regarded--but for the most part, the final decision on most things was not mine.

My point is that while it's nice to not have to bother myself with certain aspects of the project, it also meant that I had to have faith in my fellow group members. As one who tends to take control in a group setting, this was something I had to quickly learn to get over. From the very start, I had to constantly remind myself not to intervene in others' work and to trust them more than I usually would have in the past.

With everyone working on their own portion of the film, a whole lot more effort could be put into each aspect of the project, as opposed to when everyone had to split their efforts amongst everything. With every student putting forth a whole new level of effort into their work than I've ever seen before, I was able to really watch and admire everyone's talent while also taking the time to appreciate the amount of work they were each completing.

Yes, my job as editor had a lot of work that came with it as well, but to truly be able to see the amount of work that goes into the entire process of a film's production and the high level of skill that's required to make a quality product is unbelievable. I used to think we simply weren't using the proper equipment to make a good film, but it turns out that what it really takes is a group of talented students who are willing to put forth the effort. Duh.

Thank you, Arturo Sinclair, for a brand-new experience and for passing your knowledge onto all of us.

Here's the Facebook event for the screening this upcoming Saturday!

End of the year

I decided I was going to change up the last post and just say how much I learned in the class and how much I enjoyed it.

To start I think Arturo Sinclair is incredibly knowledgable about the subject he teaches. I thoroughly believe that I got the most out of this class than any other class i took in TV/R. Learning about being a perfectionist and striving to make the best films we possibly can. I was inspired by the class and I am excited to continue my film journey. Thank you again Arturo for being such an open teacher and and being critical because it definitely pays off. I guarantee that I will being using almost every one of your life lessons in any future production I make. Have a great end of the year.

P.S. I have states tomorrow (Saturday May 4 all day) and will not be able to make the screenings.

Arby's Project Update

So we literally just finished filming one of our scenes for the project and it went great. We filmed the scene in which (Jake) the main character played by Erich Westfield is being bullied in school on his birthday. The scene consists of a posse of 5 bullies who all make fun of him about his love for Arby's and the fact that his mom was killed in a drunk driving accident by his father. Kyle Vorbach (DP) did an excellent job filming the scene. He used a lot of great close ups and wide angle shots. He did the entire scene without a tripod in order to add to the atmosphere of the bullying. He wanted it to feel as if you were in a group of people spectating this in a school. We ended up filming in a hallway of the CHS building, where it looked most like a high school. We filmed for about 2 hours and are getting ready to plan our next shooting date, which will probably be early next week.

Group Update

Today my group and I filmed on location at my friend's house. It was really nice working off campus because it allowed us to bring a real life element to our story rather than being subjected to campus housing. It was really interesting seeing the characters in our script come to life and I give my group members a lot of credit for casting such good actors. If I could have changed one thing I wished we would have slated our video and audio now it looks like we'll have to deal with that issue in post-production. Today we completed about 70% of all shooting and we intend to finish the rest tomorrow. So far, so good.

Movie Critics

They have a tough job.

I am about halfway through doing my "I missed a blog post so I need to write a paper about films" stuff, and I've got to say that it's more difficult than I expected.

I have been watching movies since I was a child. In fact, there is a small mountain of ticket stubs from every films I've been to since the 6th grade. During each preview, I make a snap judgement about a film. And upon leaving the theatre, I always have my own opinion. For some reason, though, I can not formulate it into more than a handful of sentences. While writing these film reviews for class, I encountered a snag. I can't seem to draw out my thoughts enough to make a lengthy argument. However, it gets easier with every attempt.

Professional film critics often get a bad rap, but I respect their profession and their opinions. Sometimes I disagree with their thoughts, but that is the beauty of film.

We can't stop here, this is bat country!

It's so strange to miss class so early on in the year; in fact, it's really messing up my mindset for the semester already.  I definitely need to catch up, and fast.  It's amazing how losing out on just two hours in a lab, spending them instead revisiting lunch on the ceramic throne in my Emerson dorm, can feel like such a casualty to my learning already.  Sure, I did the usual talking to friends in the class to see what I missed, emailing professors that needed a reason for my absence, but I can't help feeling a little lost anyhow.  Have you ever noticed how anxious you get when you know that you've probably missed something important (in my case, creating a group and working on a scene), but the only thing you can really do to get back with the program is to barrel forward blindly and hope for the best?  It's definitely an awkward position, especially since we're only in our second week (I think...?).

So, instead of feeling like I'd totally lost my ground, I opted to watch a movie in between trips to the bathroom.  My first thought was to pick something off of Arturo's extra credit links, just to see what kind of hidden gems are out there, only to realize that I should probably watch something I know a bit better if I was going to be frequently running away and missing large chunks of time.  Thus, I put in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

Don't know the movie?  Check out the trailer:

It's absolutely fascinating to me, as far as storylines go; who would ever dare to push human limits in such an insane way?  I've always been curious about what Thompson was thinking when he wrote this book (though I believe he wrote it based on personal experience, which then leads to even more questions).  Then, I look at the intriguing ways that they manipulated the cameras and shots in Gilliam's film, and am both amused and intrigued by it.  Certainly the effects aren't anywhere near up to par (I mean, the movie's over a decade old), but it's curious to see how such psychedelic effects could be portrayed to the audience without entirely confusing them.  Going back and forth between seeing the "trip" and reality was a good choice, in my opinion; it brings out the chaos in both characters' minds for viewers to better understand while also showing them how strangely the two men are truly acting in the world.  It's comical, yet it poses a somewhat alarming question: how far will people go just to have a little fun?

"Making films is solving problems"

I really have no idea what to think coming into this class; sure, I've spent my time in Park's multitude of introductory level classes and found a love for field production, but this is something entirely new.  Now that I have a little of a background in the area, it's expected that I also possess some basic level of knowledge about all stages of the field.  Some things are fuzzy from last year (attending class on painkillers for a contusion and sprain in your knee doesn't really help you focus), but it is with absolute certainty that I can say that I enjoy what I do.  However, scheduling Fiction Field 1 into my semester for Fall 2012 was a bit anxiety-inducing.  Not only do I doubt my own ability, but what's to say that I won't have a terrible class, limited skills, or an awful professor?  What will I do then?

Fortunately, I didn't have to give that much thought once I was into the first class.  Almost immediately, I felt comfortable in the lab with the group around me, and Arturo's words caught my attention from the start.  I was particularly drawn to one statement, which I went to great lengths to remember: "Making films is solving problems."  Now, there's something I could latch onto and think deeply about.  This quote really hit home for me, because it seemed so incredibly relevant to my life and what I'd like to do with my future.  It is my greatest dream to somehow work within the communications industry to bring about change for the better, or at the very least bring notice to overlooked yet important ideas.  I've had a passion for filmmaking and editing for several years now, only to be enhanced within Park's walls, and to hear words that so profoundly state what I want to dedicate my life to is perhaps the most reassuring thing I've had said to me all week.

I'm no longer worried about this initial leap into a new level of work and intelligence; as a matter of fact, I'm quite looking forward to it.  I want to have my skills and thoughts challenged and provoked by new lessons, despite knowing that I will inevitably make mistakes and get down on myself for slips in my work.  Hopefully, by the end of the semester, I can look back and say that I've made progress on my journey to making films that solve problems in the world.  As long as I can do that, and be happy with said progress, I think that Fiction Field 1 is going to be one hell of an awesome class.

bright and early

whats going on fiction field. almost done with the ADR. I exported to quicktime though and it knocked my audio track off by like half a second thats pretty annoying. on the plus side my finals arent looking too bad (bc i know all you were wondering). hope everythings going well for you guys..except sean yoo and luke

the end..well almost

what would a video project be without last minute craziness and people ready to punch, kick headbutt or stab the computer? but even with all of that we got all of our stuff in on time and i gotta say that i am really happy with what we put together. only thing left is the paper work for class that shouldnt be too bad i mean we have most of the that already. guess i should start getting on that ADR project

anybody have a good george w bush impression? consider this an invite if you want to help me out for the project ill have the script and all that fun stuff all you gotta do is read

in other news..whered the sun go?

green screens are pretty sick

today in class we shot a short scene from our GDK and after we got everything in place i was really impressed with exactly what was possible with the green screen. i mean it had reflections from our background on things like the desk. after effects looks like it does a lot of the work, or maybe arturo just made it look easy, probably the latter. we did have some scares as far as styrofoam ceilings go but im really glad we did that in class today i think i learned a lot