assignment write up

Overall I feel like the shoot went well. I had some issues keeping lighting consistent, from shot to shot the lighting on the characters changes a bit awkwardly. I also had issues with steady camera movement. I wanted to change the position of the camera often, so the film wouldn't get boring visually. The tripod shots were easy to pan, but I tried some handheld shots and I think they may  be too shaky. That could be a cool effect though, we'll see. Sound went well, and I feel like my talent did a pretty good job making their lines believable. I shot a scene on my macbook with the isight, edited it in imovie and burned a DVD to be playing on the TV in a few of my shots, and I feel like that was successful. The short movie I made in imovie might have been more interesting than this final one. I tried a variety of shots for character to character conversations. Hopefully I'll be able to edit them into a believable mix. I'm still concerned about the differing lighting though, and I need to re-shoot a few shots of my TV playing the movie I made in imovie. 

quiz #2

1. key light 

fill light

back light

2. backlight

3.key light  (decreased by 20%)

4. fill light  (decreased by 60%)

5. background light-used to illuminate the background to bring the subject into context

location scout photos and map

the top photos are some from the actual locations, and the bottom diagrams show where the power in these locations come from. I still need to get a photo of the fuse box for the apartment. Also, the "field" location obviously looks like a parking lot in the top photo, so I'll have to shoot to make sure the parking lot doesn't show. I think I can have the camera dark enough on the other field shots to hide some of the background. If not, I may have to change field locations. 

preproduction

1.     Script breakdown-

a.     Number of actors required: 3 + one crowd of 5

i.                types required-

ii.              shy, awkward boy (Dylan)

iii.             outgoing, motivated girl (Madeline)

iv.             drunk, flirty girl

v.              a crowd of friends at a party

b.     Number of scenes each actor will be in and total length of their performances

i.                Dylan-5 scenes, about 10-12 minutes

ii.              Madeline-3 scenes, about 8 minutes

iii.             Drunkie-1 scene, about 3 minutes

iv.             Small crowd-1 scene, about 5 minutes

c.      Requirements, number and types of locations

i.                requirements- apartment(3 scenes-living room, hallway, kitchen), field (1 scene), car (2 scenes, 1 night, 1 day)

ii.              number: 3 locations, 6 scenes

d.     Number and types of stunts/special effects

i.                None

e.     special costumes/makeup

i.                none

f.      required props

i.                mitten

ii.              car

iii.             air freshener

iv.             TV

2.     2. Location Scout

a.     Apartment- fridge hum, one available kitchen light, one available over head hallway light, one lamp and one overhead light available in living room. One power strip in the bathroom (near the kitchen), one outlet in kitchen, but the light would be in the shot. *see photo of fuse box. Also a slight hum from the light on the outside of the building.

b.     car-road noise, available light from interior car lights, street lights, and headlights from other cars. Could also possibly light the actors with flashlights that sit at their feet with a colored gel over them.

c.      Field-street noise, dorm noise, available power in dorms right next to it, but I planned on having a low lit scene with only the car headlights as lighting.

10/11. RESPONSE TO REHERSAL/TEST SHOTS+REVISION

We attempted to rehearse the hardest scenes with the camera running, scripts memorized and all. Hearing my script read aloud by 2 people who were not inside my head made me want to change the entire movie. After the rehearsal, I did not feel that the script I had written (if left alone) would achieve the emotional response I wanted. However, I felt that the shots were very effective in portraying the metaphor of a memory.

            I decided that I will still have the actors say all of their lines, but I want the film to feel like a memory. This can be achieved by making the sound go in and out, and one line “I was there and he was there and you weren’t there” will repeat (audibly) throughout the film. I also added more trick shots of Madeline disappearing. The trick shots will be a more effective way of portraying the idea of Madeline disappearing from Dylan’s memory.  

            Overall the rehearsal of the script pointed out the glaringly over dramatic lines in my script, so I am rewriting those lines (even though many of them will be inaudible). For example, I am completely omitting the line where both characters apologize at the same time. It sounded too robotic and way too cheesy. The line where Madeline says “I was in France and he was there and you weren’t there” has been changed to the repeating, jumbled line “I was there and he was there and you weren’t there”.  

In making this film an experiment in both audio and visual aspects, it will appear to be more of a memory of an hour, instead of an extremely literal narrative soap opera of an hour, and the garbled reflection of a memory  is the goal of my film. I want it to be a bit overloaded and stressing, much like the memories we can’t seem to forget. They loop and repeat, and keep us tangled in a few fragments of a situation. Since relying heavily on editing seems to be a negative way to go, I want to make this script sound as natural as possible first, so much that I could make it into a narrative film. This seems to be the most logical way to go about jumbling it up. When I jumble the script up, I want the audio to be a combination of the actors playing out their lines, the room noises amplified, and the lines that repeat in their subconscious repeating.

            To provide contrast to the garbled audio that will be present through the first half of the film, I have decided to make the audio drop to either a silence, or one ringing sound when Madeline disappears and the spotlighting sequence begins. When Dylan is lying in front of the TV at the end of the film, the sound will come back through the TV, and it will be the repeating line "I was there and he was there and you weren't" 

This film needs to become a more abstract representation of the memory of this hour. That is the main thing I learned from my rehearsal. Luckily, I don’t have to rewrite the shots or the script to achieve this, I just need to shoot with both audio and visual editing in mind. 

responses...

a.) Dylan's life goals

-to become more social

-to be noticed by doing something extreme

-to prove to everyone that he isn't as boring as he seems

-to fall in love so he isn't alone 

Madeline's life goals

-she doesn't like to set goals

-to shock

-to always say what is on her mind

-to live with absolutely no regrets

-to die doing something insane

-oh, and to work in grassroots organizations promoting non-violence

b.) Dylan's obstacles

-his shyness

-his awkward nature

-his inability to say what he thinks/stand up for himself

Madeline's obstacles

-her inablility to focus on any one thing

-her lack of commitment

-her constant need for attention

c.) The characters are actually avoiding their obstacles. They are both trying to forget about each other, but they can't. They are each other's balance, and it is hard for them to forget that, even when they can't get along.

d.) Dylan will try to convince himself that the time he spent with Madeline wasn't real, he will try to believe that she didn't change him, and he will try to completely forget her. 

Madeline will distract herself with other people, other ways to get attention. She will immerse herself into all of the other things she is doing, and she will immerse herself into someone else's life, in order to forget about Dylan. 

e.) Dylan-He gets out of the car to chase Madeline. This is a big deal for him, she is the only one he has ever actively pursued. He is very quiet and to himself, and he usually doesn't do anything without a lot of convincing. When he still can't get her back, he resorts to spending his time alone, watching the TV (metaphorically) rerun his memories. 

Madeline-She tries to be truthful and explain herself, but when that doesn't work, she runs away. 

f.) Realistically, the actors are experiencing the turmoil of a broken relationship. They fight, they bring up old grudges, and they avoid the truth. They try to forget about each other.  

storyboard

notes
*script begins in kicthen sequence, and continues through the car sequence. 

*these actors are stand-ins