Seasoned Crooks- short film

This is a film I wrote and directed with the help of Armin Dikic as cinematographer. The idea came to me when I was given a prompt that stated, "A young girl has to escape without begin seen when two men walk into her home." I thought that most people would make a dramatic film so I took another turn with it.  I decided to have a young girl making pasta in her house. When two men walk in, she hides with a knife. The two men then get distracted by the smell of her pasta as well as their hunger. When writing the script I had both of my actors in mind for the burglars and I was lucky enough to use them for the actual film.  I spent about a week writing the script. Originally I started without dialogue to see where it would end up. I feel as if that was a good choice because it gave me the freedom to write little dialog and leave it to the actors to play with. Production was a good experience  because everyone was having fun on set and we all knew what he wanted the short to turn out to be. We experienced little troubles and overall had a great time on set which made editing a lot more enjoyable. Editing in general was easy however, the beginning syncopated sounds with the music was difficult and could still be revised to match better. I was lucky to have Armin on camera for me because he knows the equipment very well. I am not the best editor so I was happy to be able to edit this film as well to help me as well as add another thing to the list of what I can do.  Armin and I communicated a lot about what we both wanted the look of the film to be as well as we collaborated with the actors for their input on what they felt the lines should be.  For such a fun loving film, it was a very professional and happy set. If I could change anything I would use a different mic to record the audio differently as well as get a light kit to make the lighting more even on my actors faces.I really enjoy the concept of my film as well as the directing of it.  The casting choices were great and the actor really made the scrip come to life. I will always try to bring the same level of professionalism as well as happiness to my sets because it makes a stressful situation a fun experience. Overall I am happy about the way the film turned out. I know there are things to fix but nothing is perfect. I feel like this shows a new side of my work so I am really happy to be able to add this to my resume as the first short film I have written. What I learned from this will defiantly apply to the way i lead my set during feature film. 

Mansard Roof- Music Video

The concept of the video was initially a group of friends hanging out until one day at a party two one of the boys realizes he is in love with the girl. He sees her with another guy at the party and after they disappears he finds them and starts a fight with the guy. At the end the girl leaves and the by is left on his knees in the middle of the road watching as she leaves. All of this was supposed to be found footage that the group took together.

We let someone who hasn't been director become director or this project in hope of a learning experience. Preproduction kind of lacked because the groups surrounding us distracted our director as well as editor so when filming day was upon us the Art Director and myself as DP were on a different page than him. We went location scouting, completed all story boards, and had a complete beat sheet. only the storyboards got used during production until the director came with ideas scraping all of the work. While on set our first day the Art Director and I set up the lights and set the way it was conveyed to us, we  came prepared to film in the dark with a 50mm lens as well as the light kit. We were also under the impression that the part was going to be found footage as well. We were only let in on the idea that it was supposed to be in real time when we were getting our critiques and the director agreed with the students giving us feedback as if that was the plan and we didn't listen to him. As for editing I wasn't aware of the final product until it was shown in class since I had been gone for client work. If I would have been there I could have seen the issues before they were prevailed in class.

Along the way I learned that I must make sure everyone is in the loop for the decision making process and to make sure you give yourself enough time to make a quality project. Where communication lacked Olivia and I were there with leadership to pick up the slack. We could have improved out project management however all things considered

Although it was a good learning experience I wish I would have chosen to be Director in order to ensure the success of our music video. The idea was there but the execution lacked. However, I loved the aesthetic of the video as a while and enjoyed the idea of it being found footage like a VHS tape.

One thing that I noticed is that people don't understand the role of director. When you are director you do not have the jurisdiction to take the camera out of your DP's hand and start shooting- That is not your job. A director is not a dictator advising your crew is different than being in total control. Overall, I enjoyed the project even when the circumstances are frustrating, it was a good learning experience and it gave the juniors quality work to put in their reel.


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfRhWqRn9eIefb2VFHBQeJA

Music Video- Professional blog post Review

Beezeblocks by alt-J is a music video in which it tell the story as well as shows the story completely in reverse. It causes a misconception in order to make the reveal at the end more prominent. The music video conveys a full beginning, middle and end and goes full circle; an interesting technique. An interesting aspect of this video comes from the ideology of the entire thing being backward. It leads the viewer to see reality from a sewed prospective. It's similar to the "unreliable narrator" effect in literature. The viewer is lead down the complete wrong path the entire time so when you watch it again you pick up on the minor details proving this point. It brings in a different take on the elements of filmmaking. The cinematography is smooth and beautifully shot assumingely on 60 frames per second due to the reversed effect. The story has a beginning middle and end however the story told un-chronologically is conveyed and interpreted different for everyone and can tough on many different subjects. the lightning sets the ominous mood with the blue and red undertones. I think it would be really interesting to do a video backwards like this. I think it is a good test of storytelling and whether a story is strong or if there is a lack of. The preproduction it took to make this had to have been incredibly strong in order to cohesively form the story and tell it completely. A lot of this is one shot. Though it is beautiful and intricate and adds to the overall quality, our equipment at onw and the training we have had with it isn't adequate enough to make the entirety of the music video or film. For example the Lip Dub needed some work to take a step out of amateur and into professional. I think doing an assignment where we are tasked to create a similar video would be interesting in order to test our creativity as well as work and level of preproduction.

Spotify Commercial

Topic

My first project for senior year was a Spotify commercial. We were given the task to create a commercial following the Key principals of film making as well as the five objectives of a good commercial. Our group collaborated to come up with our idea: A boy gets ready for his date and realizes his radio is broken so he does what anyone else would d and he hires a band after surfing the web. the band follows him around all day until his date finally just asks why he doesn't just download Spotify.

Process

We were assigned groups for this project to help integrate the Juniors and Seniors. My group and I collaborated to figure out our concept and we landed on Spotify. As director I annotated my script to help filming to smoothly as well as giving my DP and editor directions. As for casting, my team and I collaborated to get our actors in line. Our filming day went really well and we finished in our predicted time frame. Editing went well but I feel like it could have been better if we could have expanded it longer.

Director

Overall, my group worked very well together and too direction well. We lacked with art direction due to the loss of a team member. I learned to make sure all bases are covered before filming (art direction) we could have had better costumes. 

If I could change anything I would add fun costumes for the band as well as expanding it to make it longer. I loved our concept and I loved my group and my actors. I feel as if they really helped make it come to life. My group worked really well together to make sure we met all of the requirements of a good commercial which I believe we executed great. As a team who worked together well and trusted each others judgement I believe it helped us create a great commercial using the 5 elements of filmmaking where lighting lacked cinematography was there to pick it up where sound lacked the acting saved it the strong parts out weighed the weak and I am very proud of my group.

Kansas City Savior Reflection

First Assistant Director 

Throughout the creation of the feature I took on many different aspects of the roles but most importantly I was the 1st AD. within my role I made detailed schedule breakdowns saying what everyone needed to be doing minute by minute, wrote daily "To Do" lists, oversaw Art Direction as well as all pre-production priorities. Some challenges I faced included over-loading myself with work. Some of that came from me not trusting that tasks would get done and some of it had to do with our directorial situation. Along the wayI learned that sometimes you need to learn to face circumstances that are not necessarily what you wanted or expected. I also learned how to follow through with tasks and how to ensure the success of the film or project as a whole rather than just success for yourself. Some feedback I was given from the class was to not be as harsh about everything we do. In my opinion its not harsh its caring. However, I made a change by letting myself have more fun on set. Overall I believe I did everything I could do to make the film successful. I feel I impacted the film by picking up some slack when I needed to as well as ensuring everyone was on task bringing a professional feeling to it. 

Time management 

In class I posted a TO DO list every day sharing with the class what they needed to do to prepare for the next shoot. I also made schedule breakdowns during class to help our filming days go smoother. There were not many times where I was done before class got out. If I were done Keenan and I would conference about the next shoot to ensure we were on the same page, or at least close. Outside of class I would stay up all night to make sure everything for the shoot was done if I had not gotten conformation. At times when I asked for things to be done and they weren't, I had to go out and take care of it myself. I feel as if this has bettered me as an eComm student because it taught me follow through and that sometimes to get things done you need to take charge. 

Strengths

I think my main strength is how driven and passionate I am about what I do in this class. To maximize my strengths I try to experience as much as I can in order to make me a more well rounded filmmaker.

Improvements

I need to learn that I don't need to do everything myself. I need to learn to trust my crew since they are my team and they are glue of the whole project. I tend to get stressed out when things begin to go poorly so I am planning on making a list of things I need to work on over the summer and throughout the next year to prepare me in the best way possible for the next years feature film. 

Summary

I loved getting to appreciate everyones work at the Premiere. Brett Taylor's Short film blew me away like everything he does and the hidden was absolutely gorgeous due to Leah and Amanda as well as Brady's vision. I thoroughly enjoyed merging both eComm classes for the night since I never get to experience the creativity and family environment of sixth and seventh hour. Seeing everyone dressed up and together made my heart happy even if I wasn't "happy" with the outcome of my movie.  The process of the movie and being on set though stressful, made me realize how much I want to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. I feel like the Premiere went very well However, I got feedback from my family saying that they didn't know when they could get up to use the restroom or get snacks. Overall I learned how to deal with people you don't necessarily want to work with and how to find a way to make the best out of a stressful situation. For next year I want to be Director and I want to start earlier in the year and be more of a family as an eComm class. Overall, I am going to miss all of my seniors and the memories I made with them. I appreciate Abbey Heller and all the work she put in to make this film as good as we could make it with what we had to work with. The amount of appreciation I have for the people who put everything they had into the movie will stay with me forever and continue to inspire me as I begin a career in filmmaking. 

No Film School- Mockumentary

Recently a group and I have decided to make a "mockumentary" all about our eComm class. The original goal was to make it like the office, but after reading the article and watching the video below, I had learned that mockumentaries come in all genres.

Television hit, "The Office" Star Jenna Fischer said that the producer let her discover her relationship between Pam and Roy on her own. It is included that the Camera becomes its own character as well with the abrupt movements and breaking of the 4th wall. Author of the article, Erik Luers defines a mocumentary; "Encompassing a style long associated with the work of nonfiction—handheld camerawork, jarringly abrupt edits, fly-on-the-wall scenarios, the breaking of the fourth wall—mockumentaries are often hilarious due to the execution of the form: how could something this absurd be real?"  Webster Dictionary defines it as a facetious or satirical work presented in the style of a documentary. Mockumentaries such as "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" with a humorous approach where as "The Blair Witch Project" is also in the category of mockumentary-- horror. What I can take from this article is the idea of not making your project fit into a specific genre. I will write a story line and have actors know the story line and improv so you can see natural acting. To find out more about mockumentaries read the article below:

https://nofilmschool.com/2018/05/watch-mockumentary

Entertainment- Semester 1 Final

In my first semester of Entertainment Production, We created a PSA a short film, worked on film treatments and scripts, and finished the semester beginning our full length feature film.

PSA

At the beginning of the assignment, my group wanted to do water conservation. However, we realized the concept we were actually going for was the difference between two realities. We decided to changer concept to giving back rather than water conservation. My job was to be the cinematographer and the storyboarder. Working closely with the director Olivia, I helped to gain insight on how we needed the overall outcome of the video. The team along with our actors, spent an entire Saturday filming all of the shots and scenes we needed. Addie designed the costumes and picked the locations of the video. George used Adobe Premier Pro to edit our video that will be played for the class (the above edit is mine not Georges's). We were able to use all of the five guarantees to enhance our video. our group had great communication even through Georges concussion. Olivia showed herself as a leader through directing. Addie, Olivia, and I collaborated to make sure we got the aesthetic of the shot we wanted. We had a scheduled day of shooting and completed everything we needed to on time and finally George was good with his technical skills, which helped all of us edit our videos too. If I could change anything I would add some B-Roll because my video has none at all. I really liked the people I was working with and I liked the locations we shot at. I will always make sure we have a schedule so we know what we are doing at all times. Overall, I enjoyed the project and the group I was able to work with.

Short Film-Hello

Hello was written and directed by Alex Manriquez. I was in a group that faced more struggles in this project. The basis of the project was to write and create a short film that had a beginning, middle, and an end. This took us longer than usual because it started with everyone writing their own short film and then collaborating in a group of 5 to pick one to create. At the beginning the short film was running smoothly until we began to hit the bumps. Our director position was almost taken over by another person in our group and we faced struggles when it came to editing when our editor didn't get our film down in time and then just threw it all together. Along the way I learned that when something matters to me I need to enforce that it gets done and its done in the way that will be most beneficial to our film. We were told that there was a lot to be changed about our film including jump cuts, color grading, and unfocused shots. As art director there was nothing I could do to fix the things that were already damaged. Overall, I am not proud of this film at all and I would have rather made my own that stood up to my standards because I know I am better than what was put up on the screen. 

2017 Homecoming Candidate video

This wasn't apart of the class, but I was also given the opportunity to make the homecoming candidate video this year. I faces lots of struggles with this video including terrible wind, not getting a plane I was offered, and some color balancing details. Overall, I learned all from this project and being able to balance STUCO and eComm. 

Film Treatment/Script

For my film treatment I wrote a murder mystery musical. It was based off of the board game clue and it was supposed to be a comedic take on a cheesy 1920s dinner party. One day I would love to make this movie because I feel like it could go places and I could be quite successful with it. I believe the story was great with a beginning middle and an end but the only problem was being able to fully write a musical score for a film that we weren't sure would be long enough to completely tell the story I was hoping for. Along the way I learned that when I wasn't to get something accomplished I need to make sure it gets done and I know that I will make this film. 

Time management

In class I use my time well and quite frankly I've been getting g annoyed when I ask someone to do something and it doesn't get done because they are distracted by their peers or because they want to do things that aren't even about eComm. I've realized this a lot this last quarter after I've been given the role of 1st AD for our feature film. I have had to do a lot of things my self when they aren't my job and it puts a lot of extra pressure on me but if I want it done well, I trust myself. To stay productive I will write down new ideas that I have come across throughout the day but typically I work most of the hour. Recently outside of class I have been researching colleges and figuring out how to create a reel and what I need to do to impress schools. 

Strengths

I feel like I am very good at talking to people and executing their ideas into the video they have asked me to make for them. I have found I am a good leader and I need to continue working on my leadership abilities and hopefully create a strong enough stance to be a respected director. 

Weakness

A weakness that I have is anxiety. I get nervous when I am given a position of authority because I feel like some of the people in our class don't approve or don't think I can do it. However, I overcome that after I realize the what they think doesn't matter and I know that I am am good and I can do whatever I set my mind to. 

Guest speakers

From our guest speakers I learned that the field of film is hard but I can do it if I have the heart and dedication for it, which I do. I learned a lot about the equipment and I am excited to continue to work with it. 

Summary

This year has had its ups and its downs but I know that everything I've faced will just help me grow as a film maker and as a person. I have learned things specific to eComm the people can't learn anyplace else. I have been provided a second family with the people I my class and my instructor and sometimes it hurts when I feel like the people in the family wither aren't proud of each other to they aren't wanting everyone to succeed. I know not everyone shares the same passion as I do but I do know that if I didn't care about this as much as the other people, I wouldn't ruin it for them. I do feel like we need a class bonding day where we can all get closer because I feel as if we don't understand each other yet and that is a key asset to a production team and a family.