TRF 469/669: Advanced Filmmaking – F'14

So, recently I interviewed someone who works at mysouthstand. Her name is Ashley Kang. So what this place does is they gather information on whatever is going on in the south side of Syracuse. She worked with Professor Breyer in making documentaries @ Fowler high school. Everyone who participated in that making were all refugees. She got a chance to work with refugee kids for all of last semester so she just gave me information on what she and the students did.

I also contacted many places who work with refugees and will start interviewing them by the end of this week and early next week. Once I gather all the interviews I need, I think I’m good to go into post.

I’m still working on editing a few scenes. The most troublesome scene so far is the ending. After hearing everyones feedback in class I’m pretty sure I know how I want the pacing to go I just have to make sure I have enough shots to accomplish it.

Other than that I’m starting to think about composing a score. I’ve played music my whole life and have been in a few bands but composing for the screen seems pretty difficult, luckily I have the rest of the semester to mess around with different genres. I’m also interested in looking into the music catalog that Newhouse has rights, so maybe we can talk about that in class tomorrow.

Well, my film has turned into a nightmare.  Last weekend it rained and I wasn’t able to get anything done, then my actor dropped out on me.  This weekend the GoPro stopped working.  Won’t even turn on.  Tried both batteries and have it plugged in, no go.  Not only is this the only GoPro the school has, but I was also supposed to film the SCUBA portion of my film today so I’m losing one of the major portions of my film with no way to reschedule it.

This past weekend we filmed with our subject for the first time. I feel confident with the content we were able to capture but we have our work cut out for us in post. Due to some production issues we will have to work hard to adjust audio and video so it is up to par come screening time. I’m hoping to establish a firm story line within the next two weeks. We have some more shoot dates on the agenda (runners, archival items, etc.) and are hoping to get the remainder of our footage within the next two weeks.

If anybody has any time, yall should definitely check this out:

This is a highlight reel from a game between two teams at Club Nationals this past weekend. These aren’t even the best teams at the tournament, but you can see the HUGE, athletic plays that are happening during a single game. The way the disc floats in the air allows for crazy diving blocks and huge posterizing catches over defenders. This highlight reel is from a single game at the tournament…

This weekend, Ironside competed in the 2014 club national championships. The 4 seed overall, they broke seed and made it into the finals! The championship game was a nail-biter between Boston Ironside and Denver Bravo. Ironside was winning in the beginning, but Bravo took half and kept rolling to win 13-11. Many tears were shed on the field in a dramatic conclusion to their awesome season.

I have been editing this past week, and have been organizing the interviews. I asked most of the interviewees the same questions, so i’ve been dividing their interviews up by question, and figuring out different ways I can piece them together.

In terms of the structure, I’m going to start out with general information about the sport, some of it’s history, and how it’s played. Then i’ll dive into Ironside’s preparation for the World Championship and then conclude with their time in Italy.

So this weekend didn’t go as planned. I came down with a pretty severe cough and ended up going home for a little while. Unfortunately, this means I still don’t have any footage. However, things are still looking ok.

I rescheduled the first shoot for Friday Oct. 31st, and the second day of shooting is Saturday the 1st. Between these two days I hope to film my entire script. I’ve got the shooting schedule all planned out with call-times included and I’ve broken down the script and planned which scenes will be shot on either day. Filming that weekend will allow me to still get extra footage in November if some of the shots don’t work out. Also, costumes have been shipped and should be here today or tomorrow.

I’ve decided against using DPS cars due to logistical reasons, however as it so happens I’ve got two friends with identical black Jeep Wranglers. I think they will look awesome parked next to each other and still come across as DPS vehicles.

I’m slowly, but surely piecing together the footage I had shot.  In the meantime, the actress who played Anna and I are going to write a VO together.  At the moment, I’m not quite sure if the character should read the VO or if Professor Breyer should.  I can always try both and decide later.  I want the VO to start with a specific experience Anna had and interlace that with the close-up shots (watering the plants, making coffee, etc).  It’s not really necessary to introduce the character Anna as her personality is very clear from her actions and demeanor.   From then, I can decide if I want to shoot more/reshoot.

It should be a fun and introspective process to write the VO as the story is loosely based on me and my friend’s life and attitudes.  The girl who plays Anna had actually fainted, hit her head, and as a result, had a concussion during her time abroad.  Nobody had helped her then.  We both experienced a time in our lives when we almost completely closed ourselves off from the world due to “irrational” fears.  I hope the short pans out the way I had intended because it means a lot to the both of us.  The quote or monologue I included in the script accurately sums up our rationale behind “not being afraid” and “ok to be unsure.”  I read a book by Miranda July this past summer that inspired me to include that quote. I remember when taking the required  screenwriting class two years ago, my professor told us that the best stories come from personal experiences or people/places/things we know to be true.  I really hope this translates on screen.

Jocelyn

This week, I decided I have finally collected enough footage to start building the narrative for my documentary. However, when I sat down to edit, I started to realize how much footage I actually had. Hours of different interviews and b-roll have been collected so far, with many unique narratives intertwined in each individual story.

However, as I started piecing together interesting parts of the interviews, I started to realize how much I could include, and how many different directions the film could go. I started getting a clear vision as I began to tie the pieces together. However, I also realized one very important thing. The film I want to make is very different from the film that the co-op would like me to make.

Essentially, I have found that profiles of the different co-op employees, and the sustainability efforts may be a necessary element to include, but these types of facts will not be an interesting and engaging film. However, there are so many interesting local businesses who are committed to raising awareness and increasing community involvement through the simple act that everyone enjoys: eating. I hope to find some happy medium between these two plot lines as I continue to piece together footage.

It’s been a while since I’ve last blogged, but I’m determined to improve on this…

Here’s a quick recap about what’s been happening with the production of “Martin.”

About 2 weeks ago, Eli and I auditioned and casted a male (Thomas Countz) and female actor (Natalie Oliver) for the roles of Martin and Carole, respectively. However, the female actor regretfully declined the role a few days after the audition due to a commitment to another project. This set us back a little bit, but we were still able to shoot a scene involving only Martin.

In regards to that particular shoot, some of the shots turned out nicely but there were issues with sound and lighting. I believe we could have been better prepared for that shoot, but as for now, I am taking it as a learning lesson. We are much better prepared this time around so I hope we have a better and more efficient outcome during our second shoot.

More recently, last Sunday I contacted an old friend I met from my freshman year in the SU Drama Department. Her name is Rae Robinson and we had always talked about working together in a film. Last Sunday, she came in for an audition and she gave an impressive performance. Eli and I were convinced that she would make a great Carole and we casted her. She is very enthusiastic to work with us, as well as with Thomas, whom she is close friends with.

Yesterday, my close friend, Cherise Permaul, officially joined us as our Director of Photography. She has an immense passion for film and has had a lot of experience shooting and directing her own short films and videos. Therefore, I am very excited to work with her and I believe she will contribute greatly to our film.

Yesterday, the three of us set up a shot list/storyboard for a scene we plan to shoot this coming Sunday: the first dialogue scene between Martin and Carole.

Half of our shoot on that day will be exterior, so all fingers are crossed in hopes that it doesn’t rain on Sunday. If it does, we can still film the following interior scenes in the house, but it would be an immensely productive day if we could film both.