TRF 469/669: Advanced Filmmaking – F'14

This week, I have been conducting a variety of interviews for my Syracuse Real Food Co-op documentary. I have spoken with almost all of the Food Co-op employees, Mark Kastel from the Cornucopia Institute, and a farmer at Navarino Orchards. I also have a number of interviews scheduled for later this week.

At first, I found the interview process more challenging than I had expected it to be . I went into the interviews with lists of questions for each different person, however, I feel like some of the answers I was getting were more basic than what I was looking for. I was struggling to get more interesting and thought-provoking answers. That is when I realized that this interview process is far more interactive than just reading off a list of questions.

Instead, I discovered that I would have to actively engage them on tape before I started asking the important questions. I would ask about their lives, days, and whatever else was applicable, and give them time to warm up to the interview process. Some people took longer to warm up to the camera, whereas others were able to authentically connect earlier on.

Similarly, I started to deviate from my list during my interviews, treating the process like a conversation rather than an interrogation of sorts. If I could get the subjects of the interviews to go on tangents, it was easier to capture their personalities and feelings on camera.

Overall, I hope to continue to improve my interview skills, and learn how to ask the most effective questions possible.

Below is an article I found particularly helpful: http://www.desktop-documentaries.com/interviewing-tips.html

Before filming, it’s always very important to carefully plan out the post production workflow of the project.  In fact, it should be one of the first decisions a filmmaker should think about even before choosing a camera and devising a shot list.  I’ve spoken to Jason about my post workflow and he gave me some suggestions.  He will also lend me a matte box and hopefully a monitor.  I’m shooting with the Canon C100 in CLog.  C Log is an option for some higher-end Canon camcorders to provide a more dynamic range for luminance and gamma.  Therefore, in post production, I have more flexibility for color grading by applying a LUT and then grading each shot.  I purposely chose a camera that would allow me to shoot in C Log as I was introduced to it this past summer and realized the possibilities in color grading.  For color grading, I’m planning to use Premiere to apply LUT’s and then import the final sequence into Adobe Speedgrade for final color correction/grading.

Another reason to think about post workflow before filming is to have a more organized, methodical way that will help with the filming process.  For example, I am thinking of shooting in 60fps (slow-mo when converted to 24/30fps) for some dramatic scenes/shots.  However, the C100 can only shoot 60i 1920×1080.  So, I am planning to shoot the slow-mo shots with a different SD card (to prevent corruption) and to maybe convert 60i to 60p or shoot in a lower resolution to allow for 60p.  After thinking about this, I now know to be more methodical when on set and to allow time for the slow-mo shots.  If that doesn’t work, I know I could turn to Twixtor, which is a plug-in for NLE systems that allow footage with lower frame rates to be converted to slow-mo footage.

I encourage the class to think about post-production before diving in on set.  As someone with more post-production experience than production experience, issues in post can often become a huge headache and can easily be avoided if the post workflow had been carefully planned.

Inspiration of the week:  Laurence Anyways

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YjIWEky81M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akmyJu7vHWQ

-Jocelyn

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This week, I spoke with a number of different people who are invested in the culture of the Co-op in a many different ways. I started researching topics such as economic justice for family scale farming, and more specifically, the relationship of poverty to sustainable farming. However, after a few conversations, I quickly realized this topic also encompasses climate change, poverty and human rights.

I had one particularly interesting phone interview with Mark Kastel, the director of the Cornucopia Institute. The Cornucopia Institute is a leader in the economic justice branch of family scale farming, essentially providing necessary information to family farmers, consumers and other stakeholders in the “good food” movement. They also partner with consumers nationwide to back ecologically produced, local, organic and authentic food.  He encouraged me to investigate this aspect of sustainable farming, and the long-term social impact that family scale farming has on communities nationwide.

Conversations such as these have given me new mechanisms by which to approach the issue, and a new basis by which to portray the movement as a whole. I hope to continue to have conversations with people around the country, and find out how far sustainable farming can take the nation.

Interesting Article about poverty reduction and community farming: http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTWDRS/0,,contentMDK:21501332~pagePK:478093~piPK:477627~theSitePK:477624,00.html

Contact and contact

This week is going to be a hard week, but I still working hard on it. I tried to contact the leader of cemetery of Syracuse city last week, and they said they cannot offer me the place where could fit to my script. So, I think up an idea: I can use the photos to tell the funeral part, as well as the childhood and the flash back.

I contact with my friend who gives me the information about the casting , and I find an white family which includes all element that I want, such as the kid, the bicycle, and they have a play yard in their house.

The exciting thing is we already recruit the team members, they are

Producer: Wen Zhu(TRF)

Writer/Director:Luolan(TRF)

Actor: Natalie Oliver(VPA), Tim Simon(VPA), Karl Fisk(VPA)

Director of Photography:Yahui Li(TRF), Hong Gao(PH)

Location sheets:

1. Cemetery
2. Second floor at bookstore
3. School male restroom
4. A family house
5. A play yard

Times fly quickly, but I already prepare for all!!I just keep contacting ,keep moving!

Since I wasn’t in class last week (no excuses, just had things to do which I should have done earlier) I’m currently playing catch-up. That being said, I’ve been working on my script in an attempt to self-contain the story. It’s coming along well, but I’m still worried that my concept is destined for a feature-length film. Regardless, I’m confident I can pull it off.

Additionally, I’ve started a completely new script with elements from the first built in that might turn out to be more self-contained. It still has some past tense scenes and voice-overs but they are mostly used as exposition. The real conflict takes place in the present. The conflict takes up a larger portion of the script (where as the first script was mostly a sequence of events) and doesn’t quite reach the scale of the first (no police, no national news coverage). A new element of this story is a love-interest, which I was hesitant about at first. Originally I wanted to avoid love-interests but in this case it works. The female character drives the plot forward and even resolves the conflict.

Hopefully I’ll have it completed by class tomorrow. Until then, I’ve got some work to do. Luckily, once my script is finished I’ll basically be ready to start filming. While the characters aren’t set, I’ve found a female and multiple males with acting experience who are willing to fulfill the necessary roles. I probably need to find a faculty member or very old-looking student to play a teacher, but that’s about it. I’ve got a DP and the camera equipment, as well as multiple open weekends. Things are definitely moving in the right direction.

On Saturday September 20th I began shooting one of my documentary projects. I was nervous and anxious to begin, triple checking I had all the necessary equipment, enough batteries, and a dedicated crew. The shoot went well overall, however I can list several things I wish I had done better. For one, I would have preferred to have been on audio rather than working a camera. I was unable to hear what was going on with our characters when I was shooting across the gym or in a particularly loud environment. I also would have communicated with my crew early on that I was to be the only one to speak with the subjects. Not because I’m nervous of them saying something inappropriate, but rather because I’m afraid of overwhelming the subject.

I did feel good about my ability to work on my feet and make changes over the course of the shoot. Halfway through we decided to take the lavaliere mic off of one subject and put it onto a subject that I thought would drive our story better. The most enjoyable aspect of the shoot to me was the nonstop energy and ‘heat’ of the shoot. We did not stop looking for creative shots, looking for interesting characters, and ultimately looking to tell our story.

Since I’m currently in the process of devising a shot list, I’m also starting to think about production design.  I’m drawing inspiration from a few of my favorite films and directors.  Pedro Almodovar has a unique style and look to his films and loves the color of a deep, rich red.  There is a specific look I want to portray in my short that will help push the mood further.

Because my character is a modern-day hermit who is stuck in her past, I’ve adopted a nostalgic look to reflect that.  She’s a young woman who yearns to travel again, but is stifled by her fear.  In regards to production design, I’m planning to purchase a couple of vintage-looking travel posters from Etsy.  Also, because Anna Dreyfus (the main character) is so focused on time, I’ll also be purchasing retro/vintage clocks.

The look of the interior is very important.  Personally, I love patterns, Spanish and Dutch tiles, etc and will reflect that on set.  I’ve found cheap wallpaper online and will use them throughout the bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom scenes.  

-Jocelyn

This morning (9/17) Sam and I spoke with our documentary subject on the phone for the first time. I was eager to pick her brain and find our story. However, the meeting proved to be more head-scratching than clarifying. With limited availability it might prove difficult to spend as much time with our subject as we had hoped. Going into the project I felt that after a few meetings with our subject, the project would find me but with multiple weeks down and less and less time to go I’m beginning to feel the pressure to find my story and press ‘Record’. Today’s events instantly spiked my stress level up a few notches but without stress nothing would get done. I am ready find my story.

After the read through in class I realized I had some serious revising to do. After sitting down in Varsity next to a delicious Humdinger Sandwich I fleshed out the majority of the problems in my short film. I’m pumped to hear how the class will take my new script but unfortunately I didn’t have time to print it before this class.

I have casted the main character and am having trouble finding an old bad ass looking irishman but luckily TG has some contacts that I can’t wait to get my hands on. This week I’ll be working on a budget and scene breakdowns then hopefully right into filming in the first couple weekends of October!

~Tyler