The second work day

This past Thursday we met with our film groups once again. Our group finished getting our footage last Thursday and only needed to digitize the film in order to start the editing process. A couple of people in my group learned how to do it but we have to wait till next week to actually try it out for ourselves. This is because some groups still need the cameras and the camera is needed to digitize the film.

So, our groups couldn’t actually do anything productive last class period. We can’t edit until we have footage available. Instead of working on our film I actually acted as an extra in group 6’s film. It was interesting to see how another group handled things. For example, the way the divided up the work was different than how our group did it. What was really funny about working as an extra in this film was the scene we were doing. I was in a group of people looking over the body of a guy who had just been run over. It must have looked real because numerous cars stopped or slowed down thinking that a car had actually hit someone. The faces were priceless.

So seeing all of this filming has made me excited to see the final products. It also had me wondering what the editing process will bring. Our group has really been working hard. I never realized how much work went into making a movie. The filming itself was a feat and I have a feeling that the editing process will be equally as difficult. I am the sound editor for our group. I’ve never done anything like this so I’m worried how it will end up sounding. I really don’t know how to use the editing programs, but I guess there’s a first time for everything. I’m excited to try something new and I can’t wait to get started.

filming

This past week was our groups turn to film.  We received the camera on Thursday with the intentions of filming during the weekend. However, we never found a time where everyone who needed to be there could make it. So, we ended up filming a little bit each day during the week. We found that it was not necessary to have the editors there when we were filming. All we needed was the director, the cameraman, and maybe the sound editor to hold the boom (though I am the sound editor for our group and acted in the scenes instead of holding the boom). 

The hardest part of the whole filming process was finding a time when everyone could meet. This is especially true when dealing with actors who were not in our group. In fact, we had to meet at eight in the morning to film on Thursday to finish up the film. It was also hard trying to intentional place certain props (i.e. clown, guitar, skull, etc.) and certain lines in our film. The lines were especially difficult because they didn’t seem as natural when the actors spoke them. I’m not exactly sure why this was. It may have been because the people who spoke the lines were in our group. Therefore, we knew that theses exact lines had to be in the film and concentrated too much on saying them verbatim. This probably made the lines seem less natural than if an actor outside of the group were to have said them.

Overall our filming went smoothly. We were basically finished by class on Thursday, and we didn’t have to film for an overwhelming amount of time at once at any point during the week.  We did have to do one quick close-up shot during the first few minutes of class on Thursday. Thankfully the next group let us get this shot before handing the camera over to them. After filming this shot we talked for a little about how to get the footage off of the external hard drive. We also talked a little bit about when to do the editing to the footage. This needs to be started as soon as possible.  We couldn’t do much more than this on Thursday because we didn’t have the footage off of the hard drive at that time. Hopefully, this Thursday we can really get into the editing.

Adaptation

“Adaptation.” A strange movie filled with clichés; yet, by doing this it remains a film all it’s own.  The movie’s main character is screenwriter Charlie Kaufman who is writing the screenplay for the big screen adaption of the book “The Orchid Thief” by Susan Orlean. He struggles with writers block and his twin brother’s success as a screenwriter. His brother, Donald, writes the generic screenplay and makes money off of it while Charlie just wants to make something new and real. He was to be innovative.  His brother represents everything he is not. The good and the bad. He is more open and sociable but is the one to give into the pressures of the “industry” and makes profit because of this. Eventually Charlie gives into the industry as well by producing a screenplay has all the things a “good” screenplay should be: action, love, drugs, etc. The film itself is Charlie’s writing process being played out before ours eyes. We are watching it as it is created. It goes from being a slow paced movie to one full of action in a moment. This is because his writing process was at a standstill until he decided to use the clichés in his screenplay, which is the easy way out but the less artistic.

I enjoyed the film though it was a little strange. It was definitely different and not like the films I normally enjoy. I liked that the end portrayed the plot of the generic film as somewhat dumb. I also thought it funny that some of my favorite movies include many of these film clichés. This may be because these are the types of screenplays that are made into films. These are the films that make it into theaters, and the films that make it to theaters are the ones I go to see.

So this raises the question whether the screenplay that sells or the one that is real and innovative is the better screenplay? I guess it depends on who you ask. Those who are looking to make money off of their work may agree with the first type of screenplay while the writer, the artist may want to make something different and true. Even though I do enjoy a predictable, generic film every once in a while, I still think that the generic screenplay is produce by a generic screenplay writer; however, a true writer makes the new and creative screenplay. 

A Self-Made Film

In our last class we watched a film made by Corey Womack. It was called “The Last Summer” and was a completely UCA produced film. The story revolved around a small town boy who is deciding what he is going to do with his life. He doesn’t know whether to stay in town with his girlfriend or try to go to college and get out of town.

I was very impressed with the fact that Corey created this film. From the little experience that I’ve obtained from this class, I know how big a task making a movie can become. As far as the storyline, I felt it was a generic teen film storyline; however, it was also very real. According to Corey, this story came directly from his own life. I believe that this is something that many people go through after high school, and that last summer is always bittersweet. This maybe why so many teen movies use this storyline; it is relatable.

Also, I felt that the acting could have been better, though I can’t say that I could have done better myself (I guess we’ll see since I’m starring in my group’s short film).  It felt scripted. I know that movies have scripts, but I like them to sound like they don’t. It makes them more real. Corey mentioned that he actually let the actors adlib, which was interesting considering I thought it was scripted.  Overall, the movie was good though not my favorite. I am still impressed that he produced this himself. It is something that I would never pursue on my own.

After watching his film, we looked at so spoof trailers.  For example, we watched the a trailer for the happy version of “The Shining.” This is one of my favorite thriller/horror movies, so it was interesting to see it portrayed as a wholesome family movie.  This just goes to show you that with the right music, the right film clips, and the right narrator for a trailer you can make the film into anything you would like. This same thing that was done for “The Shining” was done for the “Mary Poppins.” The new version was called “Scary Mary” and it seriously looked like a scare your pants off horror movie.  Once again, this is due to the type of clips, music, and narration they used.

In my own experience, a “comedy” movie may not be that funny at all when you go to see it in theaters. It is not unusual for there to be numerous funny clips shown in the trailer, which raises your expectations for the movie as a whole, but when you go see it in theaters you realized that those were literally the only funny parts and the film can hardly be considered a comedy. So, what does this say about movie trailers? It says that the can make the film into something it’s not. 

"The Player"

This past Thursday we watched “The Player.” Robert Altman directs this film in 1992. Once again, like most of the films we watch in this class, I had never seen this film. I had actually never even heard of it before. The film revolved around Griffin, who works in the film business. In this film, an angry writer is sending him threatening post cards because Griffin did not get back to him about a film script. Griffin thinks that he knows who the writer is and decides to confront him. He ends up killing the writer but makes it look like a mugging. Griffin ends up becoming involved with the dead writer’s girlfriend. In the end, the writer he killed was not the right guy, but he still gets away with the murder.

This Film is in the genre of film noir.  Though it is not shot in the typical black and white that these types of movies are known for, there are still many shadowy scenes. In addition, this film is constantly giving the viewer a creepy filling, which is also something that film noir films are known for.  Throughout the movie I never knew how I felt about the characters. For one, the “hero” was actually an anti-hero because he was the one who committed murder, but I still couldn’t make myself want for him to get caught. But I also didn’t like that he got away with the murder. The main woman of the film, June, also gave me an uneasy feeling. She feels no sorrow for her boyfriend’s death just as she did not morn for her parents’ death. She simply states, “They are gone.”  Also, she definitely knows that Griffin killed her boyfriend but chooses to ignore it and pretend that she is clueless. All in all, they are a quite creepy couple.

In the end of the film the couple live “happily ever after,” but I would not qualify this as a happy ending by any means. The bad guys wins. He gets away with a crime while doing well for himself in his line of business. Griffin becomes very conniving as the story progresses. Griffin sets up a co-worker, who was vying for his job, for failure so that he could swoop in and save the day. We are always so used to seeing movies where good triumphs over evil that it is strange to see the opposite happens. 

Figuring Out the Details

This past Thursday we got several helpful tips regarding making our short film. The best advice from the workshop came from Eric. He told us to have a Producer. The producer is important in getting the cast and crew together, as well as helps make thing work smoothly when shooting or during rehearsals. I’m just now realizing what a vital role this is. It is so difficult to get a group of people together. Every person has a different schedule, so it’s hard to figure out a time and a place that works for everyone.

We also got some advice regarding shooting our film. It is important to make a list of every scene you plan to shoot and in what order you want to shoot them. This way, if you are at a location (and have the appropriate location agreements signed) you can shoot all of the scenes that take place at this location all at once. This will save time and effort because you won’t be driving back and forth from location to location. Also, you don’t have to shoot the scenes in the order they will appear in the film.

In addition, we watched a documentary on Robert Rodriguez. I thought it was interesting how he did all those different special effects on such a low budget and could think up a special effect at the drop of a hat. This would come in handy for our own short film. We don’t have a very large budget at all. I would like to spend as little as possible, being the poor college student that I am. Also, we don’t have much time to shoot this film. We must keep this in mind as we are creating our films. If we want to do special effects it is necessary for us to do them using as little time and money as we can get away with and still produce a quality film.

For the greatest portion of the class we broke up into our separate film groups. My group nailed down a lot of the details of our scenes. We figured out exactly what scenes we would need and brainstormed some ideas for locations and actors. We also, thought each scene through so we would have an idea of what little things need to be in each scene. This part really helped me because I am the sound editor for our group. Thinking about the details of the scenes gave me an idea of what types of sounds I need to think about recording. For example, rustling papers, squeaking chairs, or cars driving past. Now I know where exactly I need to start when it comes to getting the sound we need for our short film.

Blow Out

In class on Thursday we watched the film “Blow Out.”  This film was not what I was expecting. We have been watching such wholesome movies lately that I wasn’t prepared for the vulgarity associated with this film. I guess I should have taken Donna’s warning seriously. This movie was totally different that “Sunset Boulevard” and “Singing in the Rain” in that it contained more risky scenes, but it did look at aspects of the movie business just as the other films have. 

This film had good content, but I didn’t like the predictability and the cliché scenes it contained. I knew that the girl was going to die in the end from the first time we knew she was in any sort of danger. But what really got me was the slow motion scene towards the end. I wouldn’t say I hate slow motion shots but I would say that I strongly dislike them. They just really annoy me and seem overly cliché.  Another scene that really got to me was the end when the main character was holding the dead body of the girl.  Behind them are the fireworks, which are clearly fake. Things like this always turn me off from the film. 

Though there were several scenes that irked me in this film there were some that I really enjoyed. I loved the long shots. As I have said in previous blogs, this is something I want to try out in my group’s short films. A particular favorite from the movie was the one taken in the sound room and the camera is just constantly spinning around the room. This was slightly dizzying but was impressive.  I also liked the prevalence of sound in the film.  The main character was a “sound man,” which is the job in the film business that has interested me the most. I am actually the sound editor in our group so the film inspired me to go find some sounds.

Aside from the technical aspects of the film, I also noticed some of the underlying meanings found in the movie. This film really says something about America. We are always trying to cover up the ugly side of life just as Sally covers people’s faces with her make-up because, according to her, everybody’s face could use make-up.  I think the best depiction of this idea can be found when the antagonist is killing a woman behind a stone wall while everyone on the other side of the wall is completely oblivious.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. It was interesting and completely unlike the films we’ve watched previously.