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.

Our First Film

 

In this honors film class we are splitting up into groups and each group is making a short two to five minute films. Each group has a genre and every group much have certain things incorporated into the film. There must be a mine or clown, the line “Why is this happening to me today of all days?” and "It would be better for us not to talk about that,” a guitar, a cheese grater, and a skull.

My group’s film must be a romance. We started out imagining some kind of chase. For example, a high speed bicycle chase. We were getting excited about our idea when we discovered our film was a romance, not a comedy or action film like we had hoped. So, we had to adapt. We began thinking about how we could turn our idea into a romance film. We decided that we could have a scene of a couple saying their goodbyes as one gets on a train or in a car. The other would watch her drive away and then realize he didn’t want her to leave. The film would then consist of various scenes where the man is trying to chase down the car (or train) and get back to his love. We have yet to decide on a good ending for this idea.

We also talked about another idea involving a one sided romance. This is my personal favorite, and I believe it is our group’s favorite as a whole. In this story a man is in love with a woman and becomes obsessed with her. In our film he will stalk her, leave her various gifts, and will, overall, be very creepy. She does not return his affection. We have not decided on a good ending for this storyline either, but I am excited about the idea as a whole. This film would add a twist because it is not the typical love story.

For our film I hope to come up with a unexpected twist in the plot. I don’t want it to be cliché with a predictable ending. It has to have a “wow” factor. I believe our group has some creative people in it so coming up with this twist shouldn’t be difficult. I also want to make the film somewhat comic. I think, due to the time restraint, comedy would be the best way to create a captivating film. Comedy can grab a viewer instantly.

Singing in the Rain

This is the first time I’ve seen Singing in the Rain. I knew it was numerous people’s favorite, but I just assumed it wasn’t my type of movie. I was totally wrong…I love this film!  I expected it to bore me a little like most older films do, but I found myself laughing out loud during the whole film.  I thought the story line was great. It was predictable, but that’s what I enjoyed about it. It was the classic story of a main character that is about to lose everything but ends up having a big comeback and, of course, winning the heart of the woman he loves.

 This film depicted Hollywood’s transformation from silent to talking films. This seems to be the plot of a lot of the older movie (Sunset Boulevard, for example).  I found it humorous that people in Hollywood assumed the talking movies were just a fad. It is also kind of sad to see the silent movie stars being pushed aside to make way for the “talkies.”

 I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised that I loved the movie considering it was a musical. I’ve always had a weakness for a good musical. I love the how anything can be turned into a song and how a song can actually move the story along. The dancing was fun to watch and was the focus of much of the film. The “Singing in the Rain” number was my favorite because I’ve seen it copied in so many other shows (especially Family Guy) that it was nice to see the original.

 I also really enjoyed how the film depicted Hollywood; they actually weren’t too far off.  The characters were intriguing and each had a very distinct, strong personality.  My favorite, by far, was the main characters “sidekick.” He was the comic relief in the film. He always had a witty one liner or quick joke to throw into any conversation.  My favorite song was actually done by him in the film. It was “Make ‘Em Laugh.” In this song he was over-the- top, which made it that much better.

The one negative thing I have to say about this film is how long some of the numbers were. I enjoy a good musical number but they can only keep my attention for so long. After a while I get bored with them because most of the time it’s just the same lyrics being sung over and over again with never-ending dance numbers.  But overall the film was great. It was witty, kept my attention, and made me laugh. It may have even made it to the top of my “favorite movies” list.

Plans For My Film

Since I learned at the beginning of the semester that we would have to put together a short film, I’ve been trying to pay attention to some film techniques that I felt could be done for our films. The thing that I really want to try is making sound effects. We learned about how many sound effects were made I was very interested in. The first time I realized that people on the set physically created many of the sounds on a movie was when I watched a special on Wishbone as a child. It takes much more work than I first thought. The sound effects for a film can be found anywhere if you have the knack for making them. This will require a lot of creativity, but I feel that if the people in my group put our heads together we can come up with something worthwhile.

As far as the structure of the film is concerned, I really liked the way Sunset Boulevard was set up. It started at the end and the whole movie was like a flashback. I feel like we could do the same with our short film and it would give it an interesting spin on things. It requires that we have a good transition from the beginning scene and the rest of the film; the viewer must know that the first scene was actually how the story ends and the rest of the movie is a flashback. This structure is something that I have seen in many books I have read and I have actually tried it out when I started writing a book over the summer. It leaves the viewer (or reader) wondering how the story will lead them to the end.

As far as filming is concerned, I think it would be a challenge to produce a scene that is made of one continuous take.  We talked about this in class; it seemed like something that can seldom be pulled off. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t try.  I don’t know that I’ve ever noticed in the films I’ve seen but the fact that it will be difficult makes me want to try.  I’m not sure what type of scene this would work best with so it may be a little of trial and error, but I feel like it could be pulled off with enough effort.

Overall, learning about the various techniques and structures that can be used in filmmaking has made me very excited to try them out in my own film.