Final Reflection

I think taking Intro to Production has helped me in some respects in figuring out what I want to do in the film industry. I have suspected for a while now that I would like to be a producer, so being a producer on our class assignments helped me to confirm that that is what I want to do and that is where my strengths lie. I also learned more about communicating and how to work as a team to get a job done. I always knew a lot of work went into making a film, but after experiencing it first hand I now realize the amount of coordination and technique that goes into shooting. 

Overall I enjoyed the work that I did in Intro to Production. It helped me to solidify what I want to do later in life and helped me to further gain respect for the industry. The projects could be very difficult and frustrating at times, but I was able to overcome the challenges to make a good product. 

Wild Card Crew Position

On the wild card assignment, I am the producer for this project. Our group has decided to do a hybrid of a narrative and an experimental film. What I hope to accomplish as the producer is to make sure everything runs smoothly and everything is happening on schedule. My group has the story idea complete and I have been trying to work with my group to find times to meet up and talk about our project and complete the pre visuals. I am also talking to them to make sure we get locations and actors locked in for when it comes time to shoot. 

I am trying to keep everything as organized as possible and make sure that everyone is on the same page. On the narrative project, we had a very hard time communicating and staying on schedule so I am trying to make sure that does not happen for this project. 

Sound Editing Experience

The editing experience for the Painting with Sound project went very smoothly. My group met up to collaborate on which sounds we would use and how we would interpret and organize them to meet the sentence theme that we picked in class. Our sentence was "Without even trying, the horror has made its way to the top of the corporate ladder." We tried to find ominous and creepy sounds and mix them in with people talking and other various voice based sounds as well as typing, sirens, and other sounds that went along with our corporate theme. 

When we started editing, Sam and Jacob, our DP and sound person, took the reigns on the actual editing process, and Brandon, the producer, and I, the director, watched and gave input on the arrangement. It all went really well and I think we ended up with a really good soundscape and final product. 

Sound Recording

I really enjoyed the sound recording process. My group made a list of a bunch of different sounds that we could possibly get and then tried to get as many of those as possible. We met up at Kenan and went into the editing lab to use the whisper room to get a lot of our recordings. We then made our way to CAB where we got a lot of different outdoors sounds and then instrument sounds and musical sounds. 

I liked hearing all the different sounds over the mic since they were so crisp and clear. The sounds that were recorded in the whisper room were especially interesting to listen to because there was no ambient noise behind it so the sounds were so clean. I also liked doing this project because it made me notice sounds a lot more. Since I was constantly looking for sounds for us to use, I became more aware of all the different sounds around me and what they could be used for. 

Master Shot Editing Experience

The editing experience for our master shot sequence has been incredibly difficult. At first Melanie and I were able to figure out how to get all the video files to work and we got the sound and videos lined up perfectly then she started the cutting process. After that we ran into loads of problems. We opened our file so she could continue working, but the sound on the timeline was not working. It took some time, but I was able to get that to work. She was then planning on going to the editing lab to work, but there were classes in the lab and she could not be in there. Today we met to work and the sound was back to not working. We could not figure out what was wrong with it this time because the sound in the source file was working, but the sound in the timeline was not. We got someone from TAC to help us and he was able to get the sound working again, but for some reason the audio was not lined up with the video anymore. We are also still missing some audio that we need to record. We can get it all done by next week if we can just get all the audio to work when we need it to work.

Previsualization Process

The making of the previsualization materials was actually very difficult. My group had a hard time getting in contact with each other and coordinating a time to meet up. I was only able to coordinate a time to plan with two out of the other three people in my group, and then one of those people could not make it because she got sick. The last group member and I were able to meet and talk about the project. We basically got everything planned out.

Planning everything was not very difficult. Our group decided on a topic last week in class so basically all we had to do was expand from there. In our meeting we went through and finished the script then planned basic storyboards. Making the marked script, storyboards, shot list, and everything else was not very difficult it was just time consuming. I am glad we have them though because it will be a lot easier to shoot with everything already planned out. 

Vox Pop and Expert Interview Reflection

Our vox pops and expert interview went very well. We did our vox pops on Friday February 14 in downtown Wilmington. It took us a little while to get set up and find a place where the wind was not too strong and there were not too many cars passing. Once we got all the sound and camera issues worked out, we started asking for interviews. Since it was a very nice day outside and it was Valentine’s Day, there were plenty of people out to interview. There were only one or two people that declined when we asked them to be interviewed. Everyone that we talked to was very cooperative and answered all questions.

For the expert interview, we interviewed the owner of the restaurant where we had been shooting. Her name was Brenda and she was extremely cooperative and wonderful to talk to. Before we started the interview, she told us about the restaurant and showed us pictures of the boardwalk through the years. When we actually did the interview, I think she gave us plenty of shots to work with.

Production Schedule

2/11/14     B-roll Shooting

2/13/14     B-roll Footage Due

2/14/14     Vox Pop Shooting

2/18/14     A-roll Interview

2/17/14-2/19/14   Editing

2/20/14     Final Project Due

Documentary Interview Plan

We plan on interviewing Brenda who is the owner of Olde Salty restaurant on the Carolina Beach boardwalk. We are planning to interview her at the restaurant on Tuesday February 18. Since our documentary topic is about the deserted boardwalk during the off-season, we are trying to make the tone seem somber and deserted.

Our interview questions are...

1.     Why did you choose to open a business here?

2.     Did you always want to open a boardwalk business?

3.     How long have you been open?

4.     What time of the year is the best for customers?

5.     Who are your main customers?

6.     Who is your clientele in the off season?

7.     Who does your main source of revenue in the off season?

8.     Who is your biggest competitor during the regular season?

9.     Who is your biggest competitor during the off season?

10. Why do you stay open during the off season when so many others close?

For our vox pop interviews, we plan to go to downtown Wilmington to ask people our questions.

Our vox pop questions are...

1.     Would you go to the beach now? Why or why not?

2.     How ofter do you go to the beach?

3.     Which beach do you go to?

4.     Do you go to restaurants at the beach?

Light Observations

Light Observation 1

For my indoor light observation photo, I took a picture of my desk shelf. The only source of lighting around it is my desk lamp that was turned on for the picture. Since the light is being diffused through the lamp shade, the lighting coming from the top and bottom of the lamp is harder and brighter than the light that is coming from either side of the lamp. There is a small statue of the Statue of Liberty as well as a clock radio that is beneath the lamp. The fronts of these objects are almost completely black whereas you can see the light shining of the backs of them which creates a lot of contrast. There is also a poster on the wall behind the lamp where you can see the curved shadow of the top and bottom of the lampshade. 

Light Observation 2

The second photo I used for my light observation was a picture my friend took while we were walking on a path in the woods during the ice and snow storm. Since the day was cloudy and it was early in the morning, the light outside is very soft and pretty evenly distributed. It is very hard to see shadows from the trees in the image. One of the main shadows in the image comes from the tree in the top right corner. It is one of the darkest points in the image. The brightest point in the image is the path which is covered in snow. The snow on the path is reflecting the light making it much brighter than the rest of the image.  

Post 1: Filmmaker's Statement

In all honesty, I have not had much hands-on film experience. I only worked on one real filmmaking project in high school where I was partnered with someone who already knew how to work all the equipment and how to edit the footage. Due to that, he did most of the heavy lifting. I have made a couple short videos for projects using extremely simple editing techniques. I wish I could have done more with those, but my editing software was not the best. Other than that, I have nothing.

Whether it is in this class that I learn these skills or later in life, I basically just want to learn how to make a movie. Some of my favorite movies and inspirations are heavily stylized and edited so I want to learn how to do all those things. I want to get better at editing and learn the process of filmmaking. I also hope I can be introduced to what my style of filmmaking will be and my approach to filmmaking.

            In 10 years I want to be a producer. My ultimate dream is being the producer of a television show. I like the idea of having some control over projects. I feel like I would be good at the business and technical side of filmmaking. I know it is a very difficult job, but I feel like I could live up to the challenge. I do not know if that would happen within 10 years, but I hope that I would be working toward my goal of being a television producer.

            A unique fact about me is that I am not good at coming up with unique facts about myself. My usual default fact about myself is that I went to an Early College for high school so when I started college this past Fall, I was technically a junior. Other than that fact I am terrible at coming up with fun facts about myself.

I feel guilty if I don't have a photo credit: http://www.renewtheaters.org/blog/2012/free-event-mingle-with-local-filmmaker-wed-oct-2/#.Ut8RrBAo7IU