Film 2: Spin Cycle

Project 2: 5-minute film (or less), no dialogue, detailing a conflict

So hopefully by now everyone has seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog. Absolute genius. Anyway, I was sitting around and thought what a cool location a laundromat is. Well, to establish the conflict, what is something that laundromats--or washers and dryers--can do that can have a detrimental effect on us? Besides eating socks. Ever put a piece of paper in your jeans, send it through the wash, and have it be completely illegible? OK, so, inspiration. What would be important enough to lose? Answer: an aspiring actress' callback to an audition. Brilliant. Now we have a story.

So I wrote the treatment (movie told in story form in third person present) and started casting. I remembered this USC student I saw at auditions that I thought would be perfect for the role. Emailed her, she was available, so we set a date for the weekend. Good thing about being a student filmmaker: you don't have to pay for actors. It's nice to buy them lunch though. But no compensation other than food and a copy of the work is required.

Anyway, so I shot the film no problem. Edited no problem. Except I was kind of unsatisfied with the ending. I wasn't sure how to make it work. The ending I wanted (Version 2) felt almost tacked on, a forced ending. Also, the film ran 5:30--30 seconds too long. So I asked one of my professors for her feedback (director of Real Women Have Curves) and she helped me tighten it up and cut it down to 3:05. Lots of exposition needed to be cut, plus she wasn't a fan of the extra ending. So that's the version I screened. Version 1. Watch it before proceeding

Then I screened it and everyone in the class was disappointed with the lack of resolution. So Patricia (professor) asked me to add the ending and we'd screen it next class. So, below, Version 2.

I definitely like Version 2 better because I love that ending. I love the performance Taylor gave me, and I love the success the character achieves despite her earlier mishap. See if you can catch the plant (clue to the ending) earlier in the film. You might not because of the sub-par quality, but see if you can. 

That being said, I still almost feel like it's a cop out, that the ending feels tacked on. My other professor said, "It's like you have Act 1 and set up the conflict so well, then you jump to Act 3." Which is kind of understandable, because it's hard to do a full-out conflict in a short student film.

Anyway, which version do you prefer?

Film 1: Escape

So this was our first project. They assigned it the first Tuesday of class--a 3-minute character sketch with no sound. Due the following Tuesday. Crappy first week back, yeah? Shoot it in one day with in-camera editing. For those who don't know (and I didn't), this means filming everything in sequence. Not being able to edit on a computer. So if a take is too long, you have to go with it. As Statler will attest to, there is an art to starting the camera and allowing it to cue up and actually start recording before the actor can start acting. If you have to rewind and accidentally film over something, too bad. 

Well, first week of school I had a lot of stuff going on, understandably. So I didn't have time to cast for the film. Which is a problem, because it's a character sketch film. AKA I need an actor. Well, who do I know if California who acts? No one at USC. But luckily Statler recently enrolled as a freshman at Pepperdine!! Woot. It took some serious begging, but I eventually coerced her into acting in my film. She really came through and spent part of her Labor Day weekend filming with me. In a door room with no AC. Poor Statler. But she was fabulous!

Anyway, so I had to think of a story/character. Because the professors wanted emphasis on the character and not on plot. Thought of something, Statler and I filmed it, and then I was done. So yeah, here's the finished product. I did minor edits and added end titles, but this is essentially what I screened in class. 

PS. There isn't supposed to be sound, so don't turn up your speakers.

I apologize for the semi-crappy quality. I had to compress it from 24 fps (frames per second, standard speed for film) to 15 fps to make it the correct size to upload.

And...Action!

Let the fun and games begin!

Purpose for this blog!!

I've finally figured out a purpose for the blog!! Or at least a purpose that may get me writing more about...stuff.

Anyway, I shall now devote this space to...filmmaking! More specifically, 290, the production class that is the bane of my existence. So here I'll (ideally) list/brainstorm ideas, tell how pre-production (treatment, casting, finding locations), production (actual filming), and post-production (editing) are going, and post links to the finished products. Sounds good, right? In theory, yes. Will I do it? We shall see.

Already I'm two films behind blogging-wise. Uh oh. Maybe I'll have some free time in the next days.

Hmm

Chelsea has inspired me. We'll see how long this lasts.