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.