Thesis shoot, pt. II

As I spoke about in previous posts, I did production design on the media thesis film for my dear friend. After 2 weeks of intense pre-production and two weekends of non stop filming, I AM DONE!!!!!
(and can now put my entire focus on this film). Since I did a recap for the first weekend on set, I thought I'd do another one as a more ~overall~ review for my role as production designer on set.

The first and second weekend's shoots were very different. Week one was a lot of set up at the beginning of the weekend and break down at the end, while this past weekend included multiple locations for a shorter amount of time, and less set dressing. Since I couldn't do as much set dressing (i.e. shooting in a catholic church did not allow for much drastic changes due to time) I had to get creative to get the character's color palates into the frame. For example, the father's main colors were black and red, but due to a last minute actor change the red shirt I had would not fit the actor. So I searched around the church and found some red prayer books to put in the pews. It's subtle, but it adds to the story. Take a look below:

I am really happy with how this shot looked, but at other times I felt that the DP&director didn't care about my efforts for the shot design. I was involved with checking the frame during the first weekend's shoot to make sure the proper colors were in there, but when the second weekend came around I backed off a bit, because I sick of them doing whatever the heck they wanted; them changing all their shot directions when I had planned for specific angles and shot compositions. (part of this was because neither of them had been to one of the locations so they were going in kind of blind???? This had to do with how fast pre-production went (hence why I was disintegrating every single day hahah) and the director being too busy to meet with us (grr).

I had many qualms with the film, but it honestly looks incredible. (even with a lack of planning in some parts) Overall, I learned a lot from the experience and it was a really fun set to be on. I know I could have done better work with a higher budget and more time, but I did what I could and it still looks good.

On set experience – THESIS weekend 1

The past few weeks I have been working tirelessly on the production design/art direction of my close friend’s thesis film. I am working on this film because a. he asked me to do so back in May and b. it is one of the “on-set designs & experiences” for my independent study in production design. This was (and still is) a serious work in progress for me, since I had never been the key designer on a project until now (someone else had always been telling me how to dress the set and it was their designs). But my friend the writer/director has always been behind the camera, so he didn’t have a super specific vision of what he wanted for the design, it was more of the colors and lights he wanted; the rest he let my imagination run wild.

Even though principal photography was this past weekend, my part started weeks ago, starting with the breakdown of the script to learn more about the characters, in addition to determining a color palate, and figuring out which props & costume I need. Then I joined the location scout process, which included looking at various churches, apartments, and bars. This part was/still is tough for me because I was unable to go to all the original scouts due to other commitments. Thankfully for the apartment scenes I was on the original scout, so storyboarding and planning the design was easier. Planning this upcoming week’s shoot has been more difficult because I haven’t seen all the locations in person—only photos for some of them!

From September 25^th-27^th  we filmed the interior of the characters’ loft- a location that we scouted & secured all the way in Rochester, NY. Keep in mind, this was not even a real apartment (it was a studio that the producers rented on craigslist from this 24 year old who runs a sound recording business) so there was 1 bathroom with no shower, and we were staying there for 3 days and 2 nights!!! Can’t you smell the sweat just thinking about 17 people in a hot apartment for 3 days? (because I certainly will never forget the smell).

me on a giant ladder hanging makeshift "walls" from the ceiling...Innovation at its finest.
Also, I look like I'm descending from production design heaven.

We arrived on Friday evening (I felt like such a soccer mom driving 4 people PLUS all art things in my Rav4) and I immediately got to work. First, I took pictures of everything in the studio so I could put it back the exact way I found it. Then, i took everything off the walls, and moved all furniture I wasn't using to the part of the loft that we weren't filming in. Then I put up the "walls" for the main character's bedroom--there was no real bedroom so we cheated walls with dark blankets (trust me, it looked super dope). Then I set up the design for the computer "room", living room, and the "bedroom". The whole thing took about 5 hours and by the end I was WIPED out. But then we woke up at 6:30 AM the next morning and the set was dressed & ready to go!! We filmed on Saturday from 8 AM to 10:30 PM and Sunday from 8 AM to 1 PM, then it was time to break down the set. That part was difficult because I was exhausted from the weekend's events and it was sad to take apart the set! (Got plenty of pics though, and of course it was all captured on camera for the film ha). 

Overall, I’m really happy with the way my work has turned out so far. With conjunction of the DP, lighting department, and director of course, we were able to accomplish a very beautiful visual for every shot. I’m super excited for this weekend’s shoot, and of course, the final product of the thesis film!

Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen

We are approaching the end of the semester and I can say that I am looking forward to break, but I am going to miss Fiction Field 2. I enjoyed my projects and I feel like I learned more about directing from my first project than any other film I have worked on, even though it was only a minute long. I learned that length is not important as detail and action.

I also got a chance to try script supervising, which I did enjoy. I realized the importance and difficult that can come with keeping track of shots and how long they are.

I really enjoyed my classmates and their creativity on the different projects. I learned more about the collaboration process that comes from making student films. I discovered what qualities a person should have for them to be good to work with. Crew chemistry is probably one of the most important things that a producer should keep in mind and that is something I will remember when I do my thesis next year.

At first, I was not sure of what to think of the blogs posts, but as time went on, I realized it was a great way to force me to sit down and watch a movie or a television episode every week. It gave me time to relax and think about my major and the medium I want to work in.

To end the semester, here is my top movie list of the year, all of which I recommend.

5. The Master

4. Moonrise Kingdom

3. Argo

2. Skyfall

1. Lincoln