GRRRRRR

Get ready for  A N G R Y   S A M.

Angry Sam

I'm generally a positive person. I'm always looking on the bright side, thinking about what I can learn from a bad situation, or figuring out how I can improve for next time. But there comes a time when a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. And that is cracking the whip on my group for this project.

Normal, happy Sam

Here's the thing: I have producer experience. I think one of my best skills is the ability to communicate with all types of people and make sure they are comfortable, while increasing their productivity as individuals and the entire group as a whole. However, going into this project, I wanted to do something that would force me to learn more about something completely different. I've always been interested in sound (I'm very involved in the FM radio station at Ithaca College, 91.7 WICB-FM) and I know I won't have time for more audio production classes. :( Volunteering to be the sound girl seemed like the obvious choice to solve my problem. I also scared myself even more by joining the group doing a horror film--I can't even count on one hand the number of horror films I've seen. (Currently working on that). But I came to IC to learn and conquer challengers, so that's what I'm going to do.

Now we're at that time in the semester where I feel like everyone has gone from being super motivated about the project to not giving a sh*t about it. This may not be true, and I hope it's not true; yet through the actions of my group members, (or lack of actions) their excitement is no longer being communicated to me. People don't show up to class, the ONE TIME we're all in the same place at the same time. People are not taking the initiative when it comes to their job. People are showing up late to meetings.

IT'S TIME TO GET OUR SH*T TOGETHER, PEOPLE.

It was not my job to apply for a Pendleton Grant, but I thought that having some money to spend on our production and craft services would motivate my group and make them more comfortable when we're on set together for an entire weekend (starvation = bad!!).

I took Fiction Field II because I wanted to produce a film that I would be proud of. I wanted to go to the screening day and sit with my group and watch our film for the probably 200th time and be excited that all our hard work was finally done. I'm getting the feeling that this may not happen at all, and I'm not the type of person to just say "Ah, well. Whatever." and give up. I cannot do that. I'm gonna whip my group into shape, even if I end up as co-producer.

If any members of my group are reading this, I'm not trying to start a fight with you. I'm trying to get us to work together more quickly and efficiently. We only have nine and a half weeks to produce our film. It's time to step it up.

Can You Pay Our Bills?

*cue this song.

The reason I've been getting so involved in our story and constantly editing it is for two reasons. (1) I want it to be as good as it can be (obviously); and (2) I want that Pendleton grant!

Everyone in our group agreed that Dollhouse would be a low-budget film. However, having some grant money would be very helpful. I think that if we want to be a serious contender for the grant, we need to have a grammatically flawless script, which is why I've been working with Theo to edit it. Last fall I took Developing Story Narratives with Julie Blumberg, so I have a good amount of experience editing scripts. I also brought our textbook for that class, The Hollywood Standard by Christopher Riley, back to school with me specifically for moments like this.

After about five drafts (and help from Anna), we've created a story that is more compelling and interesting than it was a couple days ago. Tomorrow it should be ready for storyboarding, which is super exciting.

How we would use our money:

• Gas money - to transport talent, crew, and gear ($30)
• Craft services - food for cast and crew for a 3 day shoot ($70-$100)
• Production design - printing photos, props, room/house decor ($30)
• Wardrobe ($20)
• Gaffing supplies ($25)
• Emergency fund - for when we inevitably have situations to deal with that are unpredictable ($40)

_________________________________________________

Total - $245

I am rounding up to get these estimates, so we may not end up using all of the $245. Any leftover money would be used to submit our film to festivals.

Hopefully our submission goes well and we're awarded some grant money. The next step is for us to focus on pre-production and prep everything that we can.