A small reflection...

This semester has been a tough one for me, mainly because of my health but also because I took on a lot of projects that I necessarily was not completely dedicated too. Don't get me wrong working on Stopover City was fun and the cast was amazing but creatively i didn't have the opportunity to invest as much as I wanted to. It always seemed like no matter how much help I may have offered a lot of things got done without me knowing. I respect my peers for their hard work and dedication to our film because that honestly can not go unnoticed and applause to them for doing so. I just think I would have had more fun if I wasn't just producing or marketing. 

Besides filming and countless editing for my other production course, I have a hard time with my health this semester. It's pretty tough trying to maintain a high GPA and being healthy (at the end of the day GPA doesn't matter- I know)! For some reason it seems as if I spent more time getting X-rays than I did taking test. But I'm happy to say that I'm getting better and everything seems to be perfectly on track again. I probably have a lot of thank you's to send out to my friends and professors whom have been so patient with me this semester. Ah it means a lot!

I don't want this post to sound all bad, because I came into this class wanting new experience and knowledge and for the most part I got that! Plus I made some cool memories along the way. For now I'm excited for London next semester, and hopefully LA! I've had the pleasure to design for my fellow student filmmakers future projects next semester. And overall the present is nice and the future is looking bright. 

For now I wish everyone patience for finals week and the best of luck,  

Krystal

P.S: It's crazy to think that already next school year I'll be a senior! Honestly where the hell did the time go? 

Money, money, money...

...must be funny in a rich man's (not art department's) world. I quote this ABBA tune & say a little prayer that a money tree grows in my backyard tonight.

As production designer for our film, I am in charge of all the props, costumes, and set design for each frame, which entails 7 (kind of deadly) stages:
1. picking a color palatte
2. sketches of room designs
3. asking friends/other art people for common prop items
4. buying things online & praying they look like their picture
5. multiple trips to Salvation Army/Walmart
6. improvising....a lot (the prop weed is cotton balls rolled in glue, then rolled around in various spices, but hey it looks pretty realistic so thats ok)
7. crying because you have no money left

Depending on the project, an art department's budget can either be very minimal, or rather large. Because this is part of my independent study I went in with a "i'm going to plan for a lot of stuff and then get paid back later because I want this to look good and be worth it!!!" But right now I'm in that scary place of having spent money on art department and not getting paid back for it yet. Which means my bank account looks like this:

So I'm hoping that by some happy miracle more money is donated to our indiegogo so that I can afford to be paid back :) :) :)

Then again, if the film looks awesome, it's all worth the temporary debt, right???

How to Get Arturo's Stamp of Approval: Short Film Edition

Since we'll all be spending the next few days thinking up the project that will control our lives for the next 2+ months, I thought it'd be nice to do a "Short Films for Dummies"-esque post on how to make a great short that we'll want in our portfolio.

As I'm sure you all expect me to say, a great short is nothing without a great story. Choose a story that you have a personal connection with. When the writer or director has a connection to the material, it demonstrates a powerful point of view--something that's much harder to find when you tackle big topics like space travel, the meaning of life, or an entire relationship. Then take your personal connection and tell a story of one character's or couple's journey, but no more than that. In a short film, there is little room for subplots and secondary characters and montages. Just a single dilemma that will be resolved by the end in some way. Short films are not about events, but the people those events happen to. While plot and twists are important, your film will be forgotten without memorable characters that your audience can empathize with. So you want a main character with a strong personality, including quirks, desires, and goals.

All great stories have three things in common: a beginning, a middle, and an end. Even if it feels like the story could go on or become part of a larger story, every short needs some sort of closure or resolution. Sometimes the hardest part is deciding where to start your story. You have a very short window of time to create a world that grabs the audience in. Mapping out your characters' journey is a good way to figure out where to start. You need to find the most visual and quickest way for the audience to get to know your character. Whether it be an image or action or line that makes the audience get where the characters are starting from, let that be your opening shot and scene. In a short, there's no luxury of 10 pages to set them up and tell us about their hopes, dreams, backstories, and all that little stuff you'd find in a feature. You've really only got your first page to make them interesting to your audience. In that first page, you want your audience to understand, connect with, and root for your character.

The last thing you want is predictable story. Audiences like when you set up their expectations, then subvert them. There should be twists in the first and last minute of your film. It's easy and tempting to use your film to say something cynical about human nature or relationships or society, but if you find a way to leave your audience with even the slightest positive impression, there's a much greater chance of it leaving a lasting impression on them and remembering your work. So if at all possible, end with a positive spin.

Let's move on from story to other aspects of making a short film. It doesn't take a great amount of money to make a great short, but it does take great production value. So how do you guarantee great production value? You start by choosing great locations. You want locations that add a visual element to your story and allow for great shot choices. When choosing locations, think about the tone and mood that each place creates and make sure it fits the tone and mood you have intended. In shorts, it's not just what story you tell, but how you tell it. The writer and director should always be trying to get their voice and style across. That includes having visuals and moments that show off voice, style, POV, technical awareness, knowledge of shot composition, depth, etc. You absolutely, positively must be prepared before you get on set. You should know exactly what you need to get from every scene, including what emotion, what action, what shots, what tone, etc.

Back to budget. As I said earlier, short films do not require much money. To keep your production at a low cost and on schedule, start by writing a project with only a few locations and a few characters. The fewer locations, the better. As for characters, try not to have scenes that call for a dozen extras. The more actors you have to manage on set, the more difficult your life will be. Quick side note. I'm only going to say one thing about the casting process. When casting, don't cast your friend cause they bought you beer or your professor's son out of convenience. Hold auditions like the young professional that you are. That is all. Another tip for saving time on set (and budget, if you're feeding your cast and crew as you should be) is to try to keep the times of days in your scenes as consistent as possible. Having all day scenes or all night scenes will condense the number of shoots you can film your short in. And the last thing you want to do is have a scene focused around a specific hour, like sunrise or sunset. You're practically guaranteed to not get everything you need in time and may lose a whole day of production.

If you want this next short to be one that you submit to contests, then it should not be longer than around 12 minutes. Festivals need to fit numerous shorts into 90-minute slots, so they can't program a short that takes up one-third of their time. The average length is about 4-8 minutes, plus end credits, which could add a minute or so to your short.

In conclusion, keep your short, short.

It doesn’t take a great deal of money to make a great short, but it does take great production value. - See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/notes-margins-elements-great-short-films#sthash.8wTX71zo.

It doesn’t take a great deal of money to make a great short, but it does take great production value. - See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/notes-margins-elements-great-short-films#sthash.8wTX71zo.dpuf

It doesn’t take a great deal of money to make a great short, but it does take great production value. - See more at: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/notes-margins-elements-great-short-films#sthash.8wTX71zo.dpuf

Laying on the cheesiness...thick

         

 Since it is the last week and our class has officially concluded, Im going to talk about what I have learned in this class and throughout the semester in general....please, hold back the excitement. The first thing I learned was how to use the Sony FS-100 and how important it is to use profile pictures. When doing my first project, I learned the importance of art direction and location scouting. I also learned that it is very hard to workout five peoples' schedules to film. I really enjoyed learning how to use the FS100 and was impressed by the camera's higher shooting quality. During the second project, I learned the importance of image quality and how difficult it is to find actors that fit the type you are looking for. It was a challenge to mimic a shot exactly like the original but my group did a great job. This project was a lot of fun and I was really proud of the completed shot. I learned the most during the third project. This was the most involved project this semester and definitely the most stressful. I learned that you can not expect that everyone will do the jobs they are assigned and must be prepared to have yourself or other group members take over. I learned it is important to be organized and professional...and punctual.  This was also my first experience doing audio and using the marantz mixer. This experience showed me that audio is one of the most important aspects of a production and is much more difficult than I could have ever imagined. I really enjoyed doing an audio and realized that it takes a lot of practice. Overall, I really enjoyed this class and I am really proud of the things I have worked on. 

Also, good luck on your finals.

-Brie 

And....we're wrapped.

         

 Approximately one hour ago, Lucy, Harrison, Michelle,  Nick P., Nick C,. and myself picture wrapped our final fim production. It was stressful and bumpy road but we made it and must I say it looks fantastic. I am really happy with how we came together at the end and filmed a really great piece. Our talent, Nicky Wood, Brian Amato, and Jeffrey Ayars did an excellent job. We could have not asked for a harder working or more dedicated cast and crew. This was my first experience doing audio and thanks to the patience and knowledge of my crew members, it was a success. It was very challenging to find time in our hectic schedules to film but we finally made it.

         From this production, I learned the importance of back-up plans, punctuality, and communication.  I was also really impressed by how successful we were at achieving our 1980s look by using really great locations and Lucy spending hours at TIOLI and the Salvation Army. It was difficult to find locations that allowed us a large time frame to film, so we had to work very fast at times. It was really great that we had four locations to utilize for this production because it increased our production value and made our film more professional.
      Overall, I really enjoyed working on this project and I am beyond excited to see the final product. I want to Thank my other crew members and our cast for all of the hard work and dedication they put into this project. It was a fun project to work on and was my first time pieces. Time pieces can be a challenge but are fun to shop for and assist in the design process. I hope that everyone enjoys our film and enjoys our film, as much as I do.

Peace, Brie

Financing Your Projects Through the Internet

One of the biggest concerns as student filmmakers (among the many we face) is how we are going to finance our projects. A lot of people use their savings, apply for grants, or simply ask mommy and daddy for help. But recently, many people have been looking somewhere new for funds: the internet. There have been a number of websites that have been launched that support artists by creating an avenue that both gains awareness and funding for their projects. The two biggest sites out there right now are Kickstarter.com and IndieGoGo.com.

Kickstarter.com is a strictly free fund raising platform for creative projects. Anyone can sign up and anyone can pledge money to a project. No matter the size of the project, you can set up a project page and start advertising. However, in order to actually get the money you raise, you need to reach the quota you set initially for your project.
IndieGoGo.com works a little different, but serves the same general purpose. There are two small fees taken out of the money you raise that go to the website and the service they use to handle the money, but regardless of whether you meet your goal, you get the funds you raise.

Both sites allow you to create incentives for the funding backers. Instead of royalties or other monetary incentives, the production team can create personalized mementos that show their thanks. Popular incentives including things like a DVD of the project, a thank you video from the cast and crew, an associate producer's credit, and signed memorabilia from the production.


A specific example of how this new kind of funding is working is an Ithaca College student production called 'The Market.' They set up an IndiGoGo account and have raised over $4,000 to make their originally short film a feature length production.

These websites are perfect for us fledgling filmmakers, but it's also important for any other creative projects you may be involved with. Both sites provide avenues for funding for traditional art, comics, video games, theater, and more. If you can think it up, you can fund it. I would suggest these sites for anyone with a solid idea and a good marketing campaign to help get your good ideas off the ground.

Continuity...must control my pet peeve

As previously mentioned I brought my camera to our shoot this weekend. Idid this for several reasons:

1) to satisfy the photographer side of me by taking a bunch of fun pictures

2) to satisfy peoples current obsession document everything and putting in on facebook

3) to satisfy my desire to have awesome behind the scenes photos

4) to satisfy my compulsion to control continuity as much as possible.

As a filmmaker and a photographer continuity is one place my interests can intersect. When ever I am watching a film or television and there is something that clearly is not the same from shot to shot, or scene to scene it really bugs me. When continuity is broken it pulls your attention from what is going on in the story to what is going on in the frame. It pulls your mind out from the fantasy of the story and back to the reality that this is just a film or TV show shot with a bunch of actors and filmmakers that all can make mistakes....instead of super heros or what have you. Ever set should have at least one person watching out for continuity because if not it is one of the easiest ways to loose an audience's attention. This is why even though I am still only shooting student films at the moment I am dedicated to as much perfection I can control. If you do not try your hardest, your film will not be as good as it could be.