The Hidden Experience

My Production Roles

Writer

My first job for the Hidden was writing. I worked with a team of other student to turn what was a short film into a full length feature film. The original short film was written by Brady Stanfield and then he worked with our group which includes Amanda Campbell, Ariel Seemann, Courtney Honors, Darby Christensen, Drew Conners, Piper Cumley and myself.  We began by breaking down the original script and spreading it out in order to make room for mores scenes and continuing the ending. We then sat down as a group and added more scenes and added an ending to make the film a full length film instead of a short film. We had many days where it was our group sitting in a circle writing on a whiteboard developing characters, fine-tuning the plot and other crucial points in the film. After getting all the details planned out, we wrote treatment and shared it with the entire class and got feedback. We then applied the feedback to our final script and shared it back to the class.

We faced quite a few challenges throughout the writing process. Probably the biggest one was trying to please everyone. With a class of over 20 people, everyone has different ideas and opinions and it's very hard to please everyone. In the end, I think everyone was pleased.

Along the way, I learned just of how much a process it is to write a full length script. I've never taken on such a task before and it was a cool process. Our script was almost 100 pages long! It was really fun to work with others instead of by myself. 

Production Assistant

I was a Production Assistant for the Hidden. My jobs in this role included running errands, being in charge of craft services, and helping out around set doing what was needed. In certain occasions, I made sure the dogs were quiet and other odd jobs. I think the biggest challenge I had was making sure everyone had food and water. We ate a lot on set as a consequence of not really having scheduled meals, so I had to keep up with everyone's appetites and personal tastes. This role was really fun in my opinion. It allowed me to do a little bit of everything and be working throughout almost the entire process.  I learned a lot about keeping up with a busy schedule and being in several places at once as well as all aspects of the filming process. 

Overview of my Roles

I believe I worked really hard in during this film. I'm really proud of how everything turned out. I hope everyone was happy with the food provided and I hope I helped make everyone's days go easier.

Time Managment 

I believe I used my time pretty well in class. During the writing process, I spent most of my time meeting with the other writers and working on the treatment, script, or anything else we had to write. During the rest of pre-production, I worked on figuring out food and meals. During production, I did odd jobs, ran errands, and helped out around set. There wasn't very much for me to do during post-production, so I worked on personal projects such as my website and a typography project. Those two projects are what I went back to when I had enough/extra time. This was all in class; when I wasn't in class, I didn't much of anything related to e-Comm due to a lack of time because of other classes.

My Strengths  

My strengths are pretty minimal; I'm more of a jack of all trade, a master of none type of person. I have a little skill at many things, but I'm not super good at any one job. Thats why I enjoyed be a production assistant so much. The job allowed me to do a little of everything. I plan on working this summer at maximizing my skills in editing and filming because the only way to get better is to work and practice. Practice makes progress. I'm working on music video and also some PSAs and Short films this summer!

Summary

I loved the premiere! Everything from the limo to dinner was great! It was really nice to have everyone together and to be able to hear the audience's reactions to our film and it felt good being able to see all our hard work on the big screen.  My favorite part of the whole process was the filming days in general. We all had so much fun and even though it was stressful, it was worth it. I learned a lot about teamwork and how to handle stress from this film. I'll take away that hard work is really worth it and that you can do anything you set your mind to. My one goal for next year is to get everything planned out earlier and start earlier so we aren't so stressed towards the end. I had a blast this year and while it wasn't totally ideal, I wouldn't give it up for anything.

What I learned About Being a Production Assistant.

On Wednesday, my class is premiering our film The Hidden. I held many titles throughout the steps of production  ranging from Writer to Production Assistant. Being a PA was probably one of my hardest jobs. Being a PA means doing things that no one else wants to do while also helping out where needed. Throughout the production, I was in charge of snacks on set, helping run lights, doing makeup, transporting all the equipment and just doing little odd jobs all over the place. It doesn't really sound like the job to aim for, but I had a blast! Sure, it had it's rough parts, but it was still nice to be able to go everywhere and help out in lots of different areas,.

After reading No Film School's article 7 Tips on How to Survive Being a Production Assistant, I learned a lot on how I can help myself improve at being a PA and help the future PAs in my film class to be the best they can be.

Communication

Communication is key on a film set. Everyone has jobs to do and it's important to be on top of it and communicating with others. At any given time, a PA can being doing several jobs and mus communicate with the 1st AD on how those jobs are going, if they are happening and other key details. Without proper communication, everything would be a mess. One way in the professional world to keep communication up are walkie-talkies. Being a small production where everyone on set is usually shouting distance away, we didn't have need for these high tech gadgets, but in the professional world, it's necessary. 

Being Prepared

A PA must be prepared for anything. You never know when someone might need a pen, pencil, water or batteries for their walkie-talkies (or in our case, our zoom). I was constantly running around, grabbing lights, water bottles, gathering props. Pretty much, if anyone needed anything, I was their gal. There are so many times I wasn't prepared this year, but now I know what I need to improve.

Being a PA isn't Easy

Nor do many people actually keep the job for a life time. Most PAs are aspiring cinematographers or directors or any other crew role looking to gain experience on a film set. It's a very taxing job, you're at the bottom of the crew totem pole. Besides what's mentioned above, PAs are often looked to in order to keep the set clean, organize and set up food, keep everyone quiet and many other jobs. It involves a lot of running around. During my time as a PA, I didn't do half the jobs mentioned on No Film School's website, but I still got lots of fun experience and would definitely do it again if I had to! 

Article: https://nofilmschool.com/2016/05/7-tips-how-survive-being-production-assistant

Is The Greatest Showman Really That Great?

The Greatest Showman, a musical on the life of P.T. Barnum, has people hooked. They enjoy the flair and the message and the music, but the reviews are shocking. According to Google, 95% percent of users enjoyed the movie. These are the common movie fan. Critics, however, the the movie as less than pleasing, calling it "transcendentally fake" and "artificial". Well they aren't wrong. This rag to riches story is enough to make anyone with a heart melt, until they are shown just how much is fictional or covered up.

The true P.T. Barnum was much more terrible man than that of the Barnum Hugh Jackman shows the audience. The real Barnum began his career by buying an African-American woman by the name of Joice Heth in time when slavery was illegal in the North. He went into debt in order to go through a loophole and buy another human being. At the time, Joice was being paraded around as the 161 year-old nurse of George Washington  and Barnum had hoped to make a profit off of her. He took her on a tour and had her on display for around 12 hours a day. When she died, he held a live autopsy and had people pay 50 cents to watch. He spent the rest of his career making money off of hoaxes and lies and exploiting people with difference for a profit.

The movie version of Barnum is seen giving his performers a home and family when all he did was make money off of them. He is also shown giving everyone an equal voice. one notable line from the movie comes from the character W.D. Wheeler when talking about his and Anne's act. He says something along the lines of "people won't like you putting us on stage" referencing the time period and the discrimination of people with a different skin color. Barnum replies with a line like " I'll make them like you". Wow. he's such a great guy...

The amount of whitewashing in the film also covers up just how discriminatory the real Barnum was. His tall "man" was not a white man, but rather an African-American woman by the stage name of Madame Abomah. He also exploited a set of African-American twins named Millie and Christine who were conjoined, as well as albino brothers Eko and Iko who were "wild men". All four of them were either kidnapped or sold as children.  While it is not apparent why this white washing took place, according to NBC News, it was not done out of ignorance. An excerpt from the article reads:

The filmmakers were clearly acquainted with Heth, Iko, Eko and their other contemporaries and their roles in the real-life Barnum’s success, because some are background performers in the film, bearing silent witness. I immediately recognized a dreadlocked character as Iko or Eko, the representation of Siamese twins Chang and Eng, as well as Barnum’s interpretation of a “Circassian beauty” with pale skin and a wealth of white ringlets. So ignorance does not explain this whitewashing of Barnum’s true character.

Barnum was made out to be a lovable con who makes mistakes but is always forgiven, when in reality he is the opposite. Any child who goes and see that movie without knowing the actual story is being lied to. 

On the technical side of things, the movie had it's ups and downs. For a heartstring-pulling story, there was very little emotion and what was there was covered up by a song or a funny line, giving little time for the audience to feel. I sat there for half the movie, wondering what I was doing watching it because I felt nothing. The music had a good message and all, but was horribly auto tuned and lacked the gruffness of voice that makes one feel. I have to give it points though because the composers Justin Paul and Benj Pasek also composed my favorite musical Dear Evan Hansen. The cinematography was well executed I have to say with some very interesting shots and angles. 

My rating overall is 1.5/10. 

I'm so glad I found a cheap $5 ticket at a smaller movie theater because it's not worth the $12 at AMC.

Semester One Reflection.

Winter break, a time for family, friends, great food and of course, refection. The first part of junior year has been jam packed full of work. Between my PSA, short film and the beginning of our feature film, it's been super busy. Here is an overview of the first semester.

  PSA: Stop Teen Smoking 

PSAs, otherwise known as Public Service Announcements,  are used to spread awareness or knowledge that benefits the public. Ours was based on teen smoking, using humor to catch attention. The project took about a week and half to two weeks in order to go through the entire production process, pre until post, so it wasn't too hard of a project. The biggest problem we had was equipment. we had two filming days, and on the second one, our camera decided not to work, and on top of what was not filmed, we had to re film some shots, so we ended up using an iPhone 7 to film.  That was probably the worst part about this project.

Sentio: a Short Film

Sentio was a short film I worked on with Brett Taylor who directed and wrote the film. Production was actually quite short compared to what I thought it would be. It took longer to create the storyboards the it did to film. Everything went pretty well, we were actually one of the only groups without any major problems. We did, however,  have some problems with equipment. We used a shot gun microphone which didn't want to cooperate. Other than that, the film turned out really good.

Other Notes and Thoughts

I have blog posts about each of the above projects that go into more detail about the process. 

So far, I have really enjoyed video and I can't wait to see what the future holds. Right now, we have been working on pre-production for our feature film, The Hidden. I am in the writing team and I'm one of the production assistants. I wrote act 3 of the film with Ariel Seemann. 

Class Time

I feel like I've been really productive in class. I spent a lot of time working on writing and scripting the feature film recently and on days that I haven't been working on the film, I've been working on using sounds and colors and looking at how they affect the mood of a film. Other than that, my time has been spent on class projects.

Outside of school, I watch a lot of music videos, tv shows and movies and analyzing the continuity, colors and audio while looking at certain shots project the mood of what is going on. 

Areas of Improvement

I'm sort of a jack of all trades, master of none kind of person. There isn't really a certain video role, I'm good at. That's why I applied for production assistant; its a way for me to do a little bit of everything and help out her people. I could improve by honing my skills into a certain area of production and finding what I can succeed in. I really like cinematography and sees to work on finding my own style of film, rather than what everyone else does. 

Guest Speakers

I didn't really learn anything from our two guest speakers about film. Both of them work in the advertising business, which I have no interest in and while they are similar, movie production and advertising differ as well. I did learn that you can start from the bottom and work your way to the top, especially since the internet is so vast. I was able to learn some roles in film production that I didn't know existed and got to work with some cool equipment that we also get to use in out feature film.

MX4D

The MX4D trip was really cool. I also have an entire blog about it. I do believe it can boost the movie industry by getting more people to theaters and it definitely makes a person think about how to integrate movement, touch and sound into a film. 

Summery 

My favorite part of this semester was the freedom I was able to enjoy thoughout my projects. It really allowed be to explore my creative side and what I like to do. I wouldn't do much to change any of my projects. This up-coming semester I pray goes smoothly and that our movie is completed without too many complications. 

 

This semester has been a blast and I can't wait to continue.

MX4D Review

MX4D- What is it?

MX4D is an experience. It's a way to immerse yourself in a movie without just using visuals and sound. You have moving seats, smells that go along with what you're watching and different types of ways to feel what you're seeing. There is snow, rain and bubbles falling from the ceiling. There is air blast and water coming from your seat and little strings that tickle your ankles and little punches that hit you through your seat. There are only five movie theaters in the United States that have this, so it's pretty exclusive. 

My Opinion Before Going In

I've been to 4D movies before, but it was completely different. The ones I had been to had the audience wear 3D glasses. In this theatre, there were no 3D glasses and more of the 5 senses were attainable.  I was really excited going in. 

My Experience

We saw the new Justice League movie. My expectations were high and it wasn't quite satisfied, but I still enjoyed it. I did experience problems, but they were minimal. For one, I wear glasses and there was no way to shut off the water spritzes. It really distracted me because whenever there was liquid on the screen, I would quickly have to cover the holes in the chair. it was also distracting to have the little punches through your seat. The biggest problem was that it distracted me.  I did really enjoy the chairs moving during the fight scenes, but I felt like it was made more for entertainment than actual movie watching. 

I'm actually planning to go see Justice League again because I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure if I'd see it in MX4D. It was fun, but distracting. 

Integrating MX4D 

In my films, I'mm not quite sure how I would do it. I don't really like making action movies. MX4D is more geared to action, thriller and horror movies. I like dramas and romances. I'm not sure how I would integrate it. 

My Ideas to Improve Movie Theaters

I don't really have any ideas for technology. I do think that movie theaters should lower the prices of their concession, but I also think there are other things that don't involve technology that they could do. 

Conclusion

I really enjoyed MX4D more for the experience than the movie watching. I do think it could improve the theatre industry, but it's just so expensive, I don't know if its worth it. 

Sentio - A Short Film

A man is on a date while battling his inner demons. That is the basis of Sentio. It's a psychological surrealist short film. The script and concept came from my fellow classmate, Brett Taylor. The script was 18 pages long and the film ended up being 13 minutes long.

Pre-Production

Pre-Production began with Brett's treatment which he expanded into a script. We then moved into assigning roles: Brett was director and editor, Ariel was location scout and art designer, Brendan was sound, Damien was cinematographer and I was production designer and makeup artist. The storyboards took several days to finish. 

Production

Production was pretty straight forward. We were able to film in two days. The first day was at Westside Nazarene Church; we filmed the date scenes. All went really well. We ended up to re-film some shots due to microphone issues, but it all turned our pretty great.

The second day of filming, I wasn't able to make due to a previous commitment, but from what I've heard, it went really well. 

Post-Production

Editing, as seen by my group, is a solo affair. Brett was editor because it was his story, his vision. We gave input where he asked us to and other things, but he did most of it so I really can't go into detail. One thing we did realize during editing that our shotgun microphone hadn't picked up all our audio, so some extra editing had to be done there.

My Role

I was production designer; I took the script and turned it into drawings.  It took several days and I had help on it from other students.

What I Learned

I've never used a DSLR to film before. It was new to me and I will never go back to the other film cameras. We also used a shotgun mic for the date scene. I learned that it wasn't such great idea. The audio ended up either being too quiet or messed up.

Conclusion

This film is probably the best thing I've created in my little over two years at ONW. There are most definitely some flaws and things we could have done differently, but it was a success overall. I really hope to continue to create videos like this over the rest of the year and beyond.    

Teen Smoking PSA - First Project of Junior Year

Overview

Teen Smoking, a long existing problem in our society. My group decided to address this using a humerous approach. There is a video (below) that we based our video on. We figured that a fire extinguisher was a bit overboard, so we stuck with a water bottle.

    

The Process

Pre-Production

First things first, although it can be done, it is hard to make a video by yourself. My class split into groups of 5-6 people. My group consisted of Damien Fraser, Ariel Seemann, Piper Cumley, Darby Christensen and myself. We all had different ideas of what PSA we should do. Mine was "Teen Smoking". Other ideas we had were "Save The Bees", "Suicide Awareness", and "Internet Addiction". After choosing our PSA, we all determined roles. Because it was my video idea and my vision, I was voted the roles of Director and Production Designer.  Darby was the Editor, Damien was Cinematographer, and Ariel was the Screenplay Writer.  We all took on the role of  Location Scout and Art Director. Along with our Production crew, we recruited fellow e-Comm student Nicholas Compton. We began filming the next day and continued on Monday.

Production

Production was supposed to be pretty straight forward. We planned to take 1-2 days to shoot and that would be that. It almost went according to plan. It did only take 2 days to film, but not in the way we thought. We began shooting on the Friday after the assignment was given and we got a few shots done. Monday, our actor Nick forgot his costume, so we had to start all over in order to avoid inconsistanies within the PSA. Luckily we got it all shot.  We also ran into technical difficulties in Monday. Our camera stopped working, the worst problem you can run into. We ended up filming completely on an iPhone, but all considered, it turned out pretty good. We also ran into a problem with props. Seeing as all of us are making an anti teen smoking ad, none of us smoke. As a replacement for actual cigarettes, we used fake cigarettes and Pixy Sticks as smoke. It doesn't look completely realistic, but it works.

Post-Production

Editing is probably my biggest struggle, luckily Darby was our main editor. I have a hard time making sure that all the scenes lineup and just everything in general.  I did get it turned in on time though and it's not too shabby.

What I learned

The main thing I learned through this assignment is that I am a very bossy director. I have never been a director for a video so it was a very new experience. I loved learning how to make my thoughts heard and collaborating with my group, even though it got heated sometimes. This was also my first time using an external microphone, so that was new technology for me to learn. 

What I Would...

Change

I would probably substitute Nick for someone else. I love him to death, but I feel like we could have  done better. I would also change some of the shots, so its not quite so repetitive. I would also not shoot on an iPhone as that's not very professional. I wish I was better at editing, I did it a way that made sense to me and was different, but I'm not a huge fan of the final product.

Keep The Same

 I would keep a lot the same. I liked the humorous approach we took and the diversity of the shots. I think its a real improvement from earlier projects. 

Conclusion

I do believe as the years go on, I continue to improve the quality of my projects. I do wish we had been able to shoot with a real camera, but sometimes you have to improvise with what you have. Hopefully, throughout the year, I will continue to get better and I will strive to be the best I can be.