Project #3 (A Night in the Life)

Finally. It took youtube nearly four hours to upload this damn thing. Enjoy.

Midterm Pitch

For our next big project, our teacher wants us to present a pitch for a movie that we will eventually shoot, around midterms. Here's a summary of what I will present in class.

The main character, a girl, is sitting in front of her computer screen, with a blank word document page lighting up her face, the line blinking. She has writer's block, so she leaves her apartment to walk around the city at night to clear her head. She ends up at the park. While all of this is going on, she is having a monologue about her life as a writer, and how her writer's block has been caused by her abusive relationship with her ex-boyfriend. This will be overlaid over the audio of her actions. The film will be done at night, allowing for dramatic shots using lighting. By using dramatic lighting, the story of the girl will be driven home. There will only be one actress- the main character. This will punctuate her emotions and bring them to the forefront. I want it to be almost like a novel in the first person- we're in her head, she's narrating. She's walks around the park, and, after much deliberation, decides to open up to her mother about her relationship, which will be the catalyst that will lead to her ability to write again. The film will end with her writing a poem, onscreen, about her acceptance of her need to move on. The film will end with the word line (whatever it's called) blinking at the beginning of a new line of text.

I think that this is a good idea, and Kelsey has already volunteered to be the girl for me. I think it has potential narratively. Lets see what the class thinks after class.

Write up for Project #3.

Project #3
February 23, 2011
"A Night in the Life"

Story: A man walks into his house, relaxes slightly, does laundry, washes hands, and goes to bed.

Intent: My main idea behind this piece was to challenge the viewer. It's a slow piece, intended to make the viewer watch and ask themselves "Why? Why is it challenging? What is the purpose?" Through that question, they will begin to pull answers from the piece, one's that stem from the viewer's on context to the piece. My main goal was to have an almost voyeuristic look into this guy's life, and watch his actions unfold, while using the lighting and the architecture to set up interesting shots. I want the piece to be about the man's space as much as his actions. I chose to utilize Final Cut Pro's black and white feature for two reasons: by making the characters palette similar to that of the space, he blends in easier, helping the viewer connect the two, and because the space I used for the piece had interesting visual textures that work well with each other, but their colors clashed with the mood I was shooting for with this piece.

Now that the piece is complete and Youtube is processing it as I type this, I feel mixed feelings about. I love the shots, the transitions, while jerky at times, aren't distracting I think, and the actions and emotions of the character are readable, believable. I'm really happy I went with the black & white- the mood is pushed so much further with it, and it really does help the piece. That being said, I'm afraid that, come critique, my class will dislike the lack of sound, the long sequences, the lack of a "hook," the overall challenge of the piece, and is it even worth being challenged by? I honestly think it is, but that's something up to my audience, not me.

Overall, I'm happy with the outcome. Now I need feedback.

Shot and Camera Analysis- Project 3

Above is the camera break down diagram for my third project, dealing with space. It takes place throughout a house and deals with how a character interacts with that space. The shot are in a style inspired by the Woody Allen movie, "Manhatten." Below, I will list the job of each camera.

• A= shows character walking into house.
• B= shows character getting water from fridge, sets up kitchen shot.
• C= Show character walking through down stairs and through various rooms.
• D= Shows character walking to sitting area.
• E= Shows character sitting in chair.
• F= Establishes the shot of the bathroom and the bedroom. 
• G= Sets up shot of laundry room.
• H= Shows character opening door; close-up.
• I= Show character washing his hands, looking at self in mirror.
• J= Shows laundry room again, but at an angle where the dryer is more prominent.

This projects assignment was to shoot a film that explores space in an unusual way, inspired from a movie we watched. The movie I watched was Woodie Allen's "Manhattan," which deals with how characters interact and live in space. The movie was shot in black and white, so my piece echoes this. Below is the shot-by-shot.

• Shot #1: guy walks into house, puts down keys (cA)
• Shot #2: puts down jacket, turns on light, opens fridge, gets water, walks to the left of screen (cB)
• Shot #3: walks away from camera, down steps, turns right turns on light off camera, comes back into view for a second then dissappears to the left. Comes back towards the camera. (cC)
• Shot # 4: walks back by kitchen, turns on sitting room light, heads toward chair (cD)
• Shot #5: sits in chair, melts into chair, takes off shoes, relaxes, obviously tired. gets up, walks back towards kitchen. (cE)
• Shot #6: shot establishes bedroom, and the bathroom with the light turned off. Character puts on slippers  and picks up dirty clothes.(cF)
• Shot #7: shot of laundry room, character goes into room, starts laundry. (cG)
• Shot #8: close up of opening door (cH)
• Shot #9: in bathroom, characters washes hands while staring at himself in the mirror. Dries hands vigorously and turns off light, leaves. (cI)
• Shot #10: back to kitchen, begins turning off lights. (cD)
• Shot #11: character goes to move laundry over, focuses more on dryer than washer. (cI)
• Shot #12: back to bedroom, all lights are off except for bedroom, character begins to undress, takes off shirt, turns off light. end. (cF)

Shot analysis and camera set up for project #2

Heres both the diagram for my shoot and the shot analysis of project 2. Heres a list of each camera's functions:
A: Sets scene, shows setting of dinner.
B: shows microwave
C: Over guys shoulder, close up of plate
D: show couple at table:
E: Over girls shoulder
F: For girl close ups
G: For guy close ups.

• shot #1: establishes the surroundings, guy puts bottle on table, then rose. (camera a)
• shot #2: girl hand opens microwave, then puts in hot pockets begins to cook them. (camera b)
• shot #3: back to table, guy places glasses on table, then pours root beer. editing is used to cut time between pouring of root beer. (camera a)
• shot #4: hot pockets finish, are pulled from microwave and set aside. (camera b)
• shot #5: female hand places hot pockets on table. Dinner is now set (camera a)
• shot #6: Close up of hot pocket. (camera c)
• shot #7: shows whole scene, couple sits at table looks down to food. (camera d)
• shot #8: Behind girls shoulder. Guy looks up, confused and slightly chagrined. (camera e)
• shot #9:  over guys shoulder. Girl smiles, picks up hot pocket goes to bite. (camera c)
• shot #10: jumps to close up for girl, takes a bite, bliss. (camera f)
• shot #11: close up of guy. Follows example, takes bite, it’s delicious, wolfs it down very fast. (camera g)
• shot #12: snaps back to girl, she’s disgusted, looks away. (camera f)
• shot #13: close up of now empty plate, echoing the plate that had the hot pocket on it. (camera c)
• shot #14: back to shot of the whole scene. Guy wipes his mouth, girl picks up glass to start drinking, while she’s distracted he eats hers, as well. (camera d)
• shot #15: close up of the girl, she’s quite upset.
• shot #16: guy kisses girl, gets up, cuts to him leaving. girl sits by herself for a few seconds. End. (camera d)

Write Up for Project #2

Project #2
February 15, 2011
"First Date (Or, Man Bite)"

Story= On the outset of the video, hands begin setting up a dinner; first a rose, then hot pockets in the microwave, then drinks, then the hot pockets on the table. Then a couple sits down at the table. They look down, and the guy looks up, confused. the girl smiles and takes a bite out of her hot pocket. The guy tries it and proceeds to wolf sown a seemingly delicious hot pocket grotesquely. The girl reacts accordingly. He then waits till she isn't paying attention and eats hers. She becomes sad. He kisses her, then leaves. The shot pauses on her.

Intent= My main intent for this project was to subtly utilize the 180 degree rule and have fun experimenting. My main focus is to entertain. Of course, it's deeper then that. I also wanted to show men take advantage of women occasionally, but I wanted to show it in a way that doesn't necessarily condone it , but does make you feel sorry for the female character.

Now that I am done, I feel like did an ok job fufilling my intent. There are parts, such as the face-stuffing and the quick cuts during the drink-pouring and the plate-setting, that I think are funny, and the face on the girl when she's making a sad face is priceless. There are, of course problems, though, and here are my critiques of my finished product.

1) The opening is interesting, but is it necessary? It's slow moving, and is completely different then the second half. It's defiantly an interesting idea, sure, but interesting enough? We'll see what the class says tomorrow, I guess.

2) The close-up's focus is fuzzy. I should've switched the view mode on the camera to a closer setting- now that I've seen it bugs the crap outta me.

3) The jump cut at the end, when the guy walks past, wasn't originally supposed to happen- unfortunately, the female actor smiled after the guy kissed her, and that clashed with the mood. Unfortunately, I did not notice this until the editing phase. A reshoot may be necessary.

4) The jump cuts whenever the soda is being poured is noticeable because the reflection on the cups jumps. God that bugs me.

That being said, I'm glad with this outcome. Now it's up to the critique I guess.

Project #2 (First Date- Or, Man Bite)

Film project 2 & 3 concept coming!

I work in my mole skin whenever I'm planning anything. While this practice doesn't carry well to the blog, I will be uploading the concept and shot info for both project 2 (which is focused on the 180 degree rule) and project 3 (an exercise in presenting place in an unusual manner) before this coming Wednesday. Unfortunately, since I was sick last class, I missed the lesson on editing in Final Cut Pro. Because of this, I will more than likely be using iMovie as I did for the first project, unless of course I can teach myself to use the program before Wednesday and still make a good product. We'll see what happens, I guess.

Dissection of "Manhattan"

To start, I want to say I really enjoyed this movie. This was my first Woody Allen film, and I enjoyed his humor, and thought that it made for an interesting plot for a satire. But I think the one thing that I enjoyed the most about this movie was the Allen's use of cinematography.
In one particular shot, Woody Allen is in his new apartment with Dianne Keaton, and the shot is a static shot down a hallway, which has a few open doors- one leading to the kitchen, another to a closet, etc. Instead of the shot moving with Allen as he moves through the doorways into the other room, the camera keeps the static shot. We still hear his voice as he talks, and as he walks out of each door he's doing something different, i.e. walking towards a differnt angle, or holding something he wasn't before. We don't know what room he walked into, but it doesn't matter because the scene doesn't become about what he's DOING but rather what he's saying and and the apartment itself. It's an interesting idea, since it puts a lot more focus on place and dialogue and, honestly, that's what this movie all about.
There is very little in the way of conclusion for this movie; nothing is truly resolved, and at first one would be disheartened by this. But, strangely, I didn't feel that way at all. I was initially confused by this, because usually, if I see a movie that leaves me hanging, I'm done. I want resolution. But with this film, the movie wasn't so much about this man's love affairs, but about the place's he is and where he is and what he's doing in his life, and his philosophies. So, when the movie ends, I don't care that Woody Allen's 18 year old lover is going to London, or if his book gets published. The movie is about Manhattan, as a place, and what a man's life is like trying to strive in that place and how it shapes him as an individual.
Manhattan itself is as much a character in this movie as Allen or Keaton or anyone else. The movie starts with shots of of the city from a distance, showcasing how beautiful the city is at night, how it moves, how people interact with it.  All of this is achieved through the use of shots of New York, showing off architecture. This is a big theme of this movie. Allen places most (if not all) of the shots not only on the rule of thirds, and uses long static shots mixed with subtle movements to create a piece that set up the places the characters inhabit and are surrounded by. Very rarely is the movie shot with a lot of movement, which makes the scenes with a lot of movement more poignant.  For example, the second to last scene when Allen is running to catch his young lover, the camera moves with him as he moves down the sidewalk, but our eyes are still attracted to the city life that surrounds him. This movie is a love letter to the city, surrounded by Allen's philosophies on life and love. All in all, it's an enjoyable movie.

Woody Allen Study

For my study of place, I will be watching the Woody Allen movie Manhatten (1979), and in preparation for that I did a little reading up on him as a director and such. Here's a link to his Senses of Cinema page; if you're interested, check him out.

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/2003/great-directors/allen/

Self Asessment on Proj. 1 Redo

As far as the story and intent goes, the project hasn't changed. It's still about a guy waking up and spending an entire day doing  nothing but  read, in order to illustrate the concept that fictional place can be more engrossing than reality. I like the idea of place as a narrative device and playing off of that.

Hopefully, I have fulfilled my concept. The main problem holding back my last one was pacing, which caused a lack of interest overall. I sped up up a lot of cuts, cut out two and a half minutes worth of footage, and made even more jump cuts. Instead of spending 5-7 seconds on each shot of the character reading, I started at 4 seconds, and with each one quicken the pace a little, until each shot only lasts a second. The continuous movement, plus the punctuated sound of the character turning the pages, really drive this piece. Is it perfect? No, I don't think so. There are still more pacing problems, and I couldn't really develop much of a story, but that just is the nature of my concept- while it may be boring to watch, people reading (or any other form of escapism) is boring to watch on screen, so I was fighting that, as well as my camera limitations, the whole way through. It can still use some work, but I'm satisfied with it as a first attempt as a film.

To address the problems I listed previously with the first edit-

(While I did experiment with the editing and it does work well in some parts, the overall piece need more visual excitement.)
1.) By speeding up the cuts/ moving around quicker and cutting all extraneous footage, the piece moves quicker and, over all, is more interesting to watch.

(I need to lose the title, for a few reasons. One, it distracts from the overall piece. Two, since it's presented in such a way (crappy piece of paper with shitty handwriting), it gives the audience an expectation of, well, shit. And, three, it deserves a better title.)
2.) Lost the title "screen" altogether- it was distracting and completely unnecessary.

(I need to trim down the reading scenes, and find a way to make them not boring. I mean, you're watching a character read a book. Not exciting stuff. Find a way to make it better.)
3.) To address this problem, I did a steady progressive trim from the first reading sequence, until eventually each shot lasts a second.

(Needs a hook)
4.) My hook is the continuous, repeated movement of my character.  

Revised, Edited Project 1