This Is Our Final Curtain Call...

Well, this will be my last post on this class, Appreciating Film: Making Movies. It has definitely been an interesting and exciting year, but most of all I'm glad I can look at movies in a new way. Some might say that this class ruined the pure entertainment value of the films they watch in the future, and looking at them in more detail might have that effect. Though this class has taught me to look at films more critically, I believe it enhances my viewing experience, instead of taking away from it. I've always been curious about how they made those magical worlds that I loved from my childhood, as early as my development of an attention span. Now, I've been given a peek into the "film-making world", much like a glimpse of something enchanting, and yet too complicated to fully comprehend in that moment; it's something that probably takes years of education and practice to achieve a good sense of expertise.

Actually being behind the camera while filming gave me a whole new perspective and idea how movies are constructed from random scenes, much like a collage, which the editor then puts together to make the scenes flow coherently. I must say I truly appreciate the job that a cameraman (or camerawoman) does, especially since the normal cameras for shooting probably weigh ten times more than ours. It takes a steady hand and a willingness to be directed and guided to get the needed shots. I also appreciated their talent with electronic devices, because I don't think I ever did, or ever will, learn the endless buttons and what they do or how to actually get the film off the camera and onto a computer.

We are now in the process of editing our films, for our film festival on Thursday night. Hopefully it will all come together in time and all our films will be great successes. Also, we'll be turning in production journals about our filming experiences, from the way the group worked together and scheduling to what you learned personally from it. I don't see an academy award in my future or anything, but I loved the class and learning about movie-making. The discussions on the films we watched and the behind-the-scenes details that Eric taught us were both educational and enjoyable, which is a combination you would hardly expect in a Film Appreciation class, except this one was on a whole new level. This class gave the tools I needed, if I ever considered it, to make my ideas come to life on the the big (or any, for that matter) screen. It's been a great semester, and I must say it's a little sad to see it end. Well, I've said my piece, and to all you future and fellow filmmakers, I wish you nothing but success in your future endeavors.

Filmmaking is Pretty Complicated...

While out filming a few weeks ago, getting hold of the camera and finding the perfect times for everyone to meet proved stressful. Yet, it was exciting and exhilarating to finally be out on set. We worked together to make the script come to life and our actors were very cooperative in giving us exactly the mood and personality we needed from them. I personally enjoyed getting the camera angles just right and submitting my ideas to the director so we could include all of our shots in the raw footage to work in later. We had a good group dynamic, and definitely got the job done. One thing we lacked was planning, but somehow we made it work and randomly got together some of our friends to stand around and be extras in our crowds. We somehow worked in our props: the mime, the skull, and the cheese grater; our ideas were pretty creative, in my opinion. It was a long week, but worth getting the good shots we needed.

I was surprised that some of the risks we heard about could really come true, and I felt a bit of a daredevil with some of the shots we had to get. We scared the police into thinking that Wilson was lying on the ground and hurt, who then promptly came over to check on things and informed us that they almost called the paramedics and that we should inform them that we are filming next time. Another time, in the same location, we sort of "blocked traffic" for a minute or so to get some more shots of that scene, and were told nicely that we should "get out of the way" by a patrolling policeman. We weren't really official with our permissions, but we did ask to film in our locations directly before filming there, and the whole thing had such a "student film" vibe when we mostly just decided to wing it.

Filming went pretty smoothly overall, after scheduling conflicts finally worked out and we got all the footage. We had to get it digitized, like all the other groups, since the file transfers are challenging to many of us in the class. Things are starting to get busy with finals week, and I hope we'll all have successful films and semesters. Now I can almost see that lovely one-word horizon: summer.

The Last Strech of Road

Adaptaion was last film of the semester last week, and I have to admit I'll be missing our movie nights. This film is a self-narrated story of a screenwriter, who at the moment is struggling to make something out of a book he's reading, called The Orchid Thief. All the characters this film are people in real life, except for Kaufman's brother Donald, who was added into the film. The author of The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean, presently a real NY Times writer. In this film Kaufman is assigned to "adapt" this non-fiction story into a screenplay, but there's only one problem: the book contains no elements that make a commercial and popular film. It is beautifully written, but as Kaufman the screenwriter says, "nothing happens". The rest of the film spirals into the stories of Kaufman and Orlean, as Kaufman tries to imagine her experiences with a plant lover called McKee, and it finally turns into "Hollywood" film when the story gets crazier and crazier. Adding in drugs, scandal, sex, and guns towards the end got you hooked for a minute, but left you with the impression that it was pretty ridiculous too. Kaufman is caught up in all of this, but escapes without a scratch and the film ends with him driving in the distance, after having proclaimed his feelings to the love of his life and presenting the successful screenplay of the book, all topped off with a cheesy pop song.

We discussed in class that this is the outline that most "Hollywood" films seem to follow, and how shallow it can become. The contrast between Kaufman and his brother Donald serves to illuminate this point. Donald writes a screenplay and finishes it in the middle of the film, and as terrible and idiotic as it seemed, it was praised and was to become a movie soon. The only thing he had to do was make something for the common person in society, one who wants to be entertained and nothing else when watching a movie. Who care's if it makes sense, right? (I laughed out loud a little at the mention of The Butterfly Effect when we asked this question) Also, it was like the screenwriter was his own deity, who could decide every aspect and detail of a film, and this was shown by Kaufman's seemingly self-absorbed narrative and the creative process he endured when considering the sequence of the film. Lastly, we see how people who couldn't make things in real life could write/imagine whatever they wanted to fulfill the characters in their stories even if they were unsatisfied with their "loser" lives, as Kaufman consistently called himself a rainbow of pathetic things while writing whatever he wanted.

Well, my group is about to start filming this week, and I'm nervous and excited to say the least. I just hope everything works out and the people we need are available. Either way, It's gonna be a wild ride.

It's a Small World With Big Dreams

We started class on March 18 by receiving our grades on our box-o-footage short films, and there seemed to be some issues with some of the files, because those who did not receive a grade needed to submit them via email or youtube.com instead of what they previously turned in. I was included the no-grade footage, but I had no problem putting it on youtube and sending the email that weekend. Next, we watched a short independent film called The Last Summer, by Corey Womack, and it's his Honors Thesis as well. He was our guest filmmaker for the evening, and though he had a director for his film, the script and its revisions were all possible because of his idea and his hard work on it. Afterwords we had a question-and-answer session with him and I found the most interesting aspect to be that it was autobiographical about leaving his small town to go off to college and how trapped he felt there. I actually related to the story in a way, and how routine and boring things can become in a small town if you never find something bigger and better someday. Living in a small town myself, the movie reminded me of my own experiences in my rural town before coming to Conway and UCA.

After we finished the question-and-answer we all gave Corey a big hand for his hard work and great film, and moved on to discuss with the groups who had just filmed and watch some more educational but entertaining videos. The two groups gave a few key pieces of advice, like the fact that the sound editor and editor weren't really needed on set, and that it only made scheduling and getting together even harder for everyone. Next, we watched a few "creations" that were mock-trailers or mixed-up trailers. "Scary Mary" had to be the most disturbing since it turned Mary Poppins into a scary horror trailer using its footage. They also turned The Shining into a happy film using editing in a mock trailer. We then watched another 4 Minute Film School Episode that told us more about mis-en-scene and how to achieve the right look for our films. Alfred Hitchcock also had an interesting take on building tension and gave us the hypothetical situation of people playing cards with a bomb under a table, and never allowing the bomb to go off, but instead waiting until the last minute to have someone throw it out the window. That was the best way to build tension and suspense in a film, according to Hitchcock.

Lastly, we broke into our Short Film groups and our director brought a revised script and a good-looking storyboard for us to look at and discuss. He gave me plenty of ideas about camera angles and how he expected to film all the scenes. We are the last group to film, so we have a few more weeks to polish it up beforehand. Now, all we have to do is worry about scheduling and making deadlines. Even with the extra stress that will come our way, to tell you the truth, I can't wait.

Last week on Thursday, March 11 was movie week once again, and this time we watched another "thriller", called The Player. It was directed by Robert Altman and was an eclectic mix of genres and themes. It was confusing and a bit uncomfortable in many of the scenes, and this is all explained by the fact that it was a more recent version of Film Noir. Sure, it was covered up with Hollywood sunshine and bright colors, but all the other elements were there. The offbeat music, a screwed-up main character, a "private eye investigator" vibe, the "femme fatale", and imperfect shots or lighting. There were also quite a few creepy, off-balance, and outright uncomfortable-to-watch scenes. Other than that, I liked the movie and the message it portrayed to its audience.

But first, there were a few cinematographic elements that surprised and impressed me. The stopping on movie posters in Griffin's office to portray a fitting quote for the situation was one way to get the audience to actually think something about its characters directly. There's no way for the audience to twist the quotes around and become misled (unless it was purposeful); there were probably just different interpretations of what it meant. Also, this movie is well known for it's incredibly long shots if not anything else. The opening scene was a long shift between employees of the company and their conversations, or the writers' pitches to Griffin. So, you get a realistic, but wide view of the setting and mood from the beginning. Lastly, I was very interested in the returning pattern of filming the actors through windows or in reflections. It had an even more uncomfortable mood when it seemed you were watching people through the window, and even more so when Griffin does this to June. I admired the overall feeling of reality, with good sound transition and cameras at eye-level during dialogue.

The theme was another interesting element of the film. It's another movie about movies, but this time it has much more of a mocking and satirical feel than the others. The director seems to be showing us that you as an audience are suckers who prefer light, happy endings and allow yourselves to fall for the trick every time. The fact that this movie has a "happy" ending where the villian/main character gets away scot-free with murder tinges the end with poison. I know I was a bit disappointed in it, as well as many others who watched. But he makes a good point: reality doesn't always have a sweet, happy ending, and people are completely evil at times. He makes another good point about Hollywood too. It's driven by money and success; it's an endless and brutal competition to have the best script, story, and eventually movie. The fact that Altman was an independent director explains that he obviously had a problem with this corporate system. Well, that's my review, all I can say is you're in for a smart, offbeat, and unique film.

You Don't Have to Travel Alone...

Class on March 4, a workshop on short film planning, was interesting to say the least. We started with our normal slide show, and discussed how to make our films flow smoothly and seamlessly. Firstly, we discussed the importance of good sets. You need variation in your sets, and especially something on the walls. You need to make your story interesting, not neutral. Next, you need fitting music for your film. It creates a certain mood, or atmosphere, that will deeply contribute to your vision. Lastly, and very importantly, it's important to have all your paperwork in order and a good producer to get all the details straight. The producer's responsibilities include getting location agreements from where you're shooting, helps configure the set, and helps the actors and actresses to be ready and well fed for their work. Additional tips we learned about were finding and screening your actors carefully and to give enough time for auditions and castings to take place.

We also learned that it's best to shoot your most challenging scene first, or the scenes that make the most sense to shoot before others. You don't need any changes to happen to the actors in one scene that affects the shooting of the next. If you shoot the hardest scene first you have the most time to work on it and ensure it gets a good amount of time dedicated to it. Another good pointer from the Youtube videos on cheap film-making we watched: lots of lists. You need a prop list, to-do list, camera position list, shot order list, and any others you might need. The more details and planning, the better. If anything happened or was forgotten, you can just consult any of your lists; you can consult what you've crossed out and what you need to do next and you won't be lost anymore. For fun, we then watched the low-budget creation of a corpse, with a wire frame, pantyhose, and paint. They show that you can make your effects realistic and amazing with the right amount of innovation and creativity, even if you're low on funds.

Our groups met to discuss our scripts and/or storyboards based on the first draft presented. I had written the rough draft of the script, which everyone read and brought good and creative ideas to the table about changing it for the better. We talked for a good hour or so, molding and sculpting the story to something with the most interesting small elements that would come together for the big picture at the end. We dove headfirst in brainstorming and planning our film and it was a very productive meeting. I believe we're definitely heading in a great direction and can't wait for us to start filming.

So Last week in class was another movie night, and we watched Blow-Out, directed by Brian De Palma. This thriller about a sound-man and his experience with a conspiracy was interesting to say the least. De Palma, as Donna put in lecture, is pretty gutsy and gritty in his decisions for filming this movie. Some of his better known works include Carrie and Scarface, both very embedded in pop culture today. His main influence for decisions in Blow-Out seems to be much of Hitchcock's work; some of the scenes have been compared to the Hitchcock ones of the past. The one I absolutely loved was a scene where Sally is walking into the station; you are given a view of the killer through the clear front of the building at several levels above, and when he comes into focus it almost takes your breath away. As well as having some breathtaking and suspenseful scenes, it also has some clever dialogue and great underlying themes in particular criticizing the movie business and America in general.

We discussed the ideas present in the movie that could be possible themes, like the corruptions and the cover-ups that exist in American society and the goal of filmmakers to achieve a sense of reality in their films. Filmmakers were starting to realize they had to have something the audience could easily relate to, and the realistic sounds, look, etc. played a big part in how good it looked on the big screen. At the same time, they had to cover up flaws in footage (sound-dubbing is only one example). In effect, it would be "perfectly" realistic. In the same way, this film shows how America also has the tendency to cover up its flaws and weaknesses, to maintain a good look on the surface when in fact it starts out rough, tainted, and unkempt. When the official asks Jack (main character) to pretend he never saw a thing, we also get an in-your-face view of how law officers as well as high-society types are so easily corruptible and also how they cover up things to save themselves. De Palma not only sets out to entertain us, he shows us a dirty but realistic criticism of U.S. society as it really exists, corruption and all.

This is where Jack comes in. He's a fighter for the truth in a world where people would rather not hear the ugly truth, but hear a pretty lie instead. When he believes there was more to the "freak accident" that ended a politician's life, and the fact that he recorded it on tape, it only fuels his quest for this "truth". Meanwhile, he is in obvious danger, and so is his friend Sally. This mix of suspense, thrill, and heavy meaning make for an interesting, if cheesy watch. But I heartily recommend seeing it if you ever get the chance.