Final post

Overall, the class has given me all the basic knowledge and what to expect, from the broad sense, of the program and film production in general. As a filmmaker, I was able to learn how important sound, lighting, and producing are and its not just about directing and cinematography. Filmmaking in general, I learned the same thing and the difficulties of directing a bunch of individuals (even though I wasn't a director) can be tough, especially when nobody is getting paid. However, I think the best ideas come from groups that aren't getting paid and where the most genuine work is.

plans for next semester

For next semester, I would like to have an internship lined up for the next summer while doing well in my classes and possibly join Flicker. First I would like to find what I enjoy and what I'm good at in film. I really enjoy editing and would like to direct sometime thus I am taking the 331 editing course and working on some films over the summer as my own director. Even though I would like to try acting for the camera as well, it is on the "back burner" and something I would consider in later semesters. Therefore, to reflect, I would like to continue to maintain my 3.5 GPA and get involved in Flicker. I believe those are the set-ups for me to be able to select an internship that best fits and interests me.

Crew position on Wild Card

As the sound recorder for this last project, it is very important for me to take what I've learned on the last project of recording sound, coming up with creative sounds and deciding what is appropriate along with our director (Jonathan) to effectively present the best final product we can. For his script, sound is very important to this project and is the main aspect of our film. The most exciting part will be recording the sounds on the phone for our voice mails. I've always wanted to use the "scratchy" sounds of a phone conversation for a film and now I will have that opportunity, thanks to Jonathan. We also would like to do most of our sound in post-production and just worry about image on set. We plan to couple the main recordings with limited film in order to let the audience take in the sounds that will give two important parts (and from where I stand, both highlighted separately in the last two projects) together for our best work individually and collectively yet.

Experience editing 3b

As far as editing sound, the most difficult part is staying away from the narrative structure. As we are "tuned" or inclined to create a narrative story no matter what we see/hear in our brains, it is incredibly difficult to NOT create some sort of loose story from our project. My editing partner was easy to get along with and we shared the same "vision" on our project. We had a lot of the same ideas as far as what sounds to group together and what kind of theme we would tie to our title. The most important part of our editing experience was getting the sounds to string along, abstractly with a loose structure. We probably could've stayed away from the story more, but overall, I felt that we did a good job on the project.

Experience on sound recording

Sound recording was an interesting experience because of all the sounds we were able to capture. Using the H4N as our sound recording device was simple and easy to use. We tried to think, for most of our sounds, of sounds that other groups wouldn't think about and use unique sounds that would stand apart from the rest. The most trouble we had was keeping the boom mic still during recording. The slightest movement of the cord/mic would be captured on the device and we would have to not use certain sounds because of that. We also had to work on meeting together at the same time and had a designated "producer" who checked out the H4N and gave us a time to meet to record our sounds. Overall, our group enjoyed making, creating, and coming up with creative sounds to use for the project.

Review on Editing Mastershot

As a group, we were able to plan, edit and shoot in a timely manner as well as work together and find common ground in our project. There wasn't once a major disagreement (at least to my knowledge) and everybody in the group had something to contribute. Editing was fairly simple and quick because our director (Caleb), DP (me), and sound mixer (Ben) had, basically, the same vision as far as our final product and the meaning we would portray in the mastershot sequence. Even the gaffer (Naomi) and our producer (Molly) pitched in during editing and we all were satisfied with what will be presented in class. I look forward to working with each of our group members again, because of how well we took care of business.

Pre-Viz review

Thus far, the most difficult aspect on previsualization materials is planning in and around each others schedules. With spring break approaching and the midterm this week, we are finding out that we have to coordinate during the week after we return from the break. One of the more helpful things is pitching our idea in class. This allowed us to rethink our master shot sequence and get a true feel for how the movie should turn out, as well as our shot list and storyboards so that we have the organization of putting it together during the shoot and a plan for the editing. With editing possibly being the longest process we may be in a crunch, unless we film ahead of time. It will be our collective job to finalize our location, equipment, and actors to accommodate our desired time frame in order to complete our task in a timely manner and efficiently.

New Storyboards

Director: Caleb Driscoll
Producer: Molly Rasberry
Director of Photography: Jason Zimmerman
Lighting: Naomi Montes
Sound: Ben Dorton
Budget: $50 ($50 personal, $0 donation, $0 in kind)
SHOT 1
Action: Establishing shot outside of car tracks towards car.
Distance: LS to MLS
Height: Slightly High
Angle: Straight
Light: Low-key
Sound: Ambient sounds
Camera Movement: Track in
Transition: Cut
SHOT 2
Action: Transition to inside of car; dialogue begins
Distance: MS
Height: Eye-level
Angle: Straight
Light: Low-key
Sound: Dialogue
Camera Movement: Track in slightly.
Transition: Cut
SHOT 3
Action: Close-up on the driver as he talks
Distance: CU
Height: Eye-level
Angle: Straight
Light: Low-key
Sound: Dialogue
Camera Movement: Stationary
Transition: Cut
SHOT 4
Action: Shot/Reverse shot of the two talking in the car
Distance: MS
Height: Eye-level
Angle: Straight
Light: Low-key
Sound: Dialogue
Camera Movement: Stationary
Transition: Cut
SHOT 5
Action: Cutaway to ECU of binoculars on dashboard.
Distance: ECU
Height: Slightly low
Angle: Slightly high
Light: Low-key
Sound: Dialogue
Camera Movement: Stationary
Transition: Cut
SHOT 6
Action: Both people leave the car and approach someone near the restaurant.
Distance: MS
Height: Eye-level (inside car)
Angle: Straight
Light: Low-key
Sound: Car doors closing, ambient sounds, footsteps
Camera Movement: Stationary
Transition: Cut
SHOT 7
Action: Camera moves closer to driver seat as the kidnapping takes place outside the car.
Distance: LS
Height: Eye-level (inside car)
Angle: Straight
Light: Low-key
Sound: None/Ambient sounds
Camera Movement: Small track in.
Transition: cut
SHOT 8
Action: Victim is thrown into the car
Distance: MS
Height: Slightly high
Angle: High
Light: Low-key
Sound: Struggling, footsteps, shifting clothing.
Camera Movement: Stationary
Transition: Cut
SHOT 9
Action: POV shot from the perspective of the victim.
Distance: MS
Height: Low
Angle: Extremely Low
Light: Low-key
Sound: Sounds of movement and footsteps as well as car doors opening/closing.
Camera Movement: Reframing to mimic POV
Transition: Cut

Master Shot Role

My role for the Mastershot project is Director of Photography and Lead editor. So far, it is my duty to bring together our director's vision of the 3 minute clip through meticulous camera work and careful editing. Our plan to shoot this sequence is two characters in a car in a discussion about languages. We would like to include elements of natural lighting (possibly shot at night), cutaways of a radio and/or turning up/down A/C, an establishing shot from the back seat of the vehicle. Our 2 shot will be of the two characters sitting in the front of the car waiting to make their move. The over-the-shoulder shots will be from each side of the character's, behind the shoulder of course, responding to each other's comments and questions. As far as editing goes, we would like to pull together the sequence as a quick, time-passing conversation as the characters have an ulterior motive as to why they are together in the first place.

Reflection on Vox Pops and Expert Interview

Overall, the experience shooting the vox pops and expert interview went well. As far as my duties, I learned to get our permits correct and gather talent release forms and found a location after several attempts to find a good one. We were able to find a time to shoot through each of our schedules and our expert's, as well as gathering the equipment, taking care of it and shooting successfully. Although there may have never been a time where a project could've had more shooting we felt as though we had good shots, and archival footage to complete our interview project. We also were able to finish editing and properly transfer our footage. As far as group member cohesion although we had disagreements about the topic at first, we had a good mix of past experience and learned new things from one another that helped contribute to our success for the project.

Production schedule

Our production schedule will be shooting our expert interview on Friday and we plan to have several officers from Flicker, including the president as the highlight interview. We will also plan to shoot our B-roll as well, with footage of, but not limited to: a meeting, archival footage, Flicker students shooting and past projects.

We plan to shoot several officers at one time sitting next to each other in a Flicker office with the president in the center.

Documentary Interview Plan

Our documentary interview plan is to interview Dave Monahan as the expert of Flicker. We plan to shoot our main interview in one of the theaters on campus Lumina or King 101, while finding B-roll of Flicker items, Monahan and other students working on Flicker projects. We have also discussed (although no definitive answer) possibly interviewing other leaders in Flicker at the same time and  have a discussion type interview of 4 or 5 people, with Monahan being the main interviewee. We would like our tone to be informational to those who don't know about and are not aware of Flicker or those who would like to know more about it. Our aim is to inform about Flicker and "inspire our fellow filmmakers to get out and create by watching a group of mixed majors unite in their love of film." Although our group hasn't quite finalized the particulars of the vox pops, we could possibly question students (film) in and around campus with questions such as: 1-what do you know about Flicker, 2-what would you like to know about Flicker, and 3- why do you think students should learn more about Flicker.
10 possible questions for expert Dave Monahan:

1- How did Flicker get started?
2-Why don't many students know about Flicker?
3-Who can be involved?
4-How does one get involved?
5-What is something unique about Flicker that isn't offered by similar groups?
6-What is the purpose of Flicker?
7-How can being involved with Flicker help jump start a film career or path?
8-What types of activities does a student do with Flicker?
9-Where can one get more information about Flicker?
10-Where do you see Flicker in the future?
11- information interviewee would like to add not from interview

Light Observations

My first light observation is a basketball jersey in the morning sunlight from the window. As I woke up, it was the first object I had seen. Entering from a high angle on the left side, it hits the object hard in the bottom right corner because it is laid out further than the rest of the jersey. At the top where the shoulders would be, it also strikes an intense light, but fairly dark shadows underneath highlight the dark yellow/gold of the object. In the center, there is a small part that sticks out that captures the harsh light on both colors of the object. The way the shadows are cast and the angle of the intense light appear upon the jersey, makes it look like a shrine.

My second light observations is a holly bush. Again, the sunlight is coming from a high angle on it's left side. On some parts of the bush, the green leaves seem brighter from the rays. On either side of the bush, the leaves are darker and shadows of leaves that are outside of the bush cover them. A softer lighting in the back of the bush adds to the many shades of greens that as a whole, give the bush a natural, characteristic look. Lastly, it casts darker shadows closer to the ground, and lighter ones higher up behind the bush against the wall.

Storyboard drawings

Filmmakers Statement

Hi all, I am Jason. I am a recent graduate of ECU with my BS in Journalism and a concentration in broadcast. I wanted became interested in film after having a required production course and a screen writing course at my previous university. In another class, I was given the option to use those skills and made a short film For Melvin and Basketball(my only previous film experience). After combining those efforts and my passion/enjoyment and over 20 ideas I've had for movies, I decided to find a prestigious film program. My grandmother informed me about UNCW and the program here, and I applied.

As I learned upon graduation, as far as "10 year plans" go, a lot can change in a little amount of time. However, I believe and would like to be thriving in the film industry in any way possible between now and then. I am not very particular about where or what direction I want to travel, but I do know that I want to get there and will do whatever it takes. Someday, I would like to be directing, producing and writing my own movies or take another form of a leadership role in films.

A few things not known about me are:

•  I enjoy playing/watching/talking anything about basketball or sports in general (especially ECU).
• I have performed comedy on stages in North Carolina and Florida.
• My 5 favorite films, in no particular order include: Mystery Men, SW Episode 3, Doom, The Number 23, Bicycle Thieves.
• When I'm not watching movies or working, I like to hang out with family and/or play video games.