film pickup, editing, cutting

Screenshot of the boring-ness that is digitally cutting film in Compressor

I got my film back about three days ago and I am in the process of editing this weekend to see if I have to do reshoots on Monday. Viewing your footage for the first time is very scary. I laughed in some parts, that's great, but I cringed a lot. After being on other film sets I have the hindsight of what I could have done better. But its not fair to oneself to do the what ifs. I have to remember that film is like photography. Many times I hate what I shot and cringe at what my client will think when they see the photos but once I start editing and cutting out everything that just isn't great, than what is good can shine on its own. So after this weekend I'll have a better idea of what my film will be like. All I know is that this experience has me ready to improve my mistakes for the next time. 

On a separate note, cutting a film in Compressor is confusing and time consuming. Maybe I'll dedicate a blog in the future on the proper steps of digitally cutting film. When I get good at it myself...

set photography of writer's block

writer's block; working title...maybe

the best crew ever that also doubled as my main character's imaginary characters

depressed clown

I wish I had had the time to take more photos. I thought it would be easy to multi-task and be both director, set photographer, and continuity...nope. I did manage to shoot film (photography) so I can't wait to see what develops. I'm attempting to work on a portfolio of set photography.

film processing

Its funny because regardless of my frustrations with how expensive film processing is, the feeling changes completely when you actually drop off your film to be processed! I went yesterday to Postworks/Technicolor with two other classmates. I'm not sure when I'll get the footage but it is supposed to be sometime next week. I cannot describe how intense of a feeling it is to fill out the forms and hand the rolls over.

Today it is snowing, the first snow of the season. It is quite unfortunate for all the directors that are filming or were meant to film today. The ironic thing is that I was meant to take this weekend slot but ended up switching for first position. A reason to go first for sure as this weather keeps getting progressively worse.

Regardless, it is gorgeous outside. I wanted to photograph something really conceptual but it was way too cold. I am proud that I tried. If I had had a more clear idea I might have stuck it out longer. But when I sat down on that icy step it put something into perspective. Just the act of trying is better than nothing at all, and that is something that I have been lacking lately. That's why I went to film school. I need a bigger entity to force me to work in specific time frames. I have been asked time and again why spend so much money on a film degree when you can just take that money and invest it in a film. I have many reasons but this is one of them, structure. I can't live without it and I'm not always that good at setting it in place for myself. I have some side creative projects that I just want to begin and find myself constantly procrastinating about, i.e. writing for this blog more consistently. Another includes more conceptual photography or just more personal photography. I mean this blog is really meant to be more visual than written...

Next step at school, edit my first film and research ideas for the next upcoming films, the short documentary followed by an adaptation. 

filming my first film

I finally filmed my first film! It was an amazing experience. I had the best of friends, actors, and crew members there to support me. We were and still are a crew of six and we each rotate positions on each others' films. I was the first of my crew and of all the first year crews to film. The advantages were that I had weather relatively on my side, I had more daytime hours then what is to be expected in the upcoming days, and energies were still high. The downside is that we are still acquiring experiences that I feel grow exponentially as we work on each others' films. 

During filming I was worried, and still am, about my story. I went into it with a clear structure of what the story was about but at the 11th hour due to lack of certain production elements I began changing my script. There were certain holes in the story that I began to second guess as well. This affected my shots.

I had three film cans, 400 feet each, which equal about 33 minutes of shooting time. I was very careful with my first roll, about how much I shot for each take. The second roll, shot also on the first day, was when I began to forget that film runs out fast. So on the second day also known as the last day of my shooting, my DP (director of photography), Giu, looks at me and says, "you know why I'm looking at you right?" I didn't. But I noticed that she was looking at the film counter and she let me know that I was halfway through my last roll. Shit. I had quite a bit left to shoot for the ending so I began to improvise shots. In my current mind, even though I loved everything I shot I have no idea if when I edit my film, if the story will make sense. I hope so! It turned out that what I had left was still quite a bit because the last shot of the script I did about eight times, dolly shot* and all. It is hard to gauge what can be done with 200 feet of film, if it is too much or too little, and I had panicked.

In hindsight, I realized that most of my fellow students only used around two to two and a half rolls. I should have had a better shot list. Lesson to be learned here is the importance of solidifying the shot list. Things change on the spot and stories change during filming but I feel I could have been more prepared. I tend to be really hard on myself so maybe I am just being extraordinarily paranoid. 

Now here comes the frustration, with those three rolls comes processing and the expenses that come with it. NYU gave us each one roll and I purchased the other two rolls at a Kodak student discount of about $100 each. So so far I have only spent $200 on film, (this doesn't include production costs but that's a different story and I was more expectant of those costs). In my mind $200 wasn't that bad. So back to processing, there are three and at certain labs four different steps that involve different costs; processing, cleaning, transferring to tape, transferring from tape to an external harddrive, and the overlooked fifth of any purchase, taxes. Wait, what? So through my research I have discovered that I will probably spend about $650 to $800 for two rolls of processing. Just two rolls! (NYU covers the cost of one.) That's insane. No wonder film is a dying art. It hurts me to imagine these costs and in hindsight I wish I had only shot one extra roll.

These are the lessons learned, but at the end of the day I still can't believe I did this, that I have made it this far and have shot my first film. I know so much more than what I did six weeks ago. Its still mind blowing. I cannot wait to work as director of photography, my second love in film.

*Dolly shot is a moving shot that is made on tracks. We improvised our dolly track because what we had wouldn't fit in my location.

5 am...

Its 5 am and I cannot sleep. Just before going to bed I made my first edits to my directing exercise of which we were supposed to film various scenes of our upcoming MOS (4 minute black and white silent film) that we will be shooting in six weeks, five really at this point. I slept for about two hours dreaming about Final Cut Pro and different editing cuts. I knew filming would be hard but I must say that I didn't realize just how hard coming up with different camera angles on the spot can be. I now see the importance of storyboarding! I am glad that I didn't have high expectations on what I would end up with. If anything it is hilarious because I used two adults to mock the children and I haven't laughed so hard in a very long time.

I then woke up thinking and overthinking an email that I received just before going to bed from my directing teacher. He is concerned about how many of us plan on casting children and reiterating how he thinks that we should reconsider our stories because of how hard it is to work with them. At some point I got up, went to the computer and typed out a story. Because the story cannot have dialogue, the whole thing seemed very pantomimed and fake. Why are the two characters just NOT talking. I got so frustrated. I attempted to go to bed again and tossed and turned for another two hours.

It is now 5 am and I know I am going to hate myself in the morning for lack of sleep but I think I came up with another idea that I love. It is very whimsical. It is a very rough draft, but I can see the beginning and end. I love the concept of the story and the main character. I'm hoping that tomorrow in writing class I get inspired on the middle part of the story. It is about writer's block. I can definitely relate...

week one

Location as a Character - Cinematography Assignment
(Not the most amazing composition by any means, but I definitely know who this would be if it were a person...)

It has been a week and a half of exhausting yet exhilarating experiences. There has been so much information to absorb that I don't even know what to write about. It is all interesting, it is all amazing, it is all confusing. I'm finding that I really understand the basics of cameras, composition, lighting, storytelling, and acting. Editing and sound are becoming my big worries. Final Cut Pro...whoa.

The most challenging thing that I am encountering is being able to think about the overall production of my first film that will be shot in six weeks. It is a four-minute black and white MOS (no sync sound) film. It is a relatively small production and I have purposefully kept it simple but it is still very daunting. First of all, there are one million and one things to apply for; location permits, actor agreements (if your actors are SAG you need to sign paperwork with the union), insurance approvals, the list goes on. You need to make sure that the owner of the location that you are going to shoot at is willing to sign a waiver. I am hoping that my loving landlord will approve of using my backyard for the shoot. People get scared of signing papers. As a student I have insurance that covers my equipment rentals, crew members, actors, and locations. But without a location permit...the risk management office that actually allows you to use your insurance during your shoot will not allow you to proceed. There are a lot of round about circles.

Even the most simple of productions has its challenges. My story deals with two children. Let me just say that deciding to use children is a risk. Children don't have the same attention spans or work hours as adults and you never know what type of parents you will have; supportive, stage moms, etc. This makes casting a priority. If I don't find the right children I might have to reconsider my script which would set me back tremendously.

I have to find the time to design some backgrounds that a child would create on their own. That involves scouting stores for materials, and hours of design which hopefully will translate on camera. Not everything that you think looks good translates on camera.

Script breakdowns and story boarding are two other tasks that I am working on. Script breakdowns are a breakdown of all the materials that you might need, locations, wardrobe, etc. Story boarding can be drawings or photos dictating how you plan on shooting the different camera angles. I am hoping to use photographs to capture my different angles.

All this while still doing photography on the side. I love photography and I will be shooting regularly but on a more limited basis. I want to give my clients the 100% they deserve. If I cannot, then I will not take on the project. I'd rather do a good job on less photoshoots, than a half-assed one on more photoshoots. I am also excited that I can be pickier about what photoshoots to take on. The necessity of growing my business isn't there anymore. Now I can approach each job like a film, telling a story that captures the moment for my clients.

sugar obsessed

baking keeps me sane.