Semester 2

SEMESTER 2

Recap

Ferris Bueller

Our project was to replicate a popular high school movie, regardless of date of release and genre. The filming process of this recreation was approximately a month if I remember correctly, which explains why the finished product appears cleaner than the rather rushed short film we later created. Scheduling proved to be an issue, but only a minor one. All of our actors were incredibly enthusiastic and eager to film, offering any and all free time slots available. Along the way, I learned how difficult it is to film multiple nonlinear scenes involving costume and location changes. The main feedback we were given was to adjust the audio, which was previously a tacky royalty-free track that was thrown in last minute. I'm very pleased with the final result.

Short Film 

The final assignment of the school year was to craft our own script and bring it to life. The students had to depend on their peers' script-writing skills to create an exceptional film. For this project, we had a week for pre-production, a week for filming, and a week to edit. Time was definitely a challenge, as well as the rapidly approaching finals we were about to face. And along the way, I learned how to tolerate terrible actors. Barely. Feedback we received focused on the pacing, and I agree it was staggered; unfortunately, we did not acquire enough footage to even it out.

Time Usage

Time spent in class is unpredictable, depending on the project. Pre-production is the busiest, where all time is spent scrambling to complete everything prior to filming. Filming tends to be the laziest, as most of the time filming is off-site. Similarly, editing is laid back. Usually one person takes on the job of editing and only requires help when they need a second opinion.

Strengths

I found my strengths to be focused in directing, which surprised me as I dislike depending on others. I utilized those commanding skills to produce a wonderful high school trailer replication and an, admittedly, sub-par short film. The short film lacked as I let the stress of other classes' finals eat away at me, and I prioritized them rather than the film.

Areas in Need of Improvement

While my personality can be very dominant, I found myself being too lenient at some points, leading to easily avoidable accidents.

Short Film

I directed the short film based on Alex Pauli's comedic script. Many edits were made to create a simpler script for us to follow, yet some important aspects of the story were lost along the way.

Summary

I adored directing Ferris Bueller, as the cast were a joy to work with. I wish I could have spent more time on the short film, though. I intend on taking my newfound directing skills with me to next year.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this class, even though it stressed me out beyond the point of no return.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Project

     Following the music video assignment, we were instructed to mimic a popular high school movie trailer, ranging from the classics to new arrivals.

Process

    To begin, our main focus was casting, as the main character's personality and appearance are a large majority of what the plot is based on. Casting was, shockingly, completed rather quickly; not to mention, successfully. The fact that most of the actors were crewmembers only benefitted our project, as scheduling was easy. Costuming wasn't ideal to begin with, for the designs were complex and unusual and straight from the 80s, but we made it work.

Editing was completed swiftly, with only minor audio issues hindering a perfect piece.

Professionally

    This was the first time actually being labeled a director ( not including the times everyone just expected me to take control anyway, I suppose? ). I've found I'm much more organized when I'm not guessing who is in charge and that spreadsheets do wonders for scheduling, casting, and collecting props; everything.

Changes / Constants

    Originally, the audio was some pitiful track stolen off of a royalty-free website. It was terrible. But I went back and changed it to a track from the trailer to have some scrap of resemblance. I'm much happier now. I'm even happier with how our actors and the cameras worked together; the film quality was beautiful and our actors did a phenomenal job re-enacting.

Conclusion

   I'm directing again for this next project and I can guarantee I already have a spreadsheet delineated, though I find it much easier to mimic than create my own story.

Why Do You Feel So Down?

Why Do You Feel So Down?

Pre-Production

     For this project, Kenia Diaz and I barreled head-first into creating a story-driven music video. We were dejected to find we were required to mimic, rather than craft our own. Disheartened, we scrapped a multitude of storyboards and did a complete one-eighty, deciding on a preppy, eighties themed music video instead of the previous serious, grim plots we had worked on. Declan Mckenna's Why Do You Feel so Down? includes a variety shots in one location, partnered with bright costumes and choreography reflecting an old eighties work-out tape that appealed to every one of my team members; Ella desired something bright and uplifting, Brogan wanted to avoid anything too mainstream, Kenia preferred a song with meaningful lyrics, and I only wished for an exciting-to-film music video.

     Since I suggested the song, everyone agreed I should take the role of director. Kenia was the location-scout as well as art-director, Ella was in charge of organization and graphics, and Brogan assisted in casting along with filming. We all partook in editing the final product. Casting was simple, yet working around individual schedules proved to be exhausting, not to mention the weather left much to be desired. We ended up filming less than a week before deadline, acquiring all of our footage in under two hours.

Post-Production

     We entered this project knowing the editing would be a challenge; geometric transitions and constant moving graphics were out of our range of knowledge. I put together a rough cut while Ella pieced together the three star-transitions needed in After Effects and Kenia created the graphic. The day I intended on filtering the final cut I was absent and the video was left unfinished. Had we more time, I would have spent more time on the choreography. The poor actors looked like fish out of water. In addition, I would have focused more on costuming and editing. I'm still rather fond of the finished product, but there is always room for improvement.

Conclusion

     As my first time as director, I was not assertive enough and did not communicate as much as a should have. Taking this knowledge with me into the future, I know to trust my crew yet still maintain a solid line of communication. As the main editor as well, I learned how irritating it is to sync audio to images. Hopefully one day I'l gain the patience to move a clip a centimeter back and forth i the timeline until I achieve a perfect sync.