Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Response to the Test Shots

I believe Matt and I will be able to work up a good natural sounding conversation about Melissa. He lived it so he sort of expresses it in a personal manner. The test shot is just in his livingroom, but the bar scene will work out nicely. I saw a bit of "Eyes Wide Shut" and theres an interesting pool table scene that i may take some ideas from.
The car wreck scene will be tricky.
I need to call RP Tracks to get a night to shoot there, I know them so it shouldnt be a problem.
Meagan will do well as my pathetic drunk girl. Shes gonna have to work on not looking too goofy while shes doing it. A smirk tended to appear. She'll make a fine "woo"-girl.

My friend Off. Bobby White is quite a character. Hes one of those nice guys that shows no mercy in a smart-ass way.

And my camera didnt want to digitize right, so i dont have clips of the test shots ready yet...sorry

10-30

6: Shooting
2 separate shoots.
a. The bar scene, the drive and the way home
I will shot this most likely on the weekend of the 10th-11th
b. The police officer scene
I want to get this shot hopefully this weekend 3rd-4th

7&8: Actors and whatnot
a:The bar scene includes Matt and I. and the ride home Includes Matt, Meagan and I
b:The police scene includes us three plus an officer.
I am goin to try and contact my officer friend to help me shoot. (Bobby)

9:Draw a map...

Choices

Friday, October 26, 2007

Making a Comeback...

Opening scene...
You see matt and eric sitting at standing around a pool table. Talking.
Just talking about mundane stuff and then it blends into talk about his girlfriend...
Matt: Im just glad to be out and away man, did i tell you what she did the other night?
Eric: Yeah you told me about it, man i dont know what to tell you... She just always kind of been like that. Thats her idea of fun...to not fuckin remember anything..
Matt: Well i like her and everything but it just gets old...i dunno man, i just want my beer and to play some pool
Eric: too bad your not going to win though huh
Matt: yeah whatever (cell phone grabs his attention [buzzes])
He grabs his cell phone and looks at it
He then looks up with an exasperated look
Matt: So uh, melissa just got pulled over...
Eric: Great, again...shes such an idiot. So whats happening?
Matt: i dunno, thats all she said, i guess we're gonna find out later though.

Cut to a scene where matt just took a shot but then his cell phone rings. Now its Melissa on the phone, upset and crying.
Matt deals with it in a calm, irritated manner...then he hangs up.

Matt: Dude we have to leave, the cop told her to get a ride home or shes goin to jail. So we have to go pick her and her car up..
Eric: Dame dude....alright...

Cut to a scene where theyre walking out of the bar talking...
Eric: Dude ive been drinking and were gonna go pick her up from a cop?
Matt: its cool man, we werent there long...he wont notice at all, just be cool.
Eric: Alright dude...lets hope everything goes according to plan...

The next scene will be us arriving at the scene... The cop and Melissa are standing outside of her car talking. Blue lights flashing behind.

Cop: How are yal doin tonight?
Both: Good
Eric: hopin everythings alright
Cop: Oh we're fine she just doesnt need to be out on the road...
Melissa: I wait on him at Mulligan's
Cop: Yeah i know she means well so thats why i decided to give her a chance, we were about to pack up and go downtown...
Matt: Yeah sorry about that, we had to fight our way through the traffic...
Cop: Well we dont want any hurry, dont want anyone gettin hurt. So are yal ok to go?

This is where i can have a number of responses, we just said yeah and went on our way...

Yessir: he lets us go, we drop her off, and go back out
Are we ok to go?: he gets a little suspicious, nothing much, it just gets a little tense...
I hope so: 'what do you mean i hope so?', this is where we could end up riding downtown with melissa.
Oh yeah, how about you?: This is where we may have made a new friend and he ends up goin out with us...

Drawing Board

Ok so i wanted to go in a new direction with my movie. I didnt realize that we only had five week and that this piece should be the best that we can do about what we learned this semester in film making. So a silly piece that may only get watched only by kids on youtube is what i decided not to do....of course i appreciate the fans!
So when thinking of a story i tried to this of a beginning middle and an end...something that happened to me...somethin not over too long of a duration of time...

Jon also gave me a good way to go about the movie... So what characters do i want...? What are they all about?? How do they go about it??

Then i thought of my own methodology along the lines of why is this important? and so what? (a little something fron Canfield)

My friend Matt and I were downtown at the Flying Saucer one night. We were just going out on a Friday or Saturday night...having a drink or two...playin pool. But it had also been long week with his girlfriend. Melissa is a friend of mine from highschool. Shes never been all that bright, kind of a silly girl. She also has the wrong mindset. When she drinks, the purpose is to get drunk, and if she doesnt remember last night, then it was a good one. Well were just pickin about it, talkin shit, playin pool and hes kinda glad to b e away from it. They had decided to do separate things. Well right when it was about time for something to happen, something happened... He gets a text message from her saying that shes been pulled over and kinda left us with that. So now were waiting for something, the mood has changed... She calls after a bit. Luckily she knew the cop, but shes too messed up and either we have to pick her up or shes spending the night in the drunk tank. So now were stuck with this dilema...we've been out drinking...now we have to be the responsible friends and drive to go get her, not only that, but i have to drive her car back for her.

This could go good or bad...it ended up we got an little insightful talk from the cop of course and we took her home. But then we went back out to drink some more.

But Jill suggested that i experiment with alternate endings. I could bring it to a point when the cop asks up a question and the answer could make or break the outcome of the night.

He could ask if were ok to go and there are a number of responses: "yep, thank you very much sir, sorry about everything"; which will set us home free, "ye-(a belch that kinda pauses you for a sec)-ssir"; which might catch his attention and it leads into almost gettin busted, "i hope so"; which would be just a dumb move, and just may get us all in trouble..., "well, were ok for now! hahaha"; which might even end up in him having a drink with us when we get off...

So the alternate ending sounded like a good idea and this sense of going out driving and bar hopping has a sense of normallcy to it until you get caught and your pulled out of your fun reality, but then we just jump right back into it...

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Follow up to the script....

I think i want to take a different route...

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Blip on the Map

We enter into the scene, looking at a door from a hallway. Then we hear talking and characters enter from the left side of the screen. They’re coming up stairs that the shot is taken over. We hear them in mid conversation.
: No man you would have a heart attack before you even hit the ground. That’s what happened to those people who jumped. They died from a heart attack before they hit the ground.
>But what if it isn’t that tall…and you landed flat…wouldn’t that be crazy to live after that
} Man your brain would hit the inside of your skull so hard that it would be turned into mush. There’s no way.
>Or if you landed straight up
: Then you would break your back…your spine…
| It would impale onto itself…like shatter straight down
: Yeah
>Yeah…crazy

That all takes place getting to the door and then there is a pause in conversation while he is opening the door.

| So what am I gonna do about this project…?
: What project man?
| The fuckin video ive been telling you about
} Video for what?
| For class
}: Oh well yeah
| Yeah what? I Need to figure out what to do
}: I dunno man
| Well im trying to get a shot of just us sitting around and let a conversation happen you know? Like a more in depth sonic.commercial…or sittin around the table on that 70s show. Just set up the camera in the corner and press play…then once something happens I can take it, transcribe it and then we can do close up shots…ya know?
}Oh ok…I mean you could have us talking about….
| Well ya see I don’t want to have a script pre-film ya know? Then its not as funny…

Here is where I want the movie to take its own… Not even sure I want to have that part talking about it…

I want the cuts to continuously get cut shorter and shorter…as we get into a conversation that gets more and more heated then there are more interjections…and finally it comes to someone that ends this flow of thoughts…. I want to catch that point.

Your going to see the overhead shot when everyone interjects. And rotating close up shot during the dialogue. I want the camera to appear low, down on the table, looking up at the subject.

Then the last shot will kind of lock onto the “dunce” and move to a front shot. Move out and then exit the scene.

Falling Review

Id say my stunts were worth it. We took about 40 takes of me falling down. Of course there was a bell curve to the quality of each shot, but plenty of good material to work with.
I went for a linear approach. I wanted to show the fall linearally from all of the different views. And to have this mysterious guy pop in at the end and help me up just kind of added an enigma to the end. The group worked very well and blogged very well to each other.

Im excited to see everyone elses.

Click Here

Another idear again

We were sitting in the living room thinking about movie ideas. It was one of the more interesting conversations...
Everyone was trying to come up with a good idea, but they were also saying the first thing that sounded cool...all of the suggestions, again, trying to top one another, got higher and higher in "oh Yeahssss" And of course the conversation disipated when we brought attention to the conversation.

But i want to film a timeframe and wait for the conversation to emerge. It would be a shot from the corner of a room, with couches and chairs around a coffee table. Once the magic happened i want to go and transcribe the content, give it to the characters and then do close-up shots

A little detail again

THAT whole conversation took place in my friends apartment when we were walking down the stairs to go outside and smoke a cigarette. And it was raining so we were all huddled up under his small 3x4 front porch. Then after the cigarette was done the conversation was over... And we dispersed back inside...

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Revamp the details...

Well tonight, i kind of listened outside of the conversation that my friends and i were having. It went from talkin about a girl's flatchulance...to talking about our worst flatchulance stories...and just more in depth stories about them.

It began to develop into a contest...who could gross out who the most. And then at the end of maybe the 10th story, Wesley looks over at the next building and inquires...Wouldnt that be crazy if someone jumped off that building...I bet they would mess themselves. And then it got into the physics of jumping off the building...what would happen.

And it of course went to the most common and extreme jumping off of building stories. The twin towers. Using them as examples for what happens. Some went into shock and had a heart attack before they even hit the ground. Then it got to what if you made it to the ground...and the possibility of living... But then it was no your brain would hit the inside of your skull so hard that it would turn into mush.

But what if you landed straight up?
Then you would literally impale yourself.
Your back would break
...no it would literally shatter into itself...

But i still need the twist that i want

Monday, October 15, 2007

Movie2

Blip on the Map

I want it to depict just a small piece of all of those in-depth, random conversations that evolve from nothing between friends. The conversations that leave you thinkin about it afterwards...but can rarely brought back up in context. I want you to laugh, i want you to think. Little known facts to spark interest, and a pseudo-destination of the conversation. An ironic ending. Sort of answering America's query for the movie. I want to get a conversation from conception to the denouement. It could be something everyone talks about or something intriguing that only these close few talk about.

Three main characters:
Spencer - Easy going, smart but doesnt lead on to be. Saves his intellect for his wit
Jacob - Set in his ways, does what he does. Smart as well, more for the critique side
David - Smart on reserve, just along for the ride most of the time, but then interjects

Im thinking a mellow 'jam' just going on in the background to just set the mood, something contemporary. Just something these guys would be listening to.
Incubus
Marz Volta
Friends have alot of underground music, probably will pick from that

We enter into the scene with a new question being asked or the question being answered, while leaving enough context to know what was asked. The conversation will develop and a couple of tangents may be taken. But the actors are going to keep doing what theyre doing, just like people sitting around and hangin out. One will go into the kitchen and get something, while yelling another comment from it. An awkward silence could emerge at one point. But towards the end an elaborate thesis will emerge from this and instantly be shot down by a one-liner.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Trip And Fall Comments

So falling down....literally?? Metaphorically...? Positively?? Negatively???

Well pertaining to our time constriction....lets see...
Could be going up some steps and fall-up them which in turn sends you falling down them...so a sense of dual-fall could be interesting...

Falling asleep....while trying not to... A typical class setting... I personally have a personal problem when it comes to sleep. If its knocking...i cant not answer... If im tired and a nap comes on...be it in class or doing homework...it just floods over me and takes me down...

Falling through...a plan falling through...an idea falling through... A big elaborate plan created and then the process of it falling through.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Reviewers

Dad liked it...he didnt have much to say... he doesnt have much of the "artsy" thought to him. But that means he looks at it for what it is. It could probably be cut down even more to attain more interest from what it looks like.

Matt thought it was good. Impressed by the dvd layouts.

Jerimiah also impressed by the DVD layouts

Ideas for Thrice

Runnin low on creative juice...lets see what happens....
  • comedy
  • laughter
  • blood flow
  • irony
  • punchline
  • contemporary concepts
  • twist
  • touché
  • 2 character dialog
  • or 3....
  • Two main characters...and one intervener
Maybe two people debating on a topic or pointless proportions and then the third guy is the maybe guy...
...I believe that i can tastefully bring pot into this...id hate to just have a stoner video... so i would probably have to interject something positive about it....or show it in a completely positive light>>>>or i don't think pot is ready for the spotlight...

Or how about a spoof on the sonic commercials...Those have a potential for being hilarious...that is actually what im thinking of when im thinking about the
touché... The point-counter point on those commercials is ridiculously halarious

Ideally Twilly

I want to make you laugh...thats the best medicine afterall...

In my youthful experience Ive come across some pretty pointlessly-in-depth conversations about the most minute isolated topics ever thought of...

I want to capture one of these, in the act. I want characters to have a rise out of them, getting very emotional about a topic. The idea seems a little vague but thats because it relies alot on the improv... Once the atmosphere loosens up about the camera and microphone then thats when ill hit play, once there are a few topics going around... And then i can take that, get the script and then make some close-up shots...


Monday, October 8, 2007

Idear Une

::Comedy::
Im thinking about a spoof towards the snickers commercial... Where the guy is sittig eating a snickers at his desk and the strange man in the guitar appears. Except the kid will be working on a mechanical of some sort and getting frustrated with his work...upon asking himself why he got himself into this Kyle appears. Kyle and I are design students and every week we have to recite a quote from some very influential designers. Well, Kyle, to help himself remember these, put them to song with his guitar. So he is going to have a set of inspiring design quotes put to a cheesy string that will help our main character remember why hes doing what hes doing

3 liner

I have a reoccurring theme of longing that happens in my dreams; it is this sense of build up for the big finale. But hopelessness sets in when you start to feel like you won’t make it. Occasionally hopes get up, then suddenly you’re pulled out, alienated.

125

I have a reoccurring theme of longing that happens in my dreams. Trying and trying with fruitless efforts, a sense of hopelessness develops. I am helpless, but I have to keep trying.
I wanted this sense of build up, for the big finale. Hopelessness sets in when you start to feel like you won’t get there. Occasionally hopes get up, just to be let down even harder.
My character wakes up and begins walking through the school. He catches his glimpse of what looks like a person but then suddenly it’s gone, and the lights go out. Something is seemingly around, so he runs. He sees another glimpse upstairs, so he tries to get out of the school. But suddenly he’s dropped back into consciousness.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

wake!

I have a reoccurring theme that happens in my dreams occasionally. It feels like a longing, a longing that can’t be reached. Try and try as I might, the object of desire just out of my grasp or just keeps getting further. Soon this starts to develop a sense of hopelessness. It cannot be done and there is nothing I can do about it. I am helpless. But I have to keep trying.
I wanted to convey this sense of build up; you’re waiting for the big finale. You’re waiting, but you just keep waiting. Another obstacle gets in the way, you’re not as close as you thought u were, just something. That’s when the hopelessness sets it. When you start to feel like you won’t get there, and that’s all there is to do. You occasionally get close and get your hopes up again, but you’re just let down even harder.
My character wakes up; it’s dark, the lights are flickering, and he has quite the throb to his head. Not knowing what happened, he begins walking through the school. Well on the first corner he gets to, he catches a glimpse of what looks like a person. Although, when he gets there it’s gone, and then the lights go out down the hallway. Something is around, so he starts to run. He sees another glimpse of someone upstairs, then, he tries to get out of the school, but before he knew it, he was dropped back into consciousness.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Edit and Sound

I cut my piece down by about a minute and a quarter. The sound works well, motions are more implied and the ending isnt quite as bad. I tried to feel myself getting bored with the shots and then cut accordingliny.