FIRST POST!!
The name is Rachel Marie Smith, and I'm a film student. It's a highly competitive job field that requires a lot of work, determination, and a healthy imagination. Oh. And money, which no college student has...well, most don't at least, and I'm certainly not one of the lucky few who do have it.
I'm writing this in this blog to create a daily log of my journey through college into the workforce. I hope to one day direct and write my own films...but, then again so does every film student. So I'll just say that I hope you will follow me and support me through the ups and downs. :)
I will also be writing reviews for movies as I see them. I've learned to stop trusting the views of film critics over the years. Recently, for example, there were poor reviews for Away We Go. That film, hands down has to be the best movie that I've seen yet, this year. It leaves you with smile on your face. I was literally sighing every few minutes for the next few hours after I saw it. Really, it was just that good. (Heads up, it comes out on DVD in September.)
CURRENT PROJECT:
Film Competition - Project Twenty1
We have to create a short film ranging from 1 second - 10 minutes in length. We have 21 days to create an idea, story board it, film it, edit it, and then present it. The catch is, that they give you a secret element just before the competition starts...so that you can't begin filming before to the contests start date.
This years element is: KEY. You'd be surprised by how many definitions there are for that word. It was also, terribly hard to come up with ideas for, until I went home myself to brainstorm.
My Idea: I thought I would go with some dry humor. Something that has a Wes Anderson feel to it. (If you don't know who that is...well, don't stop reading my blog, but please for the sake of my sanity, watch his films, because he's an amazing director and screenwriter.) I never came up with a character name, but that's okay, because we didn't use my idea in the end anyway. Lead character is a 22 year old, jaded male with the hopes, dreams, and admiration of becoming an actor. His father however, has the last laugh and dies...his final wish, for his son to take over the Locksmith shop in their small town. I then had a flashback to the lead male when he was little boy, watching a James Stewart film. He screams after his father proceeds to call what he's watching, "crap" and turns it off. The scene then cuts to his father's funeral and his mother is crying. He's eying the casket with contempt. A girl who likes him, who he has no interest in is attending the funeral in hopes that he'll notice her. She begins to talk to him, fake crying. He turns to face her and tells her off. She punches him in the face. The scene cuts to 6 months later and he's resorted to stealing the local towns person's keys in order to generate business...
That's what I had written down in a journal before we met up at a diner one night around 11:00PM to plot out our final idea.
I'm writing this in this blog to create a daily log of my journey through college into the workforce. I hope to one day direct and write my own films...but, then again so does every film student. So I'll just say that I hope you will follow me and support me through the ups and downs. :)
I will also be writing reviews for movies as I see them. I've learned to stop trusting the views of film critics over the years. Recently, for example, there were poor reviews for Away We Go. That film, hands down has to be the best movie that I've seen yet, this year. It leaves you with smile on your face. I was literally sighing every few minutes for the next few hours after I saw it. Really, it was just that good. (Heads up, it comes out on DVD in September.)
CURRENT PROJECT:
Film Competition - Project Twenty1
We have to create a short film ranging from 1 second - 10 minutes in length. We have 21 days to create an idea, story board it, film it, edit it, and then present it. The catch is, that they give you a secret element just before the competition starts...so that you can't begin filming before to the contests start date.
This years element is: KEY. You'd be surprised by how many definitions there are for that word. It was also, terribly hard to come up with ideas for, until I went home myself to brainstorm.
My Idea: I thought I would go with some dry humor. Something that has a Wes Anderson feel to it. (If you don't know who that is...well, don't stop reading my blog, but please for the sake of my sanity, watch his films, because he's an amazing director and screenwriter.) I never came up with a character name, but that's okay, because we didn't use my idea in the end anyway. Lead character is a 22 year old, jaded male with the hopes, dreams, and admiration of becoming an actor. His father however, has the last laugh and dies...his final wish, for his son to take over the Locksmith shop in their small town. I then had a flashback to the lead male when he was little boy, watching a James Stewart film. He screams after his father proceeds to call what he's watching, "crap" and turns it off. The scene then cuts to his father's funeral and his mother is crying. He's eying the casket with contempt. A girl who likes him, who he has no interest in is attending the funeral in hopes that he'll notice her. She begins to talk to him, fake crying. He turns to face her and tells her off. She punches him in the face. The scene cuts to 6 months later and he's resorted to stealing the local towns person's keys in order to generate business...
That's what I had written down in a journal before we met up at a diner one night around 11:00PM to plot out our final idea.
OUR IDEA:
We decided it would be easier to do a Neo-Film Noir. (Watch Brick for an idea of what I'm talking about by neo-noir.) This will be similar to our Film 1 final. (I'm working with classmates from my Film 1 class.)
This is what our Film 1 final turned out like. It's silent, so no worries about sound. I played both the office worker, and the murder victim. Yes, I know...there was some over acting when I fell down. I was actually falling though, so I had to keep falling...or I would have ruined our shot altogether.
This is what our Film 1 final turned out like. It's silent, so no worries about sound. I played both the office worker, and the murder victim. Yes, I know...there was some over acting when I fell down. I was actually falling though, so I had to keep falling...or I would have ruined our shot altogether.
FILMING DAY 1 - August 14th 2009:
Everything went well...except for the fact that Ian realised he had been filming in full screen the entire day. :(
It was pouring buckets out! The weather went very well with the mood we were looking for. Though, I must not recommend running around in the rain during a film shoot. I had to in order to grab an umbrella for our camera, but as a result was dripping wet the rest of the day. I really can't wait to post some footage for everyone to look at...even if it will be full screen, or cropped to be wide-screen again. Here is a picture that I took with my cell phone. We have very little lighting that gives the film a great creepy feel to it.
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog!
I wanted to ask whether you could explain to me a day in the life of a film student at film school.
But specifically a short paragraph explaining from the morning until the evening including the socialising and eating. (The stages you go through and the things you do)
I am doing a architecture project about film schools for my uni project and your help would be appreciated very much so.
Thanks!