Pretty Bad Movie

Filming has been quite the process. The movie making process so far has been good. That of course is easy for me to say because I am the editor and have not been very involved in the filming. It looks as if everything is going well. The movie wrapped up today with a scene in which I was an actor. I felt as if I was a pretty bad actor. My southern draw, if you can even call it that, sounds pretty uneducated and thick on the big screen. (well little bitty screen) But oh well, the shooting is over except for some probable pickup shots. I think our movie is going to turn out really well. THere are a few shots that will take some good editing but for the most part jenny and imran and our actor justin have made the job easy for me.

This week in class we watched a senior students film that he made. I was not very impressed with it. It was definitely more polished than ours will be. However, he spent tons of time on it, like a year, and it still was boring. The sound was poor at times and the acting wasn't so great. However, everything he did was for free and it isn't like he had Tom Cruise lined up for the roles so I guess it was alright. I just altogether did not like his movie. The plot was really boring and the ending was abrupt and left me without any type of closure. The lighting was also pretty poorly done. Who am I to critique him, well I guess I am as good of critic as any. I have watched tons of movies. I hope that our movie ends with closure and can leave our audience with a sense of what is going on unlike his. I can tell he worked hard and I congratulate him on achieving what he desired with his film. But it just didn't flip my switch.

I guess editing will start soon following spring break. I hope that I can do a good job and take the great clips we will have and turn them into a cohesive movie. It seems as if the editing process will be tough but I enjoy challenges. I will definitely enjoy making this move my own.

Creepy oh so Creepy

After watching "The Player", I can definitely agree with Donna that nostalgia for 70's and 80's movies has not yet developed. I again did not enjoy the movie we watched. I can't quite pinpoint why I don't like the film. It was very dark. I think I might not like it when justice is not served. Mill gets away with murder and it seems as if all the other side plots in the movie just constantly keep me uncomfortable. For the second week in a row the director has made me feel a certain way about things and I don't like it. I am not sure if I just dislike being led to feelings by a director or if I just want to be led to better happier feelings. The movie was so creepy it was just difficult not to feel creeped out. I went to red box to pick out a movie after last nights class and had real trouble. The movie put me in a weird mood in which I didn't want a suspense, action, or thriller of any kind. Those are usually the only movies I watch. So I picked out "Where the Wild Things Are". It was interesting and innocent enough to allow me to relax. The ending was okay but not quite what I was expecting. Although it may be neat to finish a movie with a writers finish, I can appreciate cliche endings just as much, if not more.

With our film, I hope that our ending and movie doesn't make people uncomfortable. I do not think it will because it is not what we are going for. We are hoping that we can keep the viewer on the edge of their seats throughout our action film. But there shouldn't be any weird plot twists that end in our main character murdering someone and sleeping with his girlfriend before enjoying a mud bath. One thing I thought was interesting about the movie we watched that might be useful in our film creating is the use of clothing to represent mood as the film progresses. Tim Robbins seems to wear darker and darker clothes the more evil he gets. I think we could possibly do this with some of our supporting characters. It is hard to describe it any more fully without giving away to much. So guess what, I won't.

We are shooting this Saturday so that everyone can go away for spring break. Well everyone was going away anyway. I hope it goes well. I hope that we can make a movie that is enjoyable. I think that it will be. I hope we can do as well as some of the directors we have seen thus far in portraying our vision or thoughts about things to the audience. Either way the process will for sure be fun.

Ham Sandwich Mr. Stallone?

So far in our movie projects things are going well. In class last week we were able to get into our groups and dig deeper into what we were planning on doing. As I currently sit here, in the middle of some no fun wiley physics problems, I am excited about our movie production. Granted physics is that boring, it has been a good experience so far to work with Jenny, Imran, and Jordan. It seems as if everyone in our group is on the same page and hopes to produce together a good film. Casting the parts for our movie I believe will be the most difficult part. Everyone in our group is easy going so I doubt if there will be any fights or anything of that sort. It looks like our action film is set to be a thriller. I think Jenny has already been thinking about some of the shots she would like to get and has an idea of how the movie should look in her mind. That is exciting. My job is editing. I am not the least bit worried about my job because I know the filming process will make it easy. I am looking forward to editing and putting in sound. The neatest part of the film process is sound recording. Lucky you Jordan.

In class we watched some neat clips about making movies on a low budget. It seems as if the limits of this film will be more our minds than our pocketbooks. (although I don't think we can get Sylvester Stallone for a ham sandwich and a ding dong) A difficult part so far in our planning has been trying to maintain continuity throughout our movie. Since we are cutting so much and will be shooting multiple angles, we have to spend a lot of time considering how we can keep everything the same. It wouldn't make sense for our star to one second be running on the sidewalk next to a building and the next be running through the parking lot with three people walking beside him. This along with casting seem to be the most difficult part of movie making. We really don't want to have anyone in our group in the film, I don't think. So it is difficult to find people to work for free who we think would do a good job. (there are always people who want attention and would love to be in a movie) Hopefully we will be able to find some natural born actors and keep continuity.