Lighting Observations (Blog #2)

I'm sitting on my couch, in my apartment, and I'm noticing my room and how it's lit. In my peripheral vision, I can see three sources of light: Two ceiling lights and a lamp in the corner. The lamp has a bendable arm and is pointed towards the back of the TV, which is in front of me. It's creating this edge lighting around the corner of the TV. The DVD's and Game cases, that are to the left of the TV, have a gradient light pattern. The tops of the games are well lit, but the light fades away along the sides of each DVD case. The armchair on the far left side of the room is also getting a gradient pattern from the lamp as well. From the ceiling lights on the right side of the room, they tend to light the entire rooms. The kitchen light is lighting the entire kitchen, except for underneath the cabinets. The hallway light is lighting the entire wall and carpet, but the wall on the far end of the hall is covered in shadow, but I can still see the details on my roommate's door.

It recently snowed outside, so I went outside to take some pictures of  the scenery since the outdoors look really spectacular with snow on the ground. As you can see, it's dark outside, but there are many light sources in the background. A few of the lamps were close enough that the camera lens was able to pick up a lens flare, which covers a small portion of the trees. The lamps close by were able to light up the snow on the ground. The trees in the background have very little light touching them, but they have plenty of light behind them, so the trees are entirely in silhouette. The trees in the foreground too have silhouettes, but the details on the trees are visible due to smaller portions of light touching them. There's one tree in the center of that is half lit and half in shadow since the street-lamp is positioned far to the left of it.

Filmmakers Statement (Blog #1)

Taking my first step into learning Film production as a film major. I think Spring 2014 will be my semester!

My Past Experience As A Filmmaker: I've actually worked on quite a number of film sets/projects. My first step into making movies was as a kid and using my dad's camera. Years progressed and I found myself editing videos of me playing guitar or pictures synced with songs. I also used to go to concerts with my camera and film concerts. I got a lot of concert footage, most of the footage is elsewhere or probably long gone. I had to train my hand to be it's own camera stabilizer since I couldn't take any tripods or monopods into concert venues. Soon, I just stopped taking my camera into concerts, but I started using my camera for more productive film/video work. In my first semester of college, I worked on a TV show (which was a practicum course, so I didn't get paid). But I was able to practice each job on a TV set (like Director, switcher, sound, camera, etc.) But just last year, I wrote and directed a small project called Handoff which had quite a number of people involved (most of them didn't stick around to the end of the project, they must have lost interest). Anyway, I put it up online over a year ago and it got mostly good feedback, but since I had to compromise a lot, it didn't end up the way I wanted it to. Perhaps in the future I can get a chance to make it the way I intended. I made 2 films last year (Handoff and a film called the Last Man On Campus, a little homage to 28 Days Later, just without infected people). When I transferred to UNC Wilmington, the film opportunities arose for me. Mostly because I joined Flicker Film Society right away. And I wanted to get on board as soon as possible. So in my first month at the new school, I scored a camera operating position on a sketch called No More Wishes, which was made by Flicker Film Society. About a month after that, I acquired a directing job on a short film called Okay. I'm co-directing it with a friend, and we're almost done with it. At the same time as becoming a director for one short film, I also became a Cinematographer for another short film entitled Ticket. With that project, I learned about getting film permits and shooting on location. Whereas Okay, I'm learning how to direct a movie with people I've never worked with before. Last October, my friend and I were production assistants on a FST-495 project called Centipede, where I got to observe how a film set can function with experienced people. And just recently, I worked for about 20 hours on a weekend as a boom operator. The film was called Writing Wrong, a film that Flicker president, Aaron Barnett, wrote with a friend. I'm assuming because of my involvement in Flicker, and because I've worked in all areas on a film set, is why Aaron asked me to be apart of it. And now, I'm currently finishing up Okay, and a visual effects/special effects supervisor on a short film called The Doppelgänger. Later in the semester, I hope to direct a short film that I wrote about two months ago, entitled White Masks. 

What do I want to learn in my first production class? Like I said at the top, I am taking my first step into learning film production. I'm currently in the intro-level production class, so I get to work with my peers, but we won't get the luxury of using the high-end equipment that the Film Studies department has. But I do work in the equipment room, so I do get to inspect and test out the gear. But in this class, I want to learn how to make a good movie. I know how to make a movie, and I know what goes into the process of making a film. But I want to know what I can do during film production that can help give my films a boost. How can I successfully tell a story through filmmaking? I think that's what my film, Handoff, suffered from. Some people were a bit baffled with the story since I wasn't able to have any exposition in the story. Granted, most of my actors jumped ship halfway through and some didn't show up, so I had to compromise and improvise on set and during the post production stage. 

In 10 years, where will I be? In 10 years from now, I hope to be working on feature films. It's definitely a long shot, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to cancel it from my goals. That IS my goal. I know I'm a bit cliché by saying that I want to be up there with Nolan, Scorsese, Spielberg, etc. But I don't want to lose sight of that dream. I need something to strive for. 

Something that most people don't know about me: Aside from filmmaking, people probably don't know that I've played the guitar for 10 years. I'm able to learn a song on the guitar just by listening to it. One of my favorite bands, Rush, made a song called 2112. The song is 20 minutes and 34 seconds long. I learned it in an hour. I just stood by my stereo and played along with it the best I could. And I kept doing it until I could hit every not at the right time. By the time I learned the song in its entirety, an hour hadn't even passed. A long time ago, I wanted to be this kick-ass guitar player in a world famous band, but the more I was drawn to filmmaking, the more that dream faded away. Probably for the better, too. I just enjoy playing guitar, but I have a real strong passion with filmmaking. Within the last few years, I branched out and learned drums and bass guitar. Bass came naturally since I played guitar. Drums weren't too hard, I just had to get loosened up and play what I feel is right. I think I may be playing my favorite songs wrong, but it sounds very close.