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Finally final flog?
Wow, I can’t believe it’s actually been an entire semester. It feels like it’s been forever with this class, but in a good way! Anyways…
The process of making this film was entirely different than what everyone else had to deal with. I mean come on, we worked with eggs. Oh, and limes. When Eric first mentioned this, I was totally on board…then it hit me. We have to take a lotttt of pictures and we have to make the timing work and we have to be very careful with the set and we have to use our voices perfectly because our faces aren’t making the actions. It was nerve wracking and I was almost against it. Then I realize how awesome it would be to work with eggs while everyone else used people, I mean come on A+ in originality!
I’d have to say my least favorite part of this process hard boiling the eggs. Every time we needed to try to work with the set and test something out, we’d have to wait a good 20 minutes for them to be ready, talk about dramatic! One thing I did learn about hardboiled eggs is that they are not impossible to break, in fact, when you break them it’s gross. Very Very gross.
The hardest part of this was the voice overs. Eric, Ashley, and I literally could not stop laughing at certain points. Let’s just say that Eric’s strong point is NOT voice overs. The timing needed to be perfect for all the interruptions and animation. A week before it was due though, we changed our minds and decided to use our mouths as animation rather than cartoons. Rerecording here we come! This time it didn’t take nearly as long, but it still wasn’t Eric’s forte. He does make a pretty school spider though, I’ll give him props.
My job in this production was production designer. This was literally ridiculously fun. I built the doors out of popsicle sticks, and the window too. I also painted the entire set (an egg carton) entirely black for dramatic effect. The idea of the egg carton being the set was perfect because the eggs obviously fit in perfectly. The limes did too therefore there was nothing else that would work better. The colors I chose were all really bold to get the point of the scariness and the seriousness of the entire play.
All in all, I absolutely loved working on this play. Especially with my group! It was a lot of fun to put it together and I actually enjoyed working with the eggs. The idea was not nearly as difficult I thought and if I could I’d do it again. Thanks for a great year, ITS BEEN REAL.
Final Final Blog!
I would like to start off my last blog by saying how grateful I am that we get to make our own movie for our final, instead of writing papers or taking a silly multiple choice test. It’s so much more fun! I really learned a lot about film making from this project. I now realize that I’ve been taking movies for granted. So much effort and thought was put into this project, from the angles to the contrast of colors, to the costumes. I learned that it’s little aspects like these that allow us to get our perfect shot. Let’s just say, I have new respect for filmmakers now.
There were a lot of great moments with this project, and a lot of stressful moments. My favorite part was that I got to spend a lot of time with my group mates, Reinard, Tyler and Kathleen outside of school. They all have such vibrant personalities, and each day working with them was a blast. From spending so much time with them, I learned that they were all also very talented. Tyler has exceptional directing skills. He had many great ideas on how we were going to film the movie, focusing on details such as exactly where the character would stand and how the lines should be spoken. Reinard and Kathleen surprised me with their impeccable acting. There were many scenes where they were in awkward or silly situations, but they barely messed up or laughed. Talk about self control! Meanwhile, on the other side of the camera, I had to bite my lip endless times to keep from bursting out laughing.
What I didn’t like about the project was that it was so time consuming. I knew from the beginning that this was going to require a lot of work, but I really didn’t expect it to take so long. I had estimated about two or three group meetings to film, but we ended up meeting more than five times, many hours in each meeting. I had to set aside a lot of time, and cancel on a few plans, but I still think it was all worth it. We worked really hard for this project, and I think it will really show on Monday!
The most difficult task in this project was to find time when we were all available and my apartment was empty. Sometimes, my brother would come home while we were filming, and we would have to stop and wait until it was quiet again. There were also many other distracting noises, such as non stop beeping fire trucks, hissing radiators and my family clanging dishes in the kitchen. It was also hard to stay focused. I mean, with so much food, music and…Dance Central, it’s hard to keep from breaking into spontaneous dance sessions. (I would show the video footage, but I don’t think Reinard would be too happy about that.) But good thing we have a hard working director who tried to keep us focused throughout!
The multimedia project really was the perfect way to end this seminar. Instead of a regular final, we were able to create our own piece of art, which was a lot more effective. Like I said in my previous blog, this seminar really opened my eyes to many things I wouldn’t normally have experienced. I feel much more well rounded. I can finally check “make a movie” off my mental list of “Things I’ve Never Done Before”! It was really really REALLY a great pleasure to spend a whole semester with my fellow classmates and Professor Healey. Have a wonderful break! Happy Holidays!!
Final Arts Blog: Done Dada
So this is it, the very very last and final end game finishing blog that I will ever do in my life for this class. This film project has most definitely been a roller coaster ride. We had our good moments, as well as our bad moments. We laughed, and we cried(well not really). In the beginning, I don’t really think this project was going to be hard but I had misgauged the magnitude of this project. I underestimated the hours and hours needed to actually think about what to wear, where everybody’s positions will be, and where the camera should be shot from. After doing this project, I undoubtedly have a newfound appreciation for the art of moviemaking and I laud all those who do engage in moviemaking for it is not an easy task to accomplish, especially if you have a very serious and creepy movie.
I don’t think there were really any easy parts in doing this movie but I would say that the most difficult part of the movie would be the actual filming of the movie. Sometimes it would take us an hour just for a scene that was only like one minute long. It’s hard because you literally have to think about every single thing in the shot before you do it. You have to worry about the setting, if your facial expressions match, if the background is how you want it to be, and if the camera angle is from the position you want it. Although I wasn’t a part of it, I can tell that the editing process must have taken a lot of time and I give props to Rui Yan for that. As one might see from the movie tomorrow, I have never ever acted in my life before and have never been a part of a movie. It was hard for me because it seemed like I could tell other people what to do and where to stand as well as how your facial expressions should be since I was the director, but I couldn’t do them myself, especially since I was playing galvez who is supposed to be a girl character and those lines where galvez goes “Oh my” and “O, O, O” were just killer. Even though I did not like remembering all the lines that I had, I don’t think remembering the lines was all that hard. The hard part was trying to remember the lines, while acting at the same time.
My favorite moment of making this film would be, all the time offstage where we were just goofing around in between scenes and just taking a break. It really did ease a lot of the pressure off us and we did get a lot of laughs out. There were some scenes that took a lot of time to film just because we couldn’t stop laughing. I had no idea what we were laughing at but all I know is that we couldn’t stop… especially those times when we were filming and Vishal would just pop out of nowhere and just make us laugh.
All in all, I would say that this a positive experience (of course I say that now that we are done). I did learn a lot about the art of film-making and did get to spend time with my classmates. I actually wouldn’t mind making another film, as long as it was less serious than the one we just did. I would like to end by saying Hello, Goodbye, and Thank You!
Final Project Blog: This is really it.
The filmmaking process was definitely an interesting one. I started out being excited because we had to make this movie and there wasn’t a written final. Though this movie was fun, it was really hard work. There were so many different components that we had to take care of such as costumes, locations, colors, and storyline. And this was all before we actually started shooting. It was a little hectic and hard to bring every piece of the movie together so it made sense. We had to make sure we had the right costumes so they represented each character well, and the location made sense with the script. We explored many different options before choosing our set. When we finally started shooting, it took a while to figure out the process that worked best for us and it was time-consuming until then. Once we got the gist of the process, it was much easier and faster.
What I liked about the filmmaking process was my role of cinematographer. I enjoy being behind the camera and this process gave me the chance to be a little more creative while using the camera. I was able to use different angles and offer ideas of different kinds of shots that would help the movie to be more effective. What I disliked about the filmmaking process was memorizing lines. Even though as Kel, I didn’t have many lines to memorize I know how hard it was for Kayde, Aisha and Natasha. That was the hardest part of shooting because it took a while to get the lines down and know exactly how they would act it out. I really enjoyed working with my group because we got along really well and cooperated well. We listened to each other’s opinions and gave honest feedback. We enjoyed each other’s company and got to know each other well.
The most difficult task has to be a tie between moving the furniture around on the set and editing the movie. Everyday we were shooting, we had to move about three couches out of our way and make sure the set looked the same as the last scene. It was an arduous task whereas the editing was tedious. It took us about 5 hours together to put the whole movie together. My favorite moment in the process definitely had to be seeing the final product. It shows that our hard work was worth it and meaningful and paid off. It feels good to see the whole movie even though I’ve seen each scene about 50 times already throughout our editing.
This film shows me how hard it is to actually make a movie. It requires a lot of time and energy. I’ve started to really appreciate each movie and commercial that I see now because I know how much effort it took. This film means a lot to me because it’s the result of all our hard work and time and energy. We spent hours shooting and editing and as tired as I am of the lines in the play, I still want to watch it a million more times because I know how much work was put into each scene. Each scene evokes a different memory and I hope that these memories will stay with me because even though this was a hard and long process, it was a unique, learning experience.
OMG, This Exam Is TOUGH
I just finished editing the film, and I am really tired now, and I am writing this blog. Making a film is much more difficult than I thought. It requires lots of energy, whether it’s for actors or producers. I finally understand why my mother prohibits me from entering the art field. It is indeed beyond my ability to work in the art field. I cannot say I really like this filming experience, but I truly enjoy it because I have learned a lot from it.
As the cinematographer, my favorite part of the process is going out to the Lower East Side to film the tenement houses. It was amazing that there are many fancy stores on the first floor of the old tenement houses. It was also interesting that the block where I filmed the opening scene was once the most populated block in New York City during the 1930s. But now, there are very few people in there even on the street, and most them are visitors. The Lower East Side becomes a symbol in New York City history. It witnesses generations of immigrants who came to New York City with their dreams and hopes. It also witnessed immigrants’ obstacles and struggles. It is the place where every culture “melts” together. We don’t know how many stories have happened in the Lower East Side; yet, we know these stories contain tears and laughers, sadness and happiness. No matter how Lower East Side has changed, it has already left a vestige in generations of people’s memories. This is what “inhabited” conveys. No matter who moves into the apartment, people still treat it as home.
My other favorite part of the process was to capture different angles. Because the place where we filmed was limited, I could hardly capture interesting angles. However, we managed to film different scenes from different angles. This was important because we can see how the actors interact from different points of view.
My least favorite part of the process is to edit the film. This process is so long, annoying, and tiring. I have extracted a seventeen-minute movie from two and a half hours of video clips. Although it doesn’t seem a lot of work, it took plenty of time to trim the clips. In addition, it was difficult to add special effects; therefore, I didn’t put any into the film. I have a reason to justify myself. I think this play is very down-to-earth. Special effects may be inappropriate. The most natural method may better carry out the beauty of simplicity of the play. For the last scene, I do not think it is as strong as it should be according to the play, but that was the best we can do. Making a film is really challenging, especially for a boring person like me.
The most difficult part of the filming process was to have the energy needed. I was always very tired after each filming session. There are often time that we only filmed several minutes of the actual movie in several hours. It was tired to hold the camera for a long time while keeping my hands stable. I always make fun of myself that after filming this movie, my arms become stronger. The entire filming process went rather smoothly. But again, it was really tiring.
To me, “inhabited” is a very perceptual play. It speaks to the generations of immigrants that once lived in there. I especially like the last scene because it has a very strong voice. It tells people that generations of New Yorkers, not just immigrants, will continue to live in there. It expresses the theme of home very well. I like how blu said that the apartment is his home, and he cannot leave it, as well as cris and kel’s perception of the place. People can escape any place except for their home. “inhabited” has a very strong voice in conveying the concept of home.
One interesting thing I learned from this project was the difference between an artist and an ordinary person. As a person with no “art cells,” I found it very challenging to create this movie. Because of that, my film is very mundane. Perhaps for an artist, making this twenty-minute movie will be very easy, and he or she may come up with very creative ideas. But to me, I was struggling to finish this movie.
Although making a movie may be a once-in-a-life-time experience, I still enjoy this process. But I won’t do it again.
