Mid-Production Thoughts and Ideas.

       At the moment, I have already shot two important sequences for the movie about city lights, one at 30 minutes and the other at about 16 minutes. Both of these sequences feature the lights and their movement along the highway, but documented in two different ways, one of which is a fixed position while the other is mobile. The footage might be long, but my purpose is to speed these parts up for a blurring effect of the lights, while maintaining the captured sound's normal speed. I'm very excited about shooting so far, I feel that here is alot of potential with the imagery I've collected as well as the imagery i have yet to shoot. I'd like to know what people are thinking about some of my stills, and specifically how well the elements and sources of light are working together (such as the neon, traffic, etc.). I'm also open to any suggestions or opinions that you may have.

       Additionally, does anyone have any suggestion for a new title? I'm not a big fan of the one i have now, and I would appreciate some input.

      

       For my voting documentation, i intend to shoot a few photos capturing my experience with absentee voting. From the application being mailed off, to my ballot arriving, getting filled out, and mailed again. Exciting stuff, i know, but I'm just glad to be able to take part in one of the most unconventional elections in  recent history. And I'm interested also in seeing the different ways there are to vote.

       One last thing: I have already taken off of work for the Insomnia Film Fest class project on the 15th. I'm ready to work, and I'm definitely ready to win.

Wesley Shoot: Write-Up

       The shoot took only a couple of days, and i was there for a good part of the first day, and most of the second. There wasn't a whole lot of waiting around to set up shots, moving talent around, or even changing locations. We were out in the middle of Arkansas, in some incredible locales, and the weather treated us nicely, not too hot or too cold.

      I ran audio for Wes, and with him and i running the technical side of things, made it easy to film and run through the scenes the way he intended. The actors were great, they were patient, thoughtful, and dedicated to the cause. I also took note of how Wesley directs his talent, he tells them what he wants to see, what should be the mood, the action, and the motivation behind each major sequence as it plays out. He also is not opposed to suggestions or advice, often asking one or two of us what we thought about a certain shot, angle, location, etc. All in all, it was a good experience to be able to work alongside one of my classmates, and to share ideas and methods of the process.

Preproduction - Locations

       The locations I have chosen are all exterior locales, dealing with mainly electric and electronic lights of the city and highway environments. In my last film, I purposely avoided use of the automobile as a filmmaking tool and chose to exclusively to use an "on foot" approach. However, with this film, I have decided to bring in the car for some sequences and will remain on foot in others, intending to have a balance between the two methods. 

Considered Locations include: 

- Poplar Ave. & N. Parkway East.

- Joe's Liquor Sign

- Roman Palace Hairstyling Sign

- I-240 and i-40 interchange

- i-240 North.

New Video Proposal

1)    The project will be a further exploration of the effects of natural, but mostly artificial light on digital video, and will consider a variety of sources of said light. My working title is 'The Lights of Town" and I consider it's main audience to be those interested in not only time-lapse progression in video, but also the properties and behavior of light.

2)    As I said in the previous statement, the exploration and interaction with light is the key concept with this video, and my audience must not have the expectation to see much human action and/or human narrative of any sort. The focus on this project is almost exclusively the town/city, lighting throughout this environment, and at times, perhaps the environment itself (lights, automobiles, etc.). And the only exception to the proposed lack of human interaction or imagery would be the automobiles and traffic sequences.

    In my storyboards, I have highlighted 9 main ideas for sequences and elements I intend to feature in the video. Most of these are negotiable in the final execution, however the core concepts behind these are very concrete. Also, I welcome all suggestions as to any other sources of light play and/or locations. 

    Music and/or sound has been a concern many of my colleagues have posted about,  and all that i can say is I have taken interest in working with a semi-musical soundscape, mixed with ambient sounds as well as sound bytes sampled from several sources. The music itself at the moment is in bare bones stages, but will be further developed with the help of some fellow musicians. Instruments underconsideration include, guitars (electric/acoustic), bass, drums, and maybe even synths.

3)    The film itself will consist of multiple scenes, some inter-cut with others as i feel it is appropriate, and others will be long-standing, time-lapse sequences in which the lighting sources changes or is altered in some way. There will be no character development, unless you consider traffic and the interaction of automobiles to be elements of characters in any way. Otherwise the only trace of a narrative will be the cutting of sequences in a certain order (note the progression of the storyboard). 

    I feel that the emotions and the moving part of the video will be the exchange between natural light and artificial light.  Not only at sunset, but perhaps even sunrise(?). And although there will be no characters or interaction of those characters, the lights of the city and the end progression of day

time into night, I feel, will tell a story of their own.

4)    I can't say there is a strong and definite demographic for this film. However, most anyone can take interest in the elements and phenomena that will be presented. All ages, all walks of life.

  

New Video Concept: Light Play

I'd like to expand on certain segments featured in my video, Twilight. Specifically, the scenes of time lapse and sped-up footage of city lights, traffic signal cycles, sunlight, and even rush hour and/or highway traffic. I plan on developing angles, composition, and even time of day to feature a variety of situations and atmospheres in which the passage of time and light play two very important roles in the feel and final result of the video. I'm interested in not only the artificial lights of the city (the neons, traffic lights, automobile lights, etc.), but also, the slowly adjusting natural light of the daytime and rapidly progressing darkness of the evening hours.

Twilight: Luna Nova video and write-up

       

       Well, this shoot went smoothly. I experienced very few snags, and the shoot only lasted two evenings from around 5:30 until about 7:30. My talent, Sam, was a great sport about the whole thing, whether it was repeating takes, moving around from place to place to get better angles, etc. Inclement weather reared it's ugly head, but that was the only big concern throughout production, and it turned out that the second day was perfect. 

       The final outcome, I must say, was focused a bit more on the narrative of my character than I had originally planned, but I don't feel like this takes away from the video. I'm also very happy with my transitional cut-scenes, as they seem to set the correct mood for each fragment of the story. I filmed over 45 minutes worth of footage, and this is what made it to the final cut.

Instructional Video

here is the final result of the "How to Get Ready For a Date" shoot. enjoy.