Preparing for the Presentation

My Wise presentation is nearly a week away, this means that my personal narrative, research commentary and bibliography is due very shortly, next wednesday to be exact. On top of that I also have to have the final cut of my film. I've planned a long day of filming tomorrow to get done with all of what I can, leaving me about three days to edit a large portion of the film. I also found out just minutes ago that one of my main actors can not attend most of filming tomorrow despite having planned for this filming two weeks prior. All this is really is an excuse for the absence of post as of late and for the next few days, hopefully I will be able to finish everything that I need to.

Working with Fonts

    Personally I never anticipated that the subject of fonts would be a place of research in my project. I assumed I would just quickly pick a typeface for the necessary titles and be done with it. Oddly enough this was not the case. During the past few days I've been editing non stop in response to the looming deadlines. As a part of the editing I had to decide on typefaces for the typed words used in my film. I started by choosing the typeface for my opening credits. I tested several combinations of typeface and color and found that none of them felt fitting. Generally this would be a minor issue yet in a project where I am almost always without total control due to the collaborative aspect, I feel the need to be very precise with what I do control.
     This issue started with me having no knowledge as to how one goes about picking a font that feels fitting. I was merely trying each and deciding whether or not I liked it in the given context. This was an inefficient method, luckily I happen to know someone who does understand why typefaces do or don't work. My father, Bryan Bates, runs a web design and branding company called AWP. Now he himself does not work as a designer but he often plays a role in the process and interacts often with AWP's designer James McDonough. As a result he had plenty of information to pass onto me.
      He first divided typefaces into the two broad groups of Serif and Sans Serif, the difference being that Serif fonts have small strokes that extend beyond the ends of characters whereas Sans Serif do not. For this reason it's generally considered that Sans Serif fonts should be used when the text is large as the letters are more difficult to read. He also said that it's important to either use only one font or at least choose from the same family of font.
       My father then directed me to an article by Dan Mayer that you can find here. In this article Mayer separates fonts into five groups Geometric Sans, Humanist Sans, Old Style, Transitional and Modern, and Slab Serif. Geometric is both clear and modern yet can be boring as it lacks a lot of character. I decided this wasn't ideal. Humanist fonts are meant to derive from human handwriting. They're more detailed than geometric. The pros are that they are both human and clear, but they also can seem wishy washy and fake. In describing a font the use of fake and wishy washy confuses me yet these fonts also did not seem fitting. I continued to read on but found myself only looking at the font samples provided and not the descriptions that seemed to just be a place in which one can act pretentious. It's also entirely possible that I just don't understand design well enough to benefit from what he's saying.
          Nevertheless I ended up moving on to a different piece that was mentioned by James to my father. What I looked at can be found here. All it is a flow chart designed to help you pick a typeface. This seemed much more straightforward to me so I used it. Although I did not find that any of the fonts shown were the one I was looking for, it did give me a much better idea of how to select the desired typeface. Overall I found this piece more helpful.
         You may be wondering why you've had to just read through the research of fonts on a blog about film making. I will tell you why, when I wrote the script for this film I wrote it with the idea of a very distinct mood and feel being applied to the film. Unfortunately I have found that I am not equipped as a director to coordinate scenes in a way that creates this mood. As a result I've made the decision to give the film what distinction I can through my editing. This means that I am putting a lot of thought into my cuts, angles, pace and in this case font. I only wish to produce the best version of what I have full control over, even if that means spending an absurd amount of time on fonts.

Filming Today

Today I gathered the majority of the main actors to complete a decent section of the remaining scenes. We we're able to do complete several scenes, one of which was the most complicated one in the script so that was a relief. Today everyone was very cooperative and worked well together which was a relief. With the work we completed today leaves me with a smaller amount of scenes yet it still is a rather substantial amount. I've spoke with everyone to make sure we will have a full day of filiming next week which is necessary as it's my last day to film. It's going to require a lot of work to be done and the editing in the days that will follow will be quite a lot so I'll see how that goes. I'm still working on writing up a research piece, I've just been preoccupied with editing. Anyways here are a few photos from today.

We had a dog on set at one point

mixed some fake blood

Smeared some fake blood

Filming Plans and Presentation Date

     My presentation date has been set for June 10th at 4pm in G111. This means that my materials for the presentation are due the week prior wednesday the 3rd. This gives me two more weeks of filming, and two weeks to complete my narrative and reflection for my project. This puts me in a very tight time frame unfortunately but I'll make it work somehow.
     A small update on filming, I've been trying to edit film all week but have been unable to touch it because for some reason I no longer have access to the footage and this issue has yet to be resolved. I hope to figure it out tomorrow so I can work on it through the weekend. Filming this weekend is a bit complicated, everyone has separate tentative plans that may or may not be able to be moved. I'm shooting to film on Monday so hopefully that will work out and I can get a good chunk of filming done. I hope to have a new research post up by Friday night and have something up this weekend about how I want to orient my presentation.

Collaboration

Today I came upon an article written by a woman named Gwyn Teatro, she worked in a leadership position for a rather large company for 35 years of her life. She took what she learned there and wrote several pieces about how to effectively collaborate with others. She often noted the importance in reinforcing others so that they feel they have something to offer in the project. This results in a better mesh of ideas because people are more comfortable putting their ideas out there. This sort of environment would certainly be beneficial to my film. I think each of my friends involved have their own unique senses of humor and work well with my own. Also this aspect would really add to the collaborative aspect of my project which is what brings me most out of my comfort zone. There are little changes here and there done by others in the project but I’d like to have more, or at least have the process of open discussion. Seeing as I have a very limited amount of time left I thought maybe I’d take advantage of all the free time I have during the school day. I could bring a script into school and talk with the people involved about what they like and what they want to add. I think this will make the filming even easier if everyone feels like they've invested something in the project.

   Another thing Gwyn talked about that I found helpful was the importance in actively seeking self knowledge and learning. Although I spend a lot of time looking at the techniques of famous directors and have no issue with changing my work if I think there’s a better way of doing it. The issue I have is with learning from my friends. Now it’s not as if I refuse any different jokes it’s more of an issue in a noticeable change in a scene. What’s even more difficulty is actively seeking out the advice of some friends regarding the film. This is likely rooted in some light level narcissism. It’s something I think everyone has when working in the field they’re most passionate about. I have no issue recognizing that my friends are more skilled than I in plenty of things but sometimes I get in my way by having difficulty recognizing that with writing. So this particular suggestion has pushed me to remind myself when listening to an idea that I won’t always have the best idea and that everyone will have at least a few good ideas to offer. I have a mindset that I take into critique that allows me to do that but for some reason it’s more difficult when speaking with close friends. So all in all, from Teatro’s article I’ve opted to have a more open dialogue with actors and to strive to be open about each idea regardless of who gives it.

Progress

    For once I feel like shooting went very well. I assembled everyone together to film this Saturday. We changed the location of filming to my house and things went very smoothly. We had to backtrack as I stated before but we got through almost all of what we had completed in the previous setting. There's still quite a bit left to do obviously but we are moving at a much faster pace and the scenes are a lot more similar to my vision than they had been previously. I've found the big change of switching actors and setting has been the right one. On top of being a lot more productive, the set has been much more relaxed and enjoyable which was one of my main goals going into this project.
   There's been a bit of issue with the upload of the footage but once I have access to all of it I will have plenty to do and will finally be happy with a finished scene. The workload has not changed much but I feel much less anxious about the project now and enjoying all that's happening with it. Anyways, I don't have much more to speak on today but I'll hopefully have another research piece up by either Monday or Tuesday. I also hope to maybe upload a scene by next week.

Working with Actors

    I've come to realize that the most challenging part of my project has been having to direct. I've never been the type to rely on others and I've never found myself in a situation where I feel comfortable giving orders to my friends. I've had to learn to do both of these things in great abundance. Now a lot of my progress in this area has been through self discovery, coming to a point where I know I need to complete things and being set on how I want them done. With that said, frustrating myself and providing myself with hair pulling stress only gets myself so far as a director. So as a solution I've looked to expereinced individuals to see how they deal with directing.
    One of the sources I looked at was an article by Randolph Sellers. Sellers has worked for some time in film, fulfilling many duties such as boom operator, camera operator, and director. His article addresses my biggest fault, in his words " feeling a little uncomfortable or inadequate as a director." Now a lot of what he speaks pertains to a situation with experienced actors but there was one particular sentiment that I took away from the article. Sellers says that when it comes down to it you're working with either artists or friends who one would assume care about you. The best tip for working with actors is to be honest with them about your vision for the project and the importance of it to you. If they've relied on others before and care at all about you or your project they'll listen.
     The second piece I looked at was a set of six filmmaking tips given by Wes Anderson. The first tip was possibly the most helpful for me. This particular tip suggested you plan ahead and plan to throw out your plans. This is very pertinent to my project as I've been forced to change plans several times despite my initial planning. It feels better to know this amount of change is not uncommon in film. The other piece that stood out to me was suggesting that you should not be deterred when other people don't understand what you're doing. This is not to say that my humor or film style is above others, far from, just that my particular humor is somewhat niche. For others to not fully get it shouldn't force me to entirely change my idea.
    In my next research oriented post I'd like to look further into help with interaction on the set but I am currently in a rush to get somewhere so I'll leave it at that for now.

Big Changes

    As the obviously large number of readers of this blog may know, the filming part of this project has been very slow. One of the primary causes of the pace of the project is one actor in particular who fights me on each point. I've simply decided to recast the actor and film in a house other than his own. This will require some backtracking, refilming and such, but overall I think it's the best and possibly only way to complete the project on time. I'm going to be asking quite a bit of the rest of the people involved so hopefully they are on board.
         So for plans this week, most importantly I need to find a new actor and set up filming for this Saturday. I also finally need to get around to updating my bibliography and writing a full length research centered piece. Unfortunately due to the necessary change in actor I'll have to throw out much of the previous editing and start over meaning over the course of the remaining weeks my workload will likely be tremendous. I hope to finish a scene or two by mid next week to share on this blog and maybe I'll post a some pieces of the script. I would never have guessed the last quarter of high school would be this stressful, hopefully something good comes out of the proccess.
   

Unsurprisngly More Issues With Filming

When I attempted to film this Saturday, not unlike past filming dates, problems arose. This time the issue was that one actor was too sick to come, another had to leave at 2 instead of the agreed upon five and the person providing the equipment showed up two hours late with an SD card that did not work. All in all we filmed from maybe 12:30 to 1:15 opposed to the planned 10 to 5. In addittion to those problems one of my other actors thought it necessary to argue with me on every point in the process and frequently chose to inform me that he was bored and/or that the movie would be terrible so why film it. So all in all, bad day. Project continues to move at glacial pace.  That is all for now.

Weekly Agenda

   With the end of the year looming and lots of work left to do, these next two weeks will be incredibly busy. I've made plans to film a full day this Saturday and am making sure to remain in contact with everyone to ensure the plan does not fall through again. It's looking more and more likely that weekday shootings will have to happen in order to complete the project in the given time frame.

This weekend I hope to complete a large portion of the film  remaining, filming from 9-5. I also intend to have some weekday filming next week either Wednesday or Thursday.Unfortunately I can'y quite address the question I posed to myself last week, I will post on that tomorrow. So what I'll leave you with to make up for lack of content is my class sample I've meant to post for some time. The music used is by a band called porches, it's the song "Airport Terminal" off of their album "Summer of Ten". you can check out more of their music here https://porchesmusic.bandcamp.com/album/slow-dance-in-the-cosmos

"Out of the Rut" part 1

Yesterday in class we were given a journal activity entitled "Out of the Rut." The activity consists of two parts, the first part was to address one of three lists of questions. I'm choosing to deal with the questions regarding the reflection aspect of the project.

  One suggestion was to create a list of three problems you have faced thus far, this was one that seemed a bit too easy so I'll chose to ignore that prompt. One of the more thought provoking ones for me was the list of three things I have learned about others while working on my project. The first thing I learned about others is that many of my friends are very cooperative and helpful in completing my project. My friends acting in the film have gone out of their way to help me produce my film. The second thing I have learned is that other friends of mine have been incredibly difficult to work with, I suppose you can't expect everyone to want to help out. The third thing I have learned about others is that a lot of my friends actually enjoy acting and seeing the film come together. With no means of payment I started by having to explain it to my friends as requesting a favor yet now after some completed filming I've found many people getting actively involved and enjoying the process. 

   With all the anxiety surrounding this project I thought it may be helpful to think about the things I enjoy about my project. After thinking on it, it seems that I enjoy just about all the hands on work in my project. I like acting, writing, filming, directing, and editing. I assumed somewhere along the way I'd be tasked with something I'd dislike yet so far that has not been the case. The things I find troubling in the project are not related to what I'm required to do, it all comes from being in place where I can't progress with my project. I hate not being able to do the work that I know is ahead of me. The other largest thing that I dislike in the project is the deadline. Now obviously it has to exist but for me, when doing creative work, the best product comes from the situation where my only motivator is a desire to work on the project. When I add a deadline or an expected outcome it becomes a different experience for me.

   I suppose the most important piece to reflect on is what I have learned about myself in this project. I don't know that I have a list. What I have learned about myself is, that when doing work in a field I thoroughly enjoy my work ethic entirely changes from the norm. Much of high school my academic performance has been sub par. This was often because I would grow overwhelmed and simply stop completing work as to avoid facing the workload. With this project I am almost always tasked with a large workload yet to this point I have continued to do what is expected of me and continue to enjoy it. It's a comforting sign as I attempt to go into the field of writing. I suppose that's enough reflection for the time being. 

More Unfortunate Setbacks

The filming intended to be done this past Saturday was cancelled due to a miscommunication regarding equipment. Saturday morning I was informed we were without equipment and thus had to cancel filming. This poses an even more difficult task for me as the school year nears its end. I am now left with a little over a month to film much of the film and edit together a final product. This means I will likely need to do weekday shootings on top of long weekend shootings. If need be I will streamline the process by having people just read straight through the lines and edit them together with the lines of who they'd be speaking with. This is opposed to just running through the entire scene which often requires several takes. This also makes it possible for me to film two sets of dialogue at once if I am able to acquire two cameras. These next few weeks will be incredibly work intensive but hopefully they will produce the final product I have been working towards. I forgot to mention also that the clip I had said I would share is not up currently because we ended up not sharing our pieces in class, I will likely post it tomorrow afternoon.