What I've learned from 201

Coming into this class I won't lie, I didn't know that much about production or editing. I had never worked with Premiere so tackling that was a monster in of itself but I have learned so much abut the editing process that I have to admit makes this class well worth the anxiety that it's caused. While in this class and working on the productions that we have had to do, I have learned a lot about the workings of the camera and the technical things that you can only learn with hands on experience, such as adjusting gain, exposure, focal length and all of that good stuff. I have also met some really great people and forged some really good friendships which I will definitely cary on from this class. I have also worked with people that I can't wait to work with outside of the class room as well. since we made different types of films, it let me see and explore somethings that I might have dove into otherwise such as the experimental project. This class has definitely perked my interest in narratives but I think that the major thing that I took away from this class is the fact that I for sure know that I want to do documentaries as my major field of expertise. This class was really stressful at times but I had a lot of fun in it for the most part and learned a lot about myself and filmmaking as well.

Wild Card Crew Position

For my wild card assignment I was finally assigned DP. I am really excited to finally get this role, I've been waiting for it all semester so I'm really eager to show what I can do. I did a little DP work on our narrative project but this time I will be Cinematographer for the entire project and I cant wait. I am also acting in the film as well, playing a version of a DP who is really egotistical and pretentious. the difference between acting in this film and our narrative is that I am only in a few scenes of our wild card and the story doesn't revolve around my character, unlike in my narrative film. But over all I am completely stoked about being behind the camera and can't wait to start shooting.

Editing Experience 3-B

So I have to say, that editing the experimental project was for sure the easiest editing thus far simply because we could do what ever we wanted to it and there really was't a right or a wrong. Paige kind-of came up with our track that we had originally and then we lost it, and had to do it all over again but it wasn't hard to get it similar to the first track. It was also different creating the image around the sound rather that creating the sound around the image. I think that this gave us more of a free form to our project and gave us a lot of room to work with. When I made the second track I decided to run the entire thing backwards and it sounded pretty demented and I liked it, so I kept it the way it was. It was a pretty fun project and a lot less stressful than the other ones just because we didn't have to worry about a specific formula to follow; we got to create whatever we wanted.

Project 3-A Sound Recording

For our group's sounds, we decided to go to Ten Pin bowling alley. while we were there we picked up a lot of ambiance sound and many cool sound effects such as squeaking chairs, pins clanking together and sliding pool cues. oh, yeah we also went into the pool room and got alot of great sounds in there as well, like the crack of the poolballs hitting one another and the drop into the pockets. while we were there, the owner took us into the back room and we got some really cool sound of the crashes and clanks of the deposit room. some other sounds we got also included going on campus and running into my friend James and recording some of our conversation. While we were there, we also got some great ambiance sound of the chatter of fisher student center and of some birds chirping in a near by tree. This was my first time being the sound guy so I was a little nervous but it was alot of fun. I really had to figure out how to adjust the levels and everything in order to get the exact sound that I wanted, but over all it was a really fun and informative experience.

Master Shot Editing

So for our master shot sequence, my group and I have just started editing and cutting things up in premiere, and we are definitely learning as we go. some basic controls we already know about, but others, even with the help of the tutorials, one only learns by doing. Like all collaborations with other people doing this master shot sequence as a group presents its advantages and its challenges. One of the advantages is that we get to come together with multiple ideas and visions for how we want our film to look, but that also makes us clash on opinions every now and again. Another downfall just to this particular project is that we all have completely different schedules so it is really hard finding days to shoot. Other than that the editing process and over al experience of editing and making this film have been really fun and enlightening.

thanks for reading,

Ethan

Master Shot Pre-visualization Experience

OK so this was the first time I have ever done story boarding for a film and to be quite honest I think my group and I were definitely figuring it out as we went along. I had no Idea just home much work went into pre-production. It was a lot of fun talking with other people in my group and collaborating to find out the kind of shots that we wanted for our film. I think that the hardest part of the process was creating the marked script, simply because once again, none of us had ever done it before, and it's one of those things you have to physically do before you can get a grasp on doing it. Another thing that made the process a little stressful was that we could only meet one day because of conflicting schedules. Now having gone through the process of pre-production, next time should be much easier and more efficient.

Master Sequence Ideas

So for our groups Master Shot project, we decided to do a comedy based on the premise that a motorcyclist, breaks down on the side of the road, and while he is trying to fix his bike, an annoying jogger comes along and starts a meaningless conversation. The motorcyclist tries to concentrate on his bike but the jogger makes it difficult. We had some different ideas about how to show the jogger, and one of the main shots that we want to incorporate is one where we get a long shot of the motorcyclist bending down to work on his bike and on the outer part of the frame, we see the joggers legs step into focus with the motorcyclist in the background.

Another shot we wanted to do was a POV shot from the motorcyclist’s view of the jogger standing over him. There are only going to two people on screen and we’re using my motorcycle, we decided it would be easiest if I played Park (the motorcyclist) and we got a friend who is an actor to play Bran (the jogger).

Vox Pop/ Interview Reflection

So if I'm supposed to talk about our experience doing the box pops and the interview, overall I would have to say that I had a blast doing them and that they went really smoothly. for our box pops we decided to go downtown on the boardwalk there and ask around some basic questions. When we first got there we had some issues with the batteries being dead but after we walked up to a convenience store and got some new ones, everything went great. Almost everyone we asked to do an interview with agreed happily with the exception of maybe 2 camera shy people. I think we were there for maybe an hour and a half and were done. The main interview went even smoother than the box pops with no sound or battery issues. Brenda, the lady who we were interviewing, was as halarious as she was knowledgable about the boardwalk, and made the interview itself go by quick and seemless. I think it maybe took 30 or 40 minutes to set up and get everything where we wanted it to be for shooting, and ended up being an incredible experience.

,Ethan

Documentary Production Schedule

2/11/14             B-roll Shooting

2/13/14             B-roll Footage Due

2/14/14             Vox Pop Shooting

2/18/14             A-roll Interview

2/17/14-2/19/14   Editing

2/20/14             Final Project Due  

Documentery Interview Plan

- Interviewee: Brenda, the owner of Ollie's Restaurant

-Shooting Location: Ollie's Restaurant, At Carolina Beach

What tone do you want to set with your subject?  Because the board walk is pretty empty this time of year, we wanted to help convey that feeling so we were going to set a somber deserted tone.

Interview Questions:

1. 1: Why did you choose to open a business here? 
2. 
   
3. 2: Did you always want to open a boardwalk business?
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5. 3:How long have you been open?
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7. 4:What time of the year is the best for customers?
8.  
9. 5: Who are your main customers?
10.  
11. 6: Who is your clientele in the off season?
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13. 7: Who does your main source of revenue in the off season?
14.  
15. 8: Who is your biggest competitor during the on season?
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17. 9: Who is your biggest competitor during the off season?
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19. 10: Why do you stay open during the off season when so many others close?
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Vox Pop Location: down town Wilmington N.C.

Vos pop Questions:

1. 1: Would you go to the beach now? Why or why not?
2. 2: How often do you go to the beach/ board walk?
3. 3: Which beach do you go to?
4. 4: Do you go to restaurants at the beach?

Indoor lighting

For my indoor lighting space I took a look at the lighting in my own house since that’s where I’ve had to spend all day after being snowed in. The lighting in my house, especially in my room is a low lit, soft lighting. The light fixture covering in my room creates a deep yellow hue that resonates throughout my room. Because the light is overhead, it creates many shadows all over the entirety if the space. It definitely has its own soft, dark mood to it, in complete contrast to the bright overbearing natural light outside.

Outdoor/ Natural Lighting

For my outside location, I honestly just went outside my front door and looked into my front yard. Because of this winter storm that has just recently blown through, our entire neighborhood was covered in snow/ ice. Even though it was overcast, the amount of light that was radiating off of the snow was incredible, and a bit blinding if I do say so myself. Because of the amount of reflection coming off of the snow, the amount of hard  light was amplified much more than that of a usual day. I didn't really notice any shadowing, but instead just an overbearing bright light. However because the beautiful white background that the snow created, the contrast between the houses on my street and their surroundings were considerably amplified. Anyway, those were just some of the things that I noticed about the lighting outside.

Introduction to the 201 crew!!

Hey guys my name is Ethan Rich, and first off I just want to say how lucky and honored I feel to be a part of the FST program here at the Dub!!! To be honest I haven't had that many film making experiences to talk about, aside from helping some friends in high school with some small class projects or making some home videos for my family. I didn't even realize that I wanted to truly peruse film  as a career until two semesters ago when I had already switched majors 3 times and no clue about what direction I wanted to take. But then i realized that if I was going to pay for my own education, I might as well do something that I love, and that is film.

In this course I really just want to learn the ins and outs of film production, the foundation of what it takes to make great films. I am particularly interested in documentary film making. It's kind-of my passion and what I love watching. I actually have a couple of projects I am researching at the moment with hopes of making something happen with them. In the next ten years or so, if I'm making films, I really want to mainly  be focusing on documentaries.

Aside from film, I have many different loves in my life. I started surfing when I moved down to Wilmington and even though I've done many board sports in my life, I have to say that Its the most fun out of all I have tried thus far. I also ride a motorcycle and if you've never ridden one, just take my advice and try it; it's easily one of the best experiences you'll ever have. Any way, that's a little about me and the things that I like.