My Memphis Revised Proposal

I am going to show the two extremes of the Memphis area, one being very busy city life with lots of people, and the other being very calm, rural areas and the relaxing things you can do away from the bustle of the city. I will show shots with lots of action and use time lapse in the city to emphasize this action. The sound will be much louder in the city including the sounds of cars people, and music. The shots in the country will be very still and calm without much action at all to contrast the action shots. The sound in the country will be much quieter with only the sound of the environment. I plan on going back and forth between the city and country shots, but I'll see what works best when I get to that point.


Location List
*In car going across bridge
*Downtown Memphis
*Country roads out by my house
*Beale St.
*Country area for bon fire (probably my back yard)
*By the river facing West showing sunset
*Calm lake for fishing

Ideas for "My Memphis"

1. Combine many video clips of scenery such as the bridge and driving across it approaching Memphis. Show the bridge from a distance

--Show downtown with people interacting, horse carriages driving by. Have shots of the busy city and the enerergetic downtown nightlife, bands playing blues live on the street, people going in and out of restuarants, bars, and tattoo parlors.

--Contrast the shots with lots of action against shots of calmer quieter places. Scenery such as parks by the river. Have shots of relaxing rural life in vast landscapes with people at bon fire parties, fishing on a calm lake or simply cruising through the backroads.

Pleasantville Effect

Write

At the time, I am done shooting footage and just need to digitize and edit.  The title is going to be Come Out And Play Shadow, and I plan on editing it two different ways to see what works best.  One way will be a linear narrative while the other will be very nonlinear.  Things went good during the shoot because I had plenty of help.  (Jeremiah kicked ass on that sound woo woop)  I am ready to see how the sound adds to the visuals.

I am not going to be voting because I didn't register, and even if I was registered I still would not vote because I do not care for either one of the candidates.  I know that it is an important duty as an American to vote but I would rather not vote, than vote for someone I really don't want in office.  

For the Insomnia video contest I have plenty of landscapes we can use.  You all have seen the kind of places I use in videos.  I also have a spotlight that plugs into a cigarette lighter in the car.  

Movie Write Up

The filming for my movie Come Out And Play Shadow went really well, and I believe it will be strong. The actors did a great job and the crew did as well, which made my job alot easier. I was worried about the weather, but it ended up feeling quite nice outside Saturday and Sunday, although it was muddy in alot of places. I had to change a couple locations becuase it was too muddy, and another becuase hornets had taken the place over. I am excited to see how the environmental sound adds to the video.

Locations and Rehearsal Response

My rehearsal didn't go so well but it still was very helpful. I was short one actress during the rehearsal so there are a couple of scenes, we were not able to rehearse. Also, it got dark on us sooner than I thought it would which made me aware that I will have to start the real shoot earlier in the day to get the most out of my locations. I also learned that I need to choreograph the killing scenes a little better to make them appear more realistic. I am also aware now that I need to pay attention more to the characters who are not in action and how they are reacting to the action taking place. I need to work with the actors more on their lines and do many takes of them to get a variety of styles. I learned to try and get all the shots from one camera angle before moving the camera even if they aren't shot in order so I am not spending as much time setting up the camera. I am going to have to take two shots for each shot the ghosts are in, one with them in it and the other without in order to make the layers work. I also realized that if the ghosts are in the same shot as a regular character it may be a problem with the layers. Overall, I think I am on a good start and I am getting more and more organized, which is making things simpler and less stressful.

Proposal

1. Film Statement

My film, working title, Come Out and Play Shadow, is a narrative about a guy who gets stranded in a desolate rural area and his encounters with the odd strangers he meets on his journey to find help. His journey ends ends with a strange twist involving the paranormal. This film will probally run around 8 minutes and will be intended for a general audience.

2. Overview

In my film, I am playing with the concept of the inner "shadow" a concept developed by Swiss psychiatrist, Dr. Carl G. Jung. The "shadow" is the dark rejected aspects of our character, in other words the "beast within." The "shadow" lies in EVERYONE, repressed deep in the unconscious, some just acknowledge their's more. If one does not ever let their "shadow" come out, it will surface on its own. I think that it will be interesting to play with this idea in my film becuase it is a good way to show the ruthlessness of the human race, and a good reason to make characters do unexpected things.

I think my film should be made becuase it will be interesting to see the character's moving through the desolate landscape and the random irrational actions that take place. All the character's "shadows" will surface unexpectedly at sometime in the film, and their transformations will be shown through their abrubt and violent actions. I plan on making the story as unpredictable as I possibly can and creating a contrast in as many aspects as I can think of.

3. Approach, Form and Style
I will use the character's attitutudes and actions to show if thier "shadow" coming out or if they are hiding it. At the beginning, when the girl driving kicks the guy out she has a smile on her face when she tells him "Get the fuck out." This shows that her "shadow" is coming out but she does not know it. She makes him get out for an unknown reason, and leaves him stranded out in the middle of nowhere, therefore creating a conflict for the guy. He is forced to walk, not knowing which way to go. He shows no emotion when forced to get out of the car and while walking aimlessly. As he is walks looking for help, he encounters a strange guy standing in a field staring into the distance. The stranded guy calls to the guy in the field, hoping he can help him, but he gets no answer and no acknowledgement. Suddenly, the guy in the field turns around and stares at the stranded guy, still not speaking. They stare at one another for a while and the stranded guy walks off. The guy in the field follows behind the stranded guy.

After walking for quite some time, they encounter a girl alone in the distance spinning circles in the middle of the road. The guy from the field hides in the bushes when he sees her. This shows that he never lets his "shadow" come out, therefore he is weak and easily manipulated, which makes him afraid of the srange girl. The stranded guy walks toward the girl and when he gets near she stops spinning and jumps toward him. She grabs up some rocks and throws them at him and then runs off into the distance. This was her "shadow" at work. The stranded guy continues on still followed by the guy from the field and eventually encounter the girl again, but this time she is beating a random object with a stick. Both guys take the same action as when they previously met with her. This time when the stranded guy walks up to her she stops beating the object and stares him. She then smiles and introduces herself and tells him she can help him. This represents her "shadow" going into hiding.

The next scene they are all in the woods and the stranded guy sits at a table eating a bowl of soup while the guy from the field and the girl calmly stare at him. Suddenly the girl's "shadow" surfaces again, the girl jumps up and punches the stranded guy in the nose. The stranded guy sits back up to the table as if nothing happened and continues eating his soup, which he is bleeding in. This shows that he also is not in touch with his "shadow." As if instantly the "shadow" went away in the girl, she walks over and hugs the stranded guy. The guy from the field jumps up and tries to kill the girl but she disappears. The stranded guy then grabs the guy from the field by his throat and strangles him to death. His "shadow" has finally come out, somehow influenced by the girl. He sits back down and calmly finishes his bloody soup and continues on his journey.

As he walks he sees the girl walk past him several times but now she is a ghost. He continues on and comes to an isolated house, which he enters like he owns. Inside he finds the girl that kicked him out of the car in the begining and she is tied up. He runs over to her and acts as if he is happy to see her and concerned about her. He then grabs her by the head and begins to beat it against the wall. As he brutally kills the driver girl, the ghost of the spinning girl watches with a smile. After the murder he gets on his knees as if to propose to the ghost girl and suddenly kills himself so he can be with her. The next scene is him as a ghost wandering through the desolate area yelling for the ghost girl. The final scene is the spinning ghost girl and the driver girl as a ghost holding hands and dancing.

4. Audience, Distrubuting and Marketing
This film is intended for a general audience who likes suspenseful, narratives. I think anyone who watches this will be disturbed, if only slightly. I want any viwer who sees this to think about the cruelness of humanity. This film could get to my audience by the internet, by me handing out DVD's or at a gallery or auditorium.

PASSING final edit

New Ideas

1.  There are a group of friends who party all the time and one becomes an alcoholic.  He always wears a suit and craves to be the center of attention.  The friends laugh at the alcoholic at first just thinking he's having a good time, but after time they get fed up with his absurd behavior and must do something to end it.

2.  There is a guy who has a new girlfriend.  The son's mother does not like the idea of her son having a girlfriend so kills them both.  She feeds their body parts to her little dog and makes the dog do tricks for the flesh treats.  She eventually pretends, to mourn for her son and his girlfriend, and invites all of their friends over to cook for them feeding the friends the remains of her son and his girlfriend.  She always puts on a front of being a really nice lady but eventually kills everyone.

3.  Making an abstract or non linear video using footage of landscapes and characters who are rotoscoped during moments of the most action.  I want to combine beautiful landscapes with cruel actions committed by the characters. 

Audio Video Write-Up

The shooting for this video went really well.  I had doubts about the overpowering darkness in the scenes but I think it adds to layering effect quite well.  My locations worked out good, and added to the mood of the video.  I am pleased with the editing techniques I used and the shots being layered worked out nicely.  I believe my actor did a good job and did not make it seem like a video about tripping.  Overall, I believe this was a successful shoot. 

Instructional Video Final Edit

Sound Video Ideas

I am using a piece of audio that I am creating myself. It is pieces of several of my songs, which are manipulated in many ways to create a slightly disoriented feeling. I want to use several effects in this video to compliment the sounds. I plan on using layers of video on top of each other in a few ways. I want to experiment with the feeling created when one layer of video is zooming in while the other layer is zooming out. I also want to try layering different points of view of the same scene on top of one another playing simultaneously. I want to experiment with the motion of the camera and the objects in the shot to somewhat mimic the movement of the sound.

The main video layer will be a person trying to find his or her way home. It will show several angles of the person walking in different places. I plan on trying to show first person view, medium shots, long shots, and close ups of the person walking(at least two angles simultaneously on layers). I plan on doing things like zooming in on a close up in one layer while zooming out to a longer shot in the other layer. To emphasize that the person is lost, I will show them walking through two or more different scenes in different settings simultaneously using the layers. The opacity will change fading certain parts out and revealing others.
When the character is in the city, I plan on fading in shots of blurred city lights and cars driving past the character(seeing from the cars p.o.v.). When the character is in the country it will be really dark so I plan on fading in layers of the shot during daytime. In the country, there will be only one car that drives past the character at the end showing him passed out or dead on the side of the road. This will be the last shot as the car continues to drive on without stopping.

Outline
1. Person leaving through a door and walking into the night.
2. Person walking through town or city. Layers of city lights flashing across screen.
3. Person walking through the country, hardly no lights. Daytime shots of the same area will fade in and out .
4. Most disorienting scene showing layers of different places at the same time fading in and out.
5. Final scene person is passed out (or dead) on the side of the road. The only car that passes him in the country passes and sees him laying on the side of the road and doesn't stop. All layers fade out but the point of view of the car continuing to drive on down the road.

Write Up: "HOW TO DANCE FOR PROM"

I shot all my scenes in one day. We didn't have a long time to shoot before dark so I didn't get quite as much footage as I wanted, but I still got enough. The special effects with the teddy bear worked out great. The dry ice didn't smoke up as much as I wanted. The roadkill was very very grotesque and the worst idea I have ever had, but we still got a couple quick shots. They are limited in angles because the smell was unbearable. Roadkill was not a pleasant prop, but I hope it will be shocking to the viewer considering the suffering it put us through. The dancing beside the interstate was perfect and will complement the morbid actions quite nicely. I cant wait to edit this and see how it looks together.

Quiz #2

Describe a standard 3 point lighting set up.

Three point lighting obviously has three lights arranged around the subject.  These lights include the key light, the fill light, and the back light.  Usually, the brightest light is the key light, which is usually placed slightly to the left of the camera.  The fill is the next light which eliminates the distracting nose shadow.  It is placed to the right of the camera.  The final light is the back light which lightens the edges of the subject.  This light is placed behind the subject. 

You could lower the contrast by changing the Iris on the camera, and maybe use a black bounce card on the subject.  Try to shoot in the shadows if possible.  

Revised Storyboard

I changed it up quite a bit but kept some aspects. I am going for pure absurdness, although I decided to take out the gut eating. I added a new character which is a girl who is somehow created by the absurd mixture. The new title will be How To Dance At Prom.

How To Fish Outline and Storyboard

HOW TO FISH

Location- small pond (hopefully dry) beside the interstate, if its not dry  I will not show the water, only the trees and interstate.

Actors- one person showing the viewer how to so called "fish"

Action- the person will be taking stuffed animals and ripping guts out of them.  The person will be putting the guts in a large pot and mixing them together, and eating some things raw.  The person  will show the viewer everything step by step as if they are expected to participate.

Props-large pot, stick to mix with, stuffed animals, guts

How To

I really liked how the scenes looked and how they were cut.  I think location being in the woods and the sun shining through the trees was very aesthetically pleasing.  The actors did a pretty good job of communicating without sound, and made it kind of funny.  The video is straightforward in its instructions.  Overall, the main thing that drew me to this video was the way it looked.

Manifesto

I hate how so many movies made now are just remakes of older movies just adding special effects and CGI. I am sick of seeing movies about every super hero ever written about in comic books. I am tired of movies being so predictable, and always ending happily ever after. I hate seeing actors that act the same way in every movie they play in. I am tired of safe, accepted, censored, and popular, I want to be shocked, disturbed, and consumed by my friend the beast, the shadow.

My past works were all silent videos focusing on dreamlike landscapes and mostly characters who, with little or no motive commit violent acts toward one another. In addition to my love for high contrast in color, I always tried to consider contrast in as many aspects as possible, such as a pretty girl stomping your ass with a smile on her face.

My videos had a linear timeline for the most part, which is something I want to change. I hope for the stories in my videos to become more developed, which would also make my characters more developed. I want to try to find ways to shock or disturb the viewer besides just showing beatings and murders. I want to take contrast to the extreme hopefully getting away from the stereotypical. I want things to be more absurd. For the most part I want my work to shock the viewer, I want to effect them in a way that will stick. I want to entertain the primal monster inside.


Manifesto

-Must strive for a beautiful absurdness that is unpredictable
-Contrast must be integrated into as many aspects as possible
-Composition and aesthetic qualities must be carefully considered including camera angles and cuts
-Location will always be important
-Time should not be linear or "real time," its boring. The viewer should not have to wait too long to see some action.
-There must always be a party scene for everyones sake even if it isn't used.
-If there is blood there will be plenty
-What is popular and safe should not be considered.
-Rebel against the pre-existing template

Quiz

What is white balance and why is it important in movie production?

White balance is the way the camera reads the darks and lights of a scene.  The white balance determines what is the whitest white and darkest dark.  Usually the camera will also have different settings for outdoors and indoor lighting so things wont get weird tints from lights or the sun.  This is important in movie production because one can manipulate the appearance of the video a lot before recording by using white balance.  By setting the white balance right, the video will have a lot more contrast and make the lighting pop.

Genre Film

I watched Edison and J. Searle Dowley's Frankenstein part 1 and 2.  It was  one of the earliest horror films made in 1910.  Frankenstein left for college and later found the secret of life and death.  He attempts to make the perfect human but instead creates a monster.  Its the classic mad scientist story.  They used black and white and sepia tones during moments of terror.  The lighting in the scenes gave the film a ghostly appearance.  They used makeup and costumes to create Frankenstein's scary monster, which is a common horror convention.  The character became a sympathetic antagonist by the end so the viewer almost "roots" for the monster.  They also did some special effects with the mirror by making the monster's reflection appear to be Dr. Frankenstein.  Overall, I believe Edison and Dowley used many of the horror conventions to create a successful film, especially for 1910.  

Video Portrait Concepts

1. Person who is independent, confident, happy and content with their self. Depicted in the late afternoon sun when everything has a golden glow. The sun would act as a key light and maybe a reflector for the fill.

2. Person who's inner thoughts are unknown and mysterious. One harsh backlight, or outside during sunset so only a silhouette will be seen.

3. Average working class person who puts on a front to appear strong but inside they are tired of the mundaneness and repetitiveness of life's struggle. Depicted indoors in a softly lit room, such as a living room with one lamp on at nightime. Person will not be very close to the light.

Dogme 95 Response

Von Trier's concepts of cinema goes against the overproduction and "unrealness" of modern cinema. He believes that now days movies are too full of illusions and trickery which take away from the story. He thinks cinema should consist of well developed characters that are believable along with their surroundings.
Trier wants to take the "individualism" out of movie making by not crediting the director, but the whole crew. The director must not rely on personal taste or use any kind of effects. He thinks the movie should take place here and now without using any superficial action such as murder. Trier also believes that the sound and lighting should be natural.
Overall the Dogme 95 movement's main goal is to create a good story with believable characters and places that are well developed. There should be no distractions from the story and characters. I agree with Trier's idea that modern movies rely on effects and illusions too much. I also believe that Dogme films have a real or believable quality about them compared to most movies, which are blown out of proportion.

Whatever It Takes Video Write Up

I did my video using the video setting on my digital camera.  After editing the scenes a little, I had to record the movie playing on the computer screen to get the right file format.  The video is about a guy who is isolated in the middle of nowhere.  After being alone so long he begins to go insane and trys to find ways to pass his time.  He wears a gas make to symbolize his change in mindstate.  Eventually the boredom and dullness of his life becomes too much for him to bear.  I really enjoyed the freedom of this assignment.

Animate on Video

Place Ideas

I will be using the video on my digital camera to film on this project.

1. Person is out of place, an outcast of the crowd and loses touch with people skills.

2. Person confined away from society and people, begins to go insane from being alone.

3. People live in a small town where there is nothing for young people to do

which drives them to come up with their own ways to pass the time.

-alcohol

-guns

-blood

I Eye

Free Write

I am Wesley Catlett, and I am from the sticks out in Arkansas, I am majoring in Digital Cinema.

The evil is in the square beside the beauty. They merged and touched the opposite of matter, they consumed one another. I remember the explosion of golden liquid along with the red. The flower is dead and decaying as the mold grows. Amputated and smiling. :) We joyride in the death machine through green. We ride high in the sky no headlights in our eyes. Vision spinning tonight, gonna explode but its alright. I almost thought I did, but I didn't, I thought i remembered how to forget but then I forgot to remember.

Place-An area with definite or indefinite boundaries; a portion of space:
A job, post, or position:

A place is either inside or outside. A sense of place is what kind of feelings a place gives you, is it a creepy place? Does the place feel like home? Is it an innocent place? I am really just right here but I am over there to you. Where is the sign on the side of the road that says too far away. Can you get to far away from a place or is it just the people? What is your place in the world. Where is it? Are you there yet, were you alive? Did you live there did you die there. I am melting into this familiar place. The place should not have boundaries and should go on forever, not confining.