Back to Basics
Hey guys! I technically didn't lie in the last post since it's still Fall semester, but yeah it's been a while. I really did mean to write a blog earlier on in the semester, but this little thing in my life called film school really does like to take up my time. For this blog, want to get back into the groove of things, so I figured I'd write about my time at FSU Film so far, before I jump head first into process of my most recent film, I Lost What's Mine.
FSU FILM
I took an Acting class where I learned how to act and direct actors in a way that is fulfilling and like a two-way street, I took class about paper work, a Screenwriting class that showed me the practical importance of sharing scripts and re-drafting, there was an Editing class that taught me that AVID is really annoying for sound editing and more so the psychology of an editor, and then finally just a general visual-storytelling class. There were a few more classes but those were the most tangible in terms of getting in the F1 mindset.
In terms of the experience, I don't think the classes would've been nearly as impactful if it weren't for the classmates I had. Coming from previous programs and clubs where there would be regular competition for equipment, actors, and desire to be the best, this program has been a fresh start. I find there's an abundance of encouragement from classmates, and I similarly saw myself excited to see what others would make for a weekend project. It's also just really nice being surrounded by people with similar amounts of care as you, but that have that care come from different places. As much as we do a lot of the same assignments, it's so nice seeing how different people work and picking up on reoccurring styles. And luckily for me this feeling was very common within my F1 group!
GROUP AWESOME
So this group was randomly assigned, and I very much enjoyed the experience working with them. The group was assigned day 1 and would be the people who I worked with while making weekend projects and after some time and consideration, we'd come up with a crew grid for the 5 films we had to make. The group composed of Eddie (one of my leads from In His Eyes), Ray (the lead for Clipped Wings which I partially DP'ed for last semester), Anissa (who went to a neighboring high school that I used to compete against during certain competitions), and Barbie (a fellow transfer and animation student).
Something I really enjoyed about this group was how different we all were in terms of styles, motivations, and inspirations. This aspect was perhaps best explored during our weekend projects in which we each had to direct a short excerpt with the rest of the group either on camera, or in supporting roles behind the camera.
It was also with this group which I got a majority of my feedback for my F1 from. We had 2 required table reads during class, we'd often send each other new drafts, and regularly talked about our ideas and that was even before we crewed ourselves for the films.
CREWING
Since the F1 groups have 5people, and we need to make 5 films, there are, as you might expect, 5 different roles for each film none of which can be repeated. Besides the Director, an F1 crew would comprise of a Producer, Director of Photography, Boom Operator, and a Grip/Gaffer/1st Assistant Camera swing position.
Before I continue here's a basic run down of the 5 films:
01F1 I Lost What's Mine dir. Alex Duque
A dark-comedy where Jordan must search through an antique store to retrieve an urn with his dead dog's ashes before someone else buys it.
02F1 Echo, Awake dir. Edward Nicholls
An interrogation that will assess Echo's humanity as an android, and will determine their fate
03F1 Scars dir Ramon Lanza IV
A reunion between two childhood friends that shifts when Kenny notices self-harm scars on Louie's arm.
04F1 Sillage dir. Anissa Acosta
A tale of Flor's first night aboard and the lingering memories that remain.
05F1 Arira dir. Barbie Avila
A drama of the first time two unlikely friends met.
For crewing, we went with a needs and wants kind of approach, which meant that we'd assess want each film needed first before going into who people wanted. A particular instance was Ray and Anissa wanting to have both of their films be entirely handheld which from our weekend projects it was deduced that Eddie and I were the most comfortable going handheld. From there Anissa and Ray further elaborated on what each wanted from their cinematography, which would go on to decided that Eddie would DP for Anissa and I would DP for Ray. In the same conversation it was also determined that I would be the Grip/Gaffer/1 AC for Anissa since she needed to light a club scene, dorm room scene, and exterior night setting and I was most comfortable with the lights. The rest of the meeting touched on other needs by directors and then trickled down to to people requesting to work with certain people based on previous experience from weekend projects or by having common styles.
My final crew for I Lost What's Mine ended up being:
Director = Alex Duque
Producer = Edward Nicholls
Director of Photography = Barbie Avila
1AC/Grip/Gaffer = Ramon Lanza IV
Boom Operator = Anissa Acosta
I would also then go on to serve the following roles for my group:
Producer for Arira
Director of Photography for Scars
1AC/Grip/Gaffer for Sillage
Boom Operator for Echo, Awake
With that I feel I've set up enough of the ground work to dive deeper into the actual development and production of I Lost What's Mine along with some of my experiences with my other groupmates' films.
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