For the past month or so, I worked on re-branding Renegade Films into Delta Odyssey Studios. My largest struggles through this process have been finding a name for my new company and settling on a logo design. Because this process is deeply personal to me, I never seem to be satisfied on any one choice. It took me almost a full month to choose the name Delta Odyssey, diving heavily into my love for the Greek mythos, and I just today found a satisfying logo design. The font is still subject to change.
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In the meantime of Hitched's editing, I took a break from the chopping room to start one *small* project for TSA, a club at my school. For TSA, a group of friends and I began The Officers, a mockumentary about running a TSA chapter, based on the hit series, The Office. By far, it was one of the most entertaining sets to work on. The cameraman kept the camera rolling even when we weren't actively filming, so I had plenty of behind the scenes footage a B roll when it came to presentation time. To compete in TSA, the video must come with a substantial amount of paperwork -- an amount of paperwork that we misjudged. This lapse in judgement lead to one of the most hectic scrambles to finish work I have ever experienced. Due at midnight, the paperwork was 22 pages of citing sources, self reflection, and busywork that took the better part of six hours. I submitted the project at 12:02. Two minutes past the deadline. I learned this commandment of organization: Thou shalt set a due date one (1) week in advance of the actual due date, lest you become mired in last minute work.
Though this wasn't a crushing loss, it was disappointing still to see all of our hard work suddenly ineligible. We brought it to our adviser and he said, " a deadline is a deadline," which roughly translates to, "explain to me why you waited until the last minute to submit a project you've know about since the second week of school. We beat a hasty retreat. At this point, I had gotten the answer I expected, but that didn't make the loss any sweeter. I promised never to make that mistake again and moved on. But the freshman didn't. Clearly outraged at this arrow of fortune, he took the project to his mother, who, with connections from his old school, found a way that we *might* be able to submit our video on an extended deadline. The text, "We need to talk," quite possibly stopped my heart in the middle of math class, but the subsequent, "I think we can submit late," got it started again. I met him and found that, with the zeal of a mother bear defending its young, his mom had taken the issue to the state advisor , who offered an extension after hearing our story. Most would accept defeat and keep the lesson, but not a freshman and his mother. Praise to the overachievers, grade-grubbers, and freshmen, for you save projects. I've edited projects before. Usually it isn't a problem, but there is nothing so nerve-shreddingly difficult as looking at a roll of film and realizing that you shot this and film critics are going to see it too. Serious pressure comes with that.
Some things I have learned are as follows:
The most exciting part happened in an evening when I created the trailer. A simple, 30 second teaser is all about giving the audience enough to spark excitement, but without spoiling any major plot points. Every detail must be meaningful, but nothing can mean so much that your audience can deduce the ending. Also, any version of Gangster's paradise is the greatest trailer song by default. Current version: Gangsta's Paradise - 2WEI PRE-PRODUCTION:
Step 1: Find some actors. This was easier said than done. A friend of mine told me about a FaceBook Casting site called Galina's Casting that let you post a casting call for your project for local actors to respond to. When I posted my project, several people responded. I actually posponed responding to a few of these actors becasue I was too nervous to interact with them. Eventually, I sent off responses with audition sides for them to perform. I recieved several responses, but none of them really struck me as fitting the roles. As time drew closer to filming dates, I settled on two people to play the roles. They initially agreed to my shooting schedule -- then things changed. Both of them had to back out due to complecations in their own lives. I didn't have actors. I went back to Galina's and posted an emergency casting call. Two people from my original group responded, but again, they didn't quite fit the part; however, they could make the schedule. Out of time and options, I was going to choose them and work with what was avaliable to me, but then two actors contacted me. Their auditions blew me away! They fit the parts perfectly. Their names are Collin Rue and Emily Perry. STEP 2: Get a crew. I began this step before I had my final actors nailed down. I followed a tip that one of my teachers gave me to Colorado Media School, a small tradeschool in Lakewood. One of my teacher's friends worked as a teacher there and told me that he would give me a tour of the place and maybe find some interested people. This worked out better than I could have ever hoped. I left CMS having presented my project to a room full of students and have half of them agree to help me out. I left feeling confident in my squad, but, unfortunately, this couldn't last. The week before shooting, a majority of them dropped out and the few that stayed could only work single days. This was a setback, but I made it work. After all, the only thing you really need to make a movie is a camera. The next part is an excerpt from my project journal detailing my experience. FILMING:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Interlude after Day 3:
Day 4:
Incredible experience! 11/1-11/14
So... a movie. Sure. Easy. No problem. That's what I thought as I began this journey at the beginning of summer. Just write a script, get a crew and start filming! In and out -- no problem. How wrong I was. Three months later, I have a deep appreciation for the professionals that navigate the quagmire of film. If I have learned anything in the pre-production cycle, it is that the only constant is change.
QOTD: "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." ~ Robert Brault |
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