While a more modern director Tim Burton has plenty of experince in the classic sci-fi aesthetic. Having directing a tribute to the aesthetic Mars Attacks! and a bio-pic about the classic sci-fi director Ed Wood.
Secondary Source
This source goes into detail about Tim Burton’s signature style, including many of his influences.
TRAINING SOURCE(S)
Embed your training source from YOUR SMART GOAL linked in the PTS, Project Tracking Sheet. Take notes and link back to time stamps within the video. Watch Mr. Le Duc’s Linked Notes Video, if you need help
PRE-PRODUCTION – PLANNING – Due Feb. 7
PROJECT TIMELINE
Pre-production Milestones
Thing 1
Thing 2
Thing 3
Production Milestones
Thing 1
Thing 2
Thing 3
Post-production Milestones
Thing 1
Thing 2
Thing 3
PROPOSED BUDGET
Plan and include a personal budget for this project. Mr. Le Duc’s guidance on the parameters for this session is to see how much it would cost for you to be hired to do ‘your job’ or your role for this session. Add the estimated time you think you will spend on the project, research how much you should be paid by the hour, and include that total cost here.
Storyboard (FILM) (with comments for each role) OR other planning documents like sketches, flowcharts (GAME DESIGN), song or lyric notes (ROCK), etc.
PRODUCTION – ACTION – Due Feb. 27
THE (FILM, SOUND, or GAME)
Embed or link the final version of the film, game, or song from your Google Drive (FILM & ROCK) or itch.io (GAME). Make sure it is publicly viewable.
Write a descriptive sentence about the embedded or linked project above.
SKILLS COMMENTARY
Link the team slideshow with your role, SMART Goal, and evidence of your SMART Goal for this session.
Write a sentence about your role in the slideshow and creative and technical contributions to the project.
POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION – Due Mar. 7
21st CENTURY SKILLS
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
How did you grow in these areas during this project? Pick one and explain.
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
How did you grow in these areas during this project? Pick one and explain.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
How did you grow in these areas during this project? Pick one and explain.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
How did you grow in these areas during this project? Pick one and explain.
REACTIONS TO THE FINAL VERSION
Place at least one comment from the PEER review and cite the student’s first name. Place at least one comment from the ADVISOR review and cite the student’s first name.
TITLE THIS BLOG POST: ‘Someone or Thing Fighting Someone of Thing for Someone or Thing Pitch’ <— OBVIOUSLY YOU WILL FILL IN YOUR CONTENT FOR THE TITLE!
FILL IN ALL SECTIONS BELOW
DELETE ALL OF MR. LE DUC’s Italic INSTRUCTIONS AFTER COMPLETING THEM
Write a paragraph describing the beginning, middle, and end of the story arc or gameplay
Does / can the Protagonist achieve their goal?
TREATMENT: THE WORLD OF THE PROTAGONIST
Complete at least one paragraph describing the protagonist’s world
This description helps the team build a better, more believable world
You may include wardrobe, family, friends, food choices, habits, hang-ups, etc.
Use descriptive language; colorful adjectives and adverbs that help reveal more about the protagonist; they are lazy so their room is a “hopeless mess of dirty laundry and homework papers”
Use sensory language; see, hear, touch, etc.
Be really specific
“Small, dark room that smells like dirty socks and leftover take-out food”
INFLUENCES and EXAMPLES
List directors, game designers, songwriters, or other creations FROM YOUR CHOSEN GENRE you are using for research and inspiration
List or embed scenes, game elements, and song sections FROM YOUR CHOSEN GENRE you are using for research and inspiration
3. Color Association, the video uses The Matrix as an example of using a green color palette, which creates connections to green digital code and sickness.
4. Desaturation/Bleach Bypass, the video uses Saving Private Ryan as an example of a desaturated film, and shows how the less saturated look creates a colder and more gritty feel to the film.
Write a sentence about your role in the slideshow and creative and technical contributions to the project.
POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION – Due Nov. 22
21st CENTURY SKILLS
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
My team and I
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
This production was different from others because almost all of filming occurred outside of school over winter break. Meaning that we weren’t able to communicate face to face as regularly as we would have during school. We adapted to this by making plans when we did see each other, and by communicating digitally.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
How did you grow in these areas during this project? Pick one and explain.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
How did you grow in these areas during this project? Pick one and explain.
REACTIONS TO THE FINAL VERSION
“I really liked the pacing, it flowed very well.” – Gavin
“I felt like the middle could have been cut down.” – Abby
Two best friends discover that they are actually cut movie characters and decide to vengeance on the films director.
PROTAGONIST
The protagonist at first is a very one dimensional character but their personality shifts after finding out they aren’t real. They are incredibly confused about their situation and doesn’t really know what is going on.
PROTANGIONST CORE WOUND / MOTIVATION
They discovers that they isn’t a real person and it causes them to have an introspective meltdown.
GENRE
Action-Comedy
PLOT DESCRIPTION
The protagonist receives a mysterious and frantic call from their best friend telling them about “emergency news” and to “pick them up ASAP”. After picking up their friend they reveal that they are actually fictional characters in a movie that is being filmed, but they have been cut from the film. At first confused, they quickly become angry about being cut from the movie, and decide to track down the production and kill the director. They drive to the set where they confront the director.
TREATMENT: THE WORLD OF THE PROTAGONIST
The “film” that protagonist is from is incredibly low budget, and the production design reflects this. The “film’s” low budget world is often contrasted by the real world and the discrepancies are often acknowledged by the characters.
INFLUENCES and EXAMPLES
List directors, game designers, songwriters, or other creations FROM YOUR CHOSEN GENRE you are using for research and inspiration
List or embed scenes, game elements, and song sections FROM YOUR CHOSEN GENRE you are using for research and inspiration
Dean Cundey is a legendary cinematographer, having worked on countless iconic films. Specifically have a contributed some of my favorite horror films like Halloween, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, and The Thing.
SECONDARY SOURCE
This is a video with Dean Cundey, where he discusses a variety of cinematography related topics.
TRAINING SOURCE(S)
PROJECT TIMELINE
PRE-PRODUCTION MILESTONES
Work on and finish script by October 24
Cast and plan shooting schedule by October 28
Draw completed storyboard by October 30
PRODUCTION MILESTONES
Film cabin scenes by November 3
Film car scene by November 5
Film classroom scene by November 6
POST-PRODUCTION MILESTONES
Edit together rough version by November 12
Create VFX for mirror scene by November 13
Compose music and create sound effects by November 13
Create a final edit by November 14
PROPOSED BUDGET
$20 an hour for five team members over a 14 hour period of work totals to $1400 for the session.
This is our group’s film, it is a phycological horror piece inspired by the Smile franchise, the Evil Dead franchise, and Italian Gillao films of the 60s and 70s.
This is my group’s slideshow, showing each one of us achieved our S.M.A.R.T Goals.
POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION – Due Oct. 18
21st CENTURY SKILLS
WAYS OF THINKING (CREATIVITY, INNOVATION, CRITICAL THINKING, PROBLEM SOLVING)
We set this film in two locations that weren’t the easiest to film in, Sawyer’s car and my cabin. As cinematographer figuring out how to light and film these locations was a difficult challenge. Sawyer’s car was difficult to film in because he was driving it and the sun was going down, and it was cramped with all four of us (and our gear) inside. We combated this by hiding the lights behind the camera and the passenger seat, in order to light Sawyer and get two shots at once.
WAYS OF WORKING (COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION)
Unlike the other members of my team, I am a running start student. This gives me much more time to work on aspects of the film. I mainly used this advantage to create schedules, shot lists, and etc. These allowed for the production to run much more smoothly. This allowed for me to do some things that would regularly take up class time, meaning that the production can move ahead of schedule.
TOOLS FOR WORKING (INFO & MEDIA LITERACY)
In this film lighting was much more important than any other film I’ve done before. Being shot basically all at night, leaving me without any natural light to use to light the scene. Having to light every shot made this a difficult shoot, but due to the horror nature if the film, I was able to be more creative with the lighting and shadows. This film also was the first time I used multiple cameras at once in order to get coverage of a scene. This was incredibly useful for the car scene, meaning that we only need to create one setup and only get good one take, instead of needing to due multiple setups and doing multiple takes for each. When it came to shooting at the cabin, we used the multiple cameras to quickly switch between a tripod and handheld setups without needing to pause and move the camera on and off the shoulder rig and tripod, saving us plenty of time.
WAYS OF LIVING IN THE WORLD (LIFE & CAREER)
Unlike the last film, this filmed was much more planned out. While certain aspects were improvised, the important aspects of the film were planned out in advance. This let the production run much more smoothly, and for us to be able to quickly adapt when problems did arise.
REACTIONS TO THE FINAL VERSION
“I really liked the atmosphere of the you guys created” -Dakin
“The mix of the sound and the shots in the intro made it feel very eerie.” -Abby
SELF-REFLECTION
As a horror fan, I am incredibly proud of this film, but there are still plenty of things I would fix. The biggest thing I would do next time is create lighting diagrams along with storyboard. During shooting I spent most of the time coming up with the lighting on the spot, which made it difficult and ultimately costed us time in the end. I also would done some more location scouting before creating the storyboard. While I was very familiar with the cabin we shot the film at, I misremembered certain details of it’s layout, which forced us to adapt on the spot to the actual space.
By Oct 11, as part of TEAM 3, I will have evidence of using western shots in order to contribute to the style of the film by following How to Get the WESTERN Style in Your FILM for Session 1.
Embed a source explaining the PRIMARY SOURCE. Assume that the reader of your blog has no idea who or what the primary source is. Use the secondary source to explain and justify why the primary source is a good role model for this project. This could be a video essay or interview about the primary source. Write a sentence describing why you chose this source.
TRAINING SOURCE(S)
Embed your training source from YOUR SMART GOAL linked in the PTS, Project Tracking Sheet. Take notes and link back to time stamps within the video. Watch Mr. Le Duc’s Linked Notes Video, if you need help
PROJECT TIMELINE
Pre-production Milestones
Thing 1
Thing 2
Thing 3
Production Milestones
Thing 1
Thing 2
Thing 3
Post-production Milestones
Thing 1
Thing 2
Thing 3
PROPOSED BUDGET
Plan and include a budget for this project. Mr. Le Duc will give you guidance on the parameters for this session.
I focused mostly on the cinematography of the film, working on reating the storyboard and using the camera during filming. I made sure that the film contained western style cinematography, which is a major part of achiving my teams desired look.
POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION – Due Oct. 18
21st CENTURY SKILLS
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
This session was a new exprince for me because it was y first time working in such a stylised genre. Working on a western is much different then other films I’ve done becuase of the specialised camera angles that the genre uses. Doing research in the genre allowed me to be able to replicate the feel of the genre. One other issue we had to solve was the cenosrshipe my group and I faced by not being able to inculde firearms in the film. Many classic western shots invole firearms as a way to create tension, but because of our inabilty to include my group and I had to work around this constraint.
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
This session my group and I communicated, but it felt like we started a bit to late. Me and some group members communicated outside of class independently, but it wasn’t till a few days before shooting when we formed a group chat to communicate together. I wish we created this group chat a few days prior because I feel like it could have prevented us from forgetting things we needed for filming. This group chat did become incredibly important later when I became sick and missed almost all of post production, it allowed me to communicate with my team and help them remotely.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
I feel like the filmmaking area grew the most in this session was oddly location scouting. This isn’t something I’ve had to really do before, I did a bit at the end of last year, but the location was much more simple and easy to find. Because of my rather open schedule (Running Start and Tennis meant that many days the hour drive to my house and back wasn’t worth it) I spent time researching locations on Google Maps and Earth, and then driving out to some locations. I believe that our final location was the third or fourth idea, with different locations not working for various reasons. For example, our initial location was going to be Mima Mounds, but after driving to the location I discovered that there was a local shooting range incredibly close by and gunshots would be constantly going off in the background (the shooting range was facing away and I wasn’t in danger). From a more technical perspective I felt like I didn’t grow much this session, because the film was stylized as a western and incredibly short there wasn’t really new techniques I could have done. The film was very simple, but I think that it worked to it’s advantage, but for the next session I hope to learn some new techniques, specifically different types of composition.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
I think that I really relearned the importance of planning. Last year I made sure to plan things out in detail, but because of the short length of this session I felt like it didn’t need as much planning, which turned out to not be true. I think next session I will bring back some of the techniques I used last year when planning out the next film.
REACTIONS TO THE FINAL VERSION
Place at least one comment from the PEER review and cite the student’s first name. Place at least one comment from the ADVISOR review and cite the student’s first name.
SELF-REFLECTION
Action Points
I felt like there were plenty of things I could have done better this session, both artistically and productivity wise. I could have more varied camera angles in the film, but I feel like I got away not having them because of the style of the film and it’s short length. I also felt like there wasn’t a completely solid plan between our team, but I feel like that may have been a product of limited time and it being the first session, I expect us to have less of a problem next session.
GRAMMAR AND SPELLING
Place the name of the grammar and spelling tool you used to create this blog post.
By May 10, as part of TEAM 4 as Director, I will have evidence of Directing Interesting Dialogue Scenes following How to Direct a Dialogue Scene – YouTube for Session 5.
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
Right before this session I hit a gold mine of used filmmaking gear deals, and I greatly added to my camera rig. My biggest purchase was a shoulder mount for my DLSR, along with the shoulder mount I also bought a monitor and a variable ND filter. These pieces of gear were invaluable to the production, especially the shoulder mount. The shoulder rig allowed me to add more dynamic handheld shots which definitely added to the tension and adrenaline of the fight scene. Handheld shots like the ones in the fight scene have been something I wanted to do all year, but I wasn’t able to execute properly. Another useful piece of gear I bought was a camera monitor, which was incredibly useful with the shoulder mount because it allowed for the camera operator to see what they were filming. I also bought an ND filter, which was incredibly useful when filming the picnic scene, allowing use to properly expose the bright outdoor conditions. All of these new gear allowed me and my team to better achieve our vision when creating the film.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
Reactions to the Final Version
Self-Evaluation of Final Version
Overall, I am extremely proud of this film. A mixture of time and new gear allowed me to do things I’ve wanted to do all year. There is definitely some things I would have done differently. Some of the more basic things such as music, sound, and focus suffered because of some more advanced techniques (the handheld shots, vfx, and different locations) I wanted to do. But I also feel like my team and I exucted those more advanced techniques quite well though. If I went back and did this film I would have planned out these basics first, and then add the extra flare of some these techniques afterwards, instead of coming up with a cool idea and trying to make it work. I think that method would have benifited the film dramatically, especially with the sound. I also felt that after watching the film, that I may have been to stubborn of a director. I became to commited to some ideas, which did create some issues during the production. When I watched the film I say
A person fantasizes about leaving the shackles of their boring job for the freedom of nature.
PROTAGONIST
They hate the monotony of their job and the fakeness their coworkers and bosses
They like nature, and view it as an escape from their job
Has worked at their job for a while, and it seems to be getting worse and worse for them
PROTANGIONST CORE WOUND / MOTIVATION
They are motivated to escape the seemingly endless cycle of their job after hearing about a change in the workplace that would cause him to work more, have less interesting work, etc.
GENRE
Drama
INFLUENCES and EXAMPLES
Not specifically this video, but I would want to emulate aspects of this youtubers styleI would use a 4:3 for sections of the film (job parts) in order to convey a cramped and smaller feel similar to the character’s feeling about their life.I think using darker and cooler colors for the parts of the film where the protagonist feels trapped inside their job. Towards the end of the film I would like to move into some warmer tones to highlight the more open and free version of the protagonist.
PLOT DESCRIPTION (FILM)
After hearing about possibly getting a promotion that result in having to work more hours and would cement their future at the company, our protagonist fantasies about what their life could be. They think about how about how they have been trapped in by the artificial man made world and how they what to escape it to find peace and freedom.
TREATMENT (FILM)
Our protagonist lives in a extremely corporate world, full of briefcases and suits and ties. They work at a corporate office of where everyone thinks that they should be on top and only care about getting there. Their boss is very inconsiderate of the company’s employees, not caring at all about personal lives and working conditions, but rather about product and productivity, turning the office into almost a factory operated by robotic employees. The corporate world is extreme bleak, dominated by greys and cool colors, a tighter 4:3 aspect ratio, and a constant clacking of keys and ringing phones. On the other hand the world our protagonist imagines is much more interesting, with plenty of bright and warm natural light, a more open 16:9 aspect ratio, and more calm and natural sounds. The natural world is also very unpopulated, with no one else to distract our protagonist from their peaceful retreat into nature.
By March 1, as part of TEAM 4 as Director, I will have evidence of creating an engaging montage by following How to Create a Great Cinematic Montage – YouTube for Session 4.
This is my team’s slideshow, which showcases our evidence for how we achieved our SMART goals.
POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION
21st Century Skills
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
During this session, we encountered a variety of different issues which we had to creatively solve. One of these was when we started filming our rough cut, but the room we were going to use was already occupied. To combat this we adapted by changing the location and creating a new way of lighting the scene.
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
Being the director I communicated with my team in a variety of ways. An example of this is when we planned out the filming we did after/outside of class. I needed to communicate with my team to find a time that worked for both me and my team and gave us the time we needed to be able to film what we wanted.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
In this session we used a new camera that hadn’t used before, upgrading from a Canon T3i to a Canon T6i. While these cameras are very similar, but have some slight differences that Carlson and I needed to adapt to. The camera also allowed us to shoot in C-Log, which opened up new opportunities for color grading, but provided new challenges when setting up and exposing a shot.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
During this session, I learned the importance of planning out tasks and communicating with my team. this is important to the world of work because working without a plan or communication can create a confusing work environment and a bad final product.
Reactions to the Final Version
James Clark said that it “was the best montage I’ve ever seen” and Sawyer Conklin said “The montage was really dope.” and “I wish it was longer.”
Self-Evaluation of Final Version
I had a good time on this production and am proud of the final product. I think this film was different from the ones I’ve made in the past and allowed me to try some new stylistic choices in the film. The heavy use of montage allowed me to be more creative with blocking because the narration supplied information that usually came from blocking. The extra time that I had this session allowed me to take ideas that I had shoot test footage and see if it would work out how I wanted.
By Jan. 12, as the Director for TEAM 4, I will learn how to combine blocking and camera movement for action, by following How to Shoot a Fight Scene Session 3.
Sam Raimi is personally one of my favorite directors. He most know for the Evil Dead trilogy (Evil Dead 2 is my favorite movie of all time), the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy, and most recently Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. One of aspects of Raimi’s work is how he uses the camera in a scene, integrating it with action in a way that not many other directors do. An other trademark of a Raimi film, is blend of comedy with other genres, most famously with the second and third Evil Dead films, both of those film being a combination of horror, comedy, and action. Raimi also has great pacing in his films, giving the audience time to process things and then quickly moving on the next scene. With this film being primarily an action/comedy film, I want us Raimi’s work as an inspiration for my film.
Training Source(s)
1:58 Moving the camera with characters can make a shot more dynamic and put the audience in the characters’ shoes.
2:11 Showing things only when a character sees it allows the fight to be from a characters a perspective.
3:18 Understand the rules of composition, like the rule of thirds, 180 rule, etc., but don’t be afraid to break them for a good reason.
This is my team’s slideshow containing the skills evidence of how we achieved of our different SMART Goals.
POST-PRODUCTION – REFLECTION
21st Century Skills
Ways of Thinking (Creativity, Innovation, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving)
A way I had to be a critical thinker and a problem solver was by finding solutions to a number of problems I faced this session. The first major problem I encountered this session was the absence of my cinematographer Carlson, who was going to be gone for almost the entire production. To combat this I planned out which days Carlson was gone and built our filming schedule around it. An other problem I faced about halfway through filming, was the furniture rearrangement in our location. Luckily I was able to reframe some shots and modify blocking, which made it unnoticeable to the audience. But this created a new problem the shots with all three cast/crew members acting in it needed to be reshot. We originally filmed this before Carlson left, but because of this new framing (and the microphone being visible in the original shot) we needed to reshoot. We were able to film this part by only having all three of use in frame when my character was speaking, so I was able to hold a boom microphone during those shots and for the shots with all three of us we used a wireless microphone to record my speaking parts. While me and my team faced a variety of challenges, we able to adapt to them very well.
Ways of Working (Communication & Collaboration)
My team and I were communicating and collaborating on different aspects of the project. One of the tools we used to do this was our google drive. During pre-production we made a google folder for the project and made very organized which helped out tremendously later during production and post-production. A one on one collaboration I did with our editor, Jack, was after each day of filming I would go home and create a rough edit of the film. While these edits weren’t perfect, they allowed me as an director to express to Jack how I wanted the film to be edited.
Tools for Working (Info & Media Literacy)
This session I heavily expanded my knowledge of using my camera. While I usually bring in my Canon T3i for the team to use, I am not the one directly behind, and when I use it at home it is more for photography than for shooting videos. This session, because of Carlson’s absence, I used the camera far more and got to learn more about it. I also installed Technicolor Cinestyle on the camera, which is a flatter picture profile, which lead to me learning more about exposure when taking videos.
Ways of Living in the World (Life & Career)
This session taught me a lot about flexibility. I had to serve as both director and cinematographer in this session which was an added challenge. This session can definitely relate to the world of work, with having to fill in for people and do new tasks while balancing your own work.
Reactions to the Final Version
James Clark liked the entire film. He specifically highlighted the cinematography, writing, and editing as being well done. Some of the parts of the film he specifically enjoyed was the opening dialogue, which he thought was realistic and flowed well, and the ending, which he thought was funny because of the length keeps the joke going. He liked our film overall and said that it showed that we had “filmmaking ability”.
Self-Evaluation of Final Version
I am very proud of this film, this my 6th film in this class and is by far my favorite. I was able to take this film in a stylistic direction I had been wanting to try out. For my past films the blocking and cinematography had felt a bit stale to me, with not enough movement in the frame, and shots feeling to slow. With this film I was very much able to change that. I started the film very slow and with little movement, but as the film progressed I shortened the length of shots added movement to them. I also wanted to add more camera movement, but because of my inexperience as a cinematographer I was unable to, so instead I had the shots follow the movement. A example of this could be the shot were Jack is knocked to the ground, the shot before is an over the shoulder shot, but when Jack hits the ground the camera follows him and the next shot is much lower. An other example of this when my character gets kicked and the thrown to ground, I get kicked in a wide shot and fall to the right of the frame, the next shot is moved to the right. Then when I get thrown to the left, the camera follows with next shot being moved to the left. I took this approach to put the audience in the characters shoes during the fight. I could have filmed it all and wide shot, but then the fight becomes distant and unimportant, when I put you in the shoes of the characters, the fight becomes more personal.
