Hello again! As mentioned in the post prior, I am starting a new phase in my media productions career: a film opening of my very own. I am enthused to begin work on this project, as it is not common for classes to grant students with complete freedom on a project, allowing for the cultivation of creativity that's oh so rare from my experiences in high school. Before I had started any pre-production processes (storyboarding, writing script, etc.), I had decided to have a conversation with my good friend Alexander Duque, and we shared a 30 minute chat discussing our thoughts on the project, bouncing a few loose ideas for stories off each other, and consulting each other on areas that we might not be too familiar with.
which is characteristic of good friends (which we are)
Addressing Our Problems
The first thing Alex and I discussed was the topic that loomed closest to the front of our minds: the obstacles we faced as film producers. While we shared a few common issues, for example our present lack of a story, we each had our own unique problems, and so we sought advice from the other. When discussing the absence of a story for both of us, we came together to build a sort of schedule to help organize and motivate ourselves into working on the story in a timely manner. By sharing a calendar, not only would we be able to compare the progress of our projects alongside each other, but we would also be able to hold each other accountable for falling behind on our progress. This was an effective solution to our shared time-management problem. A problem I personally found myself facing was my discomfort as a director, as I much prefer the writing side of production to the more involved, active role of a director. With some helpful advice and words of affirmation from Alex, I found myself to be a little more comfortable with the idea of taking a more assertive role in production, which was a large internal roadblock for me, having affected my confidence in directing past projects and leading to me getting pushed around a bit by other collaborators. Thanks to this conversation, however, I feel that I won't be intimidated as easily, which will allow me to properly translate my creative vision from the pages of the script to the screen. We also briefly touched upon our thoughts about casting for the film openings, and how it might be dangerous to mix our friends into the cast for our films, in case that the shooting sessions don't get taken seriously. While toying with the idea of recruiting students from the local drama club to help in the production, we didn't end up with a definitive solution for casting, for today at least.
Asking For a Helping Hand
An important distinction to be made between the two of us is that while he is already well-established in the film/ TV scene, serving in the school's own TV program as well as being an avid participant in competitions, I am not associated with these arts nearly to the extent that he is, since I prefer writing in prose and studying literature. Therefore, I am not as familiar with certain aspects of cinematography and photography. A big part in the conversation we shared was me asking about cameras and image quality, not knowing the difference between a phone's lens versus an actual camera. Thankfully, my buddy Alex is well versed in the subject, and was able to clarify my confusion on the subject (for those wondering, cameras and modern phone cameras are decently similar in quality, however camera-shot pictures and videos typically have a natural sharpness that pops more than images from a phone.) I thanked him for his insight, and made sure to take notes of his information. This was a pretty big learning experience for me, as I knew that cameras were "better", but wasn't sure why they were better, and this may influence my choice on what I will shoot the film opening with, now opening my mind to the benefits of cameras.
Brainstorming With the Boys
While the majority of this conversation was very educational for me, and productive for the both of us in dealing with problems, by far the most fun we had while talking was through our sharing of ideas for what we would shoot for our video. Especially since neither of us had a concrete idea of what we would film, we were both privy to a direct flow of consciousness brainstorming from the other, offering great insight into each of our creative processes. I shared my idea for having a character that is constantly washing their hands, and gave him insight on the infinitely many interpretations this trait can have (whether it be that the character is a neat freak, constantly dirty, or metaphorically trying to wash away the sins of their past,) which seemed to entertain Alex considerably. We further discussed possible plot points of the opening, which were half-jokes, half actual suggestions. We would then repeat this process, but this time referring to his film. When venting about our writer's block, I suggested the idea of coming up with the title of the film first, and writing a story around this title, to which he drew a comparison to a director who has a similar creative process.
Unfortunately, we then had to end our conversation, since he was driving back home from the grocery and I had other work to attend to. However, this was an extremely productive talk, benefitting us both and also opening up a relationship to which we can both peer review our projects as we continue working on them. I'm very happy with the end result, and with any luck, I should have some pretty interesting news tomorrow, so make sure you tune in for my next blog post! See you then!
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