Theme

Q.) What is the essential theme/point for this dealer's choice project?
A.) The point of this project is to explore how a dream functions inside one's mind. I want to portray the elements of this specific dream in a sequence that has a rhythm and a pace, because sometime real life doesnt always flow together so well. I want to show how this dream moves, how it slows things sown, how it shows that people can enjoy something small and trivial.
Q.) What is the goal of dealer's choice? 
A.)  I  want to give this short film a melodramatic, creepy feel that is also beautiful and alluring at the same time in order to make people just stop and notice the little obscure things that people do to make you question every day routine. I want to define how you dont always have to dream something really big and out there, like possessing the ability to fly or have really unrealistic goals. Sometimes people just really want to escape to a place where everything dosent have to make sense. I want this piece to have a rhythm, and I feel the music/soundtrack of this piece is equally important to its visuals because music is something everyone enjoys and it makes people realize that moving and dancing can dramatically abrogate historical time and oriented space.

Genre, Logline, and Synopsis

Genre- experimental-> soundtrack piece->shoegazer


Logline-Close your eyes, open your heart.


Synopsis- Four friends explore their fascination with escaping the everyday routine. They thrill each other with their playfulness. Some of them become enamored with each other while others dance to their own beatific drum. As their rapture unfolds, their release illustrates beautifully the need for a fertile imagination (and an appreciation for the simple things in life). It is the allure and charm of the companions who in an outdoor environment forget their responsibilities, that makes the sequence arresting. 

Dealer's Choice

In lieu of Halloween and my inspiration from Spike JoNzE's Where the Wild Things Are,

I want to do a video based on a dreams, fantasies, and night creatures.

a.) There is no dialogue-soundtrack will be done by my neighbor/musician, Drew Ryan

b.)I need four characters-preferably 3 girls and 1 boy. I have 3 characters so far.

Girl #1

Girl # 2

Girl # 3

Boy

c.) characters will run through a forrest landscape. there will be a choreographed danced. They will be playing with fireworks, dancing, playing with dirt, wearing white costumes, and running in fountains, possibly a bath scene.

The opening/establishing shot will be a girl falls asleep on her desk with her head down. Her desk lamp is on. We zoom into her face. The desk lamp switches off. We cut and begin the dream sequence.

d.) Props-1.) Different color lights (red and blue)

2.) white costumes

3.) red lipstick

4.) sparklers

5.) fireworks

6.) smoke

7.) flash lights

8.) glitter

9.) pumpkins

e.) scenes:

Possible bath scene with a girl underwater

fountain scene

forrest scene

concrete wall scene

Dance scene-

there will be a solo dance scene and a group dance scene. The solo dance scene will be a girl dancing against a solid background. The group scene will be a coreopgraphed sequence. Then there will be a group scene where everyone is playing in the dirt, more hand puppets.

The closing shot will be of the moon.

Point A to B notes

Point A to B notes


1. Analysis of Script



a.) 1.) Elisa- (girl) Elisa is from the suburbs. Her likes are in fashion and coffee. She went to school to study fashion design and now works in a local coffee shop in order to regain herself before grad school/

2.) Dan- (boy) also lives in the suburbs. He likes to ride his bike and loves his dog. His girlfriend lives and studies abroad. He is currently trying to get a good job after graduating college.



b.) 1. ) Elisa- she loves parties. She hates not being able to attend events lately because she works so many hours trying to save up money for grad school. She has sold and pawned off most of her valuable clothes. Now she really wants to attend this party but seriously can’t decide what to wear. She has a handful of possibilities but may have to make the clothes herself.

2.) Dan currently does not have a job which means he does not have money. He likes to spend money. He also has a bit of a drinking problem. He has to do enough chores around his parent’s house so he can get some money for the party. He wants to buy some booze for the evening.



c.) 1.) Elisa- she will borrow some of her friend’s clothes for the evening. She feels that she has gained weight though, and can’t fit into anything. She will have to make a new outfit from scratch. It will be cheaper anyway, then buying something.

2.) Dan- has to mow the lawn, pass out papers, and do some busy work for his father's office so he can get some cash for the evening.

d.) 1. ) Elisa- she will call some friends, ask them to borrow clothes. She will take some of her old things, tear them apart, and make them into something new.

2.) Dan- he will do busywork around the house, ride his bike and pass out newspapers, mow the lawn, do the dishes, etc.



e. 1.) Elisa has to make her own outfit; she can’t fit into her friends' clothing.

2.) Dan has to do more than one job to get money

f.) 1.) Elisa-she talks on the phone, does her nails, makes coffee, does her hair, tries on clothes and shoes.

2.) Dan, talks to his family, mows the lawn, rides his bike, passes out papers, goes to the liquor store, etc



2. Breakdown of the Script



a.) The main actors are Elisa and Dan. There will also be Elisa's friend, Jesse, who will lend her some clothes. The main event will take place at a party (Odessa) where we will have a bunch of college kids come out of one single car. It can be anywhere from 5-20 people.

b.) Elisa will be in 5 scenes-close ups in her room, medium shots, close ups at the party.

Dan will be on 5 scenes-close up scenes in house, medium and long shots outside, party shots.

Jesse will be in 1 scene

A majority/extras will be in 3 scenes

c.) Locations:

1.) Elisa's house-her room, bathroom and closet

2.) Dan's house-his kitchen, his front lawn, possibly his job, and his neighborhood

3. ) Outside of Odessa on broad avenue in a car

4.) At Odessa and in their backyard.

f.) alcohol, beer, bottles, etc.


3.)

6. ) I will need to shoot over the weekend. Actors work on various days, also, the party is happening in real time on saturday oct. 10.

Character A to B development

I have this idea of shooting two characters, again one female and one male. I like the dynamics between one female and one male better as opposed to a coalition of characters of the same sex. I have a pretty simple idea for a story line. It’s basic in the way that it’s a typical problem that happens frequently to people our age. I feel like this is a common scenario and will be easy to find in terms of shooting. It’s a Friday or Saturday night. The two characters, lets call them boy and girl, have just received news of this huge party that is going on later in the night. I want to have boy and girl go through a variety of obstacles before they finally reach the party in the end. I have in mind that I want the resolution of the party scene to look like what is shown in the snapshot above. I want to film a car from a cropped angle and have a bunch of people filter in and out of it so that it seems like there are a million people getting out of this one little bitty car. When I think party I think lights, drinks, cell phones out, hipster clothing, lots of drinking, etc. I want to capture this on film so the setting seems appropriate. I think the obstacles the two characters will encounter can be fairly basic. The girl wakes up Saturday morning and spends all day trying to find the right outfit, informing her friends to attend. The boy wakes up and finds out he has no money. He spends all day mowing the yard and making coffee at a local cafe to earn money. Then he spends the rest of the evening finding and buying alcohol, whatever, something like that etc. The end everyone toasts and has a ball. Its will be a good night.

Extra Credit-Russian Ark

Russian Ark- A film by Alexander Sokurov

If you have not seen this movie, it is a must. I was completely blown away by this, I have never seen anything quite like it. It ran for 90 minutes and was recorded with a hand held steady cam. The entire movie was shot IN ONE TAKE and had a cast of over 2000 extras. I was also surprised to find out that this movie was shot in 2001. I thought it would be older, maybe that's because of the time period that they were referenceing, but I'm not quite sure what that time was either. The costumes and imagery were stunning. The film was shot in 33 rooms at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia and after 4 takes, the shot was a success.

    In the film we follow around  an unnamed narraor that is behind the camera who implies that he has died in some horrible accident and is a ghost drifting through the palace. In each room, he encounters various real and fictional people from various time periods in the city's three-hundred-year history. He is accompanied by the Marquid de Custine who represents the nineteenth-century traveller  who visited Russia in 1839 and wrote a widely-read book about his visit.

In the end, the narrator leaves the building through a side exit. The building is represented as an ark preserving Russian culture, and floating in the sea.

Critique

COVERAGE! COVERAGE! COVERAGE!

There were a few problems with my edit. First off, I need a tighter edit; the sequence was too long, it ran over 4 minutes. Also, I need way more close ups. The entire "film" was shot at awkward angles, some of the props/objects have more of a close up than the talent. I was also right about taking the whole first shot from outside completely out. It would be better just to leave the sequence as a collage of images, almost like a process, as in Ameli'e. I also need to consider my framing better and move more with the camera, while changing up the perspectives from first to second person. I need to plan where I place the camera in advance, and pay attention to the edges. Lastly, there is no ending.