EXPERIMENTAL! YAY!!!

We are not only going to learn about the different elements in film-making, but actually get the chance to make our own short film. This film should be about 2-5 minutes. Our class has been divided into groups and each group has a specific genre, but every film has to have a common prop, that was assigned, and a one line dialog. Overall, this is really exciting, even more exciting because the genre of movie for my group is experimental.

So far, there is a director, editor, sound editor, and a cinematographer! With four people, we will also soon have to decide on the break-up for who will do screen-writing, dialog writing, and so on. This should not be a big deal, especially because we already have ideas for what our story will be.

When we heard that Eric, one of our instructors, is going to assign a genre to each group, my group made sure that when we get our assignment we have an idea for each genre. So we thought of ideas that would fit for comedy, horror, drama, romance, etc. All members agree (those who were brainstorming) that the running theme with any movie will definitely have a love story of some sort. And along with a love story, we want to have a crazy plot twist in the ending, so that our film will be memorable to everyone.

In the end though, we got the best possible genre! Along with being assigned genres for our films, each group is required to have some of the same props and one line dialogs. Each film must have a mime or a clown. In any part of the movie there must be a cheese grater, guitar, and skull. The dialog which should be in every movie are: "Why is this happening to me today of all days?” and "It would be better for us not to talk about that." For each element needed, we have an idea for how it can incorporate into our film.

Along with the story, the camera and how every scene will be recorded is also very important. For one story idea, we thought we would make the entire movie in the point of view of a person, and just have an over-voice for when that character needs to speak. Also we anticipate to have really cool effects, most likely this will be added on during the editing process.

A factor that scares me, is the availability of equipment to show quality in our work because of cost issues. But I think with a good story, and a good way to relay the message money will not be a major issue. But another major issue might be on trying to understand the different subliminal messages that are sent during the movie, and if we will be able to have that element in our movie. For example, if they are talking about something sad then there is a shadow on the actor's face, versus if the character is having a happy moment, then the face has complete brightness shining on it. Other subtle messages that are put in the film and never directly talked about is one of the greatest features of a film, I believe, and I hope that our group will be able to accomplish that!

Overall, I'm excited to see what our story will end up to, how we will work as a team and get through the technical parts of making a film. And really nervous for what the finish product will look like!